Taylor Swift cried in court on Monday during closing arguments in her civil trial against former radio host David Mueller when Mueller's lawyer questioned her disposition during the photo op at the center of the two parties' opposing lawsuits.
Mueller's lawyer, Gabriel McFarland, questioned whether Swift's smile in a photo taken during a June 2013 pre-concert meet-and-greet indicated that she was upset, considering that's when she alleges is the instant that Mueller grabbed her bare buttocks.
The singer's mother, Andrea Swift, and her attorney comforted her during Monday's proceedings in U.S. District Court, which was handed over to the jury about noon in Denver, The Associated Press reported.
The photograph, taken by meet-and-greet photographer Stephanie Simbeck, was shown several times to jurors but has been sealed by the court. It is key evidence in the case and features Swift flanked by Mueller and his then-girlfriend Shannon Melcher. Swift testified that Mueller groped her from behind during the photo op.
"He stayed attached to my bare ... cheek as I lurched away from him," the 27-year-old said in her incendiary testimony last Wednesday. "It was a definite grab. A very long grab," she added.
In his $3 million civil lawsuit, Mueller, who denies that he groped Swift, accused the singer, her mother and her radio communications manager, Frank Bell, of setting out to ruin his career after the alleged incident. He sued the trio for using their influence to pressure KYGO-FM to terminate him after Swift's team reported the encounter to his bosses.
Mueller's lawyer, who made his case to the jury first, insisted that Mueller "is not the guy" who groped the pop star, the AP said. McFarland argued that Swift's account is inconsistent with the accounts given by other members of her team who also testified last week. He also said it is inconsistent with the photo taken during incident.
"Look at Ms. Swift's face. Is that the face of someone who's in shock, who is upset?" McFarland said while showing the photograph of Mueller and Swift at the backstage event.
However, Swift's lawyer asked the jury to look at the bigger picture.
"Will aggressors like David Mueller be allowed to victimize their victims?" Douglas Baldridge asked during his closing arguments.
Baldridge asserted that Swift, who countersued Mueller for assault and battery and is seeking $1 in damages, is standing up for women who may have encountered a similar situation.
He asked the eight-person jury to "return a verdict for a single dollar, a single symbolic dollar, the value of which is immeasurable to all women in this situation," according to AP.
Federal Judge William J. Martinez allotted 50 minutes for each attorney to make closing statements Monday and 10 minutes for rebuttal, the Denver Post reported. In deliberations, the jury must come to unanimous decisions regarding whether Mueller is liable for damages to Swift and whether Bell and Andrea Swift are liable for damages to Mueller.
Martinez ruled Friday that the singer could not be held liable because the ousted KYGO-FM host failed to prove that she personally set out to have him fired after the alleged incident. He removed her from Mueller's federal lawsuit.
Since these are opposing civil cases, the verdicts must be based on a preponderance of evidence, the Post said. That is, the more convincing evidence and its probable truth or accuracy, rather than proof beyond a reasonable doubt, as is the standard in criminal trials.
The high-profile trial began Aug. 7 and included testimony from Mueller, Melcher, Swift, her mother, Simbeck and former Swift bodyguard Greg Dent, among others.
