CHICAGO, June 6 (UPI) -- The defense rested Monday without calling to the stand the Chicago businessman accused of backing the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai.
WBEZ-FM, Chicago, reported Tahawwur Rana, a Pakistan native with Canadian citizenship, told U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber he did not want to testify in his defense. The judge then dismissed the jury for the day.
Closing arguments will be Tuesday, the Chicago Tribune reported.
The only witnesses called by the defense were a former consultant who worked with Rana and a computer expert who said Rana hadn't done much Internet surfing for Mumbai or Denmark, WBEZ said.
Federal prosecutors completed their case earlier Monday, calling the last of eight witnesses against Rana, who is accused of providing a cover story for his lifelong friend, David Headley -- known as Daood Gilani in Pakistan -- a confessed terrorist who carried out advance surveillance for the attacks that killed more than 160 people.
Headley pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty and testified for the government, saying he was working for Pakistani intelligence.
Headley and Rana were both living in Chicago at the time of the alleged conspiracies.
Prosecutors say Rana used his immigration consulting business as a front to help Headley scout out Mumbai. Rana's lawyers say he was duped by Headley.
The defense has stressed Headley's long criminal record.
