Former President Donald Trump declined to testify Tuesday as the defense rested in his hush money trial, setting the table for closing arguments and deliberations after Memorial Day.
Former President Donald Trump declined to testify Tuesday as the defense rested in his hush money trial, setting the table for closing arguments and deliberations after Memorial Day.
Mr. Trump wasn’t expected to take the stand, but hadn’t ruled it out publicly. The former president is known for keeping people in suspense.
State Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan said closing arguments would take “at least a day” and jury instructions would take at least an hour. He told jurors that he didn’t want to break up the process, so he dismissed the jury until after the holiday weekend.
“At the end of the day, the best thing we can do is adjourn now until next Tuesday,” the judge said.
Defendants are not required to testify in criminal trials, nor do they have to mount a case at all because the burden of proof is on the prosecution.
