The latest gambit from attorneys representing Elizabeth Holmes appears to have had its intended effect, and the judge in her case has offered to have a brief hearing with a prosecution witness who sounded like he wanted to recant testimony, but then didn't.

In early September, Holmes's legal team filed a motion for a new trial, which seemed to just be the latest in a long-term effort to stymie the government's case against her and keep her out of prison as long as possible. A key witness for the prosecution, former Theranos lab director Dr. Adam Rosendorff, had been trying to contact Holmes and express "remorse" for his testimony, and he made a "disheveled" appearance at the home she shares with husband Billy Evans in July to  make some kind of apology.

Rosendorff allegedly told Evans that the prosecution "made things sound worse than they were when he was up on the stand," and he said he felt terrible for his role in Holmes's ultimate conviction in January.

The defense argued in its motion that Judge Edward Davila must, at the very least, hold an evidentiary hearing based on Rosendorff's statements. And now, Judge Davila has agreed.

Holmes was scheduled to be sentenced on October 17, but now she may not be sentenced until January.

As the Mercury News reports, Davila said he would hold a "limited" hearing on that October date, and that Rosendorff could answer for himself then.

"This is not going to be a fishing expedition," Davila said, per the Merc. "Really, what I want to know is, ‘Did he tell the truth?'"

Rosendorff has, sort of, already answered this and told the prosecution that he did not wish to recant. In their own filing last month, prosecutors said that Rosendorff felt "compassion" for Holmes and her family, but he said he testified "completely, accurately and truthfully" and stood by that testimony.

“I have no reason to believe that the government misrepresented or otherwise created a misimpression about Ms. Holmes’ … conduct at Theranos," Rosendorff's statement said further.

The prosecution has characterized the defense's motion as as an attempt to get a "ticket to a new trial," and Davila seems to have agreed with the prosecution that regardless of Rosendorff's remorse or "sorrow" about his role in the trial, his testimony had more to do with the charges of defrauding patients, not investors. The jury in Holmes's trial was hung on the question of whether she defrauded Theranos blood-testing patients, and she was only convicted on four counts relating to the defrauding of investors.

Davila offered new possible sentencing dates in mid-November, December, and mid-January.

Most legal experts believe Holmes will have to spend some time in prison, but it's not clear how lenient Davila may be. The maximum would be 20 years, but the sentence will likely be much lower than that — and there could still be an appeal in the works to get her prison term further delayed.

Previously: Elizabeth Holmes Files Motion For New Trial After 'Remorseful' Prosecution Witness Shows Up at Her House

Top image: Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes goes through a security checkpoint as she arrives at federal court on September 01, 2022 in San Jose, California. Holmes appeared in federal court related to an attempt to overturn her fraud conviction. She is facing jail time after being convicted of four counts of fraud for allegedly engaging in a multimillion-dollar scheme to defraud investors in her company Theranos, which offered blood testing lab services. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)