Former US president Donald Trump will not testify at a civil trial to challenge claims made by writer E. Jean Carroll that he raped her in the 1990s and later defamed her, after letting a deadline pass without asking the court to appear.
Mr Trump’s lawyer Joseph Tacopina told the judge on Thursday that Mr Trump had waived his right to testify in the trial in Manhattan federal court and opted not to present a defence in the case, gambling that jurors will find that Ms Carroll had failed to make a persuasive case.
Mr Tacopina did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
After the jury left for the day on Thursday, US District Judge Lewis Kaplan asked Mr Tacopina to inform Mr Trump that he had until Sunday at 5pm EDT to tell the court he intended to testify.
Mr Kaplan has scheduled closing arguments from the two sides for Monday. Ms Carroll, 79, filed her lawsuit last year against Mr Trump, 76, claiming he raped her in a dressing room at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan in 1995 or 1996, and then defamed her by denying it happened.
The former Elle magazine advice columnist is seeking unspecified monetary damages.
Mr Trump, who served as president from 2017 to 2021 and is the current frontrunner for the Republican US presidential nomination in 2024, has said Ms Carroll made up the allegation to drive sales of her 2019 memoir.
In a video deposition played for the jury on Wednesday, Mr Trump denied raping Ms Carroll.
“It’s the most ridiculous, disgusting story,” Mr Trump said in the video, hunched over a conference table as Ms Carroll’s lawyers presented documents to him.
“It’s just made up.”
– AAP
