Taylor Swift Reportedly in Tears During Closing Arguments in Her Sexual-Assault Trial
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“Look at Ms. Swift’s face and ask yourself, ‘Is that the face of a person who just had a strange man grab her butt?’”
That was, in part, the closing argument of attorney Gabriel McFarland in the case of former Denver D.J. David Mueller against Swift, who accused Mueller of sexual assaulting her at a meet-and-greet in 2013. After a week of testimonies, including Swift’s, McFarland closed with what has become Mueller’s version of the story, after several variations: blanket denial.
McFarland continued, displaying the photo of Swift and Mueller when the alleged groping took place: “Not a single witness who was there gave any indication that they saw Mr. Mueller bend over or lean down to get low enough to get under Ms. Swift’s skirt.”
According to Page Six, the singer cried as the attorney held out the now infamous photo. Her mother, Andrea Swift, touched her right leg while her lawyer rubbed her back to comfort her.
Since the trial began last week, the case has changed dramatically. On Friday, Judge William J. Martínez dropped Mueller’s complaint that Swift had falsely accused him of groping her. He said the Mueller had “insufficient evidence Miss Taylor Swift acted improperly when she reported an assault she truly believed happened.” The suits at issue now are the ones Mueller filed against Andrea Swift and Taylor’s radio liaison, Frank Bell, whom he claims are responsible getting him fired from his $150,000 job as a radio host.
During his testimony last Tuesday and Wednesday, Mueller denied groping Swift, but when she took the stand on Thursday, she was adamant about what happened. She maintained that when Mueller and his then-girlfriend and fellow radio personality, Shannon Melcher, posed for a photo, Mueller noticeably grabbed her.
“He stayed latched on to my bare ass cheek as I moved away from him visibly uncomfortable,” she said.
In his own closing argument on Monday, Swift’s attorney Douglas Baldridge was just as adamant. “The guy did it. Don’t be fooled, don’t be snookered. It’s his [Mueller’s] burden of proof. It’s time to stop the victimization in this country and in this courtroom.”
This is a developing story.
This story originally appeared on Vanity Fair.
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