Trump won’t testify in E. Jean Carroll trial after judge’s deadline passes

(NEW YORK) — Donald Trump will not testify in writer E. Jean Carroll’s civil defamation and battery case against him, after a Sunday afternoon deadline passed without the former president filing a motion to reopen the case.

The two sides each rested their case on Friday after Trump declined to testify in his own defense, but Judge Lewis Kaplan gave Trump until Sunday to reconsider, setting an afternoon deadline for Trump to file a motion to reopen the case for the sole purpose of testifying, in light of remarks Trump made while golfing in Europe suggesting he would return to New York to confront his accuser.

Carroll, who brought the lawsuit in November, alleges that Trump defamed her in his Truth Social post by calling her allegations “a Hoax and a lie” and saying “This woman is not my type!” when he denied her claim that Trump raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the 1990s.

The former Elle magazine columnist added a charge of battery under a recently adopted New York law that allows adult survivors of sexual abuse to sue their alleged attacker regardless of the statute of limitations. Trump has denied all allegations that he raped Carroll or defamed her.

Each side is expected to deliver closing statements Monday. The judge is then expected to charge the jury on Tuesday, followed by the start of deliberations.

This month’s trial is taking place as Trump seeks the White House for a third time, while facing numerous legal challenges related to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, his handling of classified material after leaving the White House, and possible attempts to interfere in Georgia’s 2020 vote.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.