Former President Trump won’t testify in writer E. Jean Carroll’s battery and defamation civil case against him after his lawyers did not file a motion by the judge-imposed deadline of 5pm Sunday.
Driving the news: Trump told Sky News as he played golf at his resort in the Republic of Ireland Thursday that he “will probably attend” the trial, which centers around Carroll’s claim that he raped her in the mid-1990s and then defamed her by denying it.
- “I’m going back to New York,” he added.
- The federal judge overseeing the trial set the deadline in response to Trump’s remarks as a “precautionary measure” as attorneys for the former president and Carroll rested their cases last week, per CNN.
Of note: U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan said last month that Trump is not legally required to attend, but rejected his legal team’s argument that his appearance would be too much of a burden on New York City.
- Kaplan noted then that Carroll had indicated she did not intend to call Trump as a witness.
What’s next: Closing arguments in the case were due to start on Monday and jury deliberations were set to begin Tuesday.
