Washington
CNN
—
Former President Donald Trump will not testify in the E. Jean Carroll civil battery and defamation trial after his attorney did not inform the court of any change in strategy before a judge-imposed deadline of 5 p.m. Sunday.
While attorneys for Carroll and Trump rested their respective cases in the trial in Manhattan federal court on Thursday evening, District Judge Lewis Kaplan had left a window for Trump to testify, even as the former president’s attorney said that would be highly unlikely.
The judge said he had ordered the precautionary measure in light of Trump’s public comments suggesting he would make an appearance in court before the trial ended.
Carroll, a former magazine columnist, alleges Trump raped her in the Bergdorf Goodman department store in the mid-1990s and then defamed her when he denied her claim, said she wasn’t his type and suggested she made up the story to boost sales of her book. Trump has denied all wrongdoing.
Closing arguments in the case are set to get underway Monday. The jury will likely get the case on Tuesday.
This story has been updated with additional information.
