The Latest: Testimony ends for day in Swift groping case

DENVER – The Latest in a groping case involving Taylor Swift (all times local):

4:45 p.m.

Testimony has ended for the day in the groping case involving Taylor Swift.

Thursday’s final witness was Stephanie Simbeck, a photographer who works for Swift and took a picture of her and the radio host accused of grabbing her backside during a photo op before a concert.

Simbeck said she knew something was wrong as she shot the photo.

She testified that Swift told her what happened, looked at a photo and pointed out Mueller as the person responsible.

Mueller attorney Gabriel McFarland said during questioning that Simbeck was making an assumption because Mueller’s hand position cannot be seen in the photo, which has not been publicly released.

Mueller is suing Swift, saying he was falsely accused. Swift is countersuing, saying she was sexually assaulted.

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3:30 p.m.

A supervisor at a country music station denies a claim by former DJ David Mueller that the supervisor said he groped Taylor Swift at a meet-and-greet before a 2013 concert.

Hershel Coomer told a jury Thursday that he briefly chatted with Swift at an event for radio directors at Pepsi Center in Denver.

Coomer said he first heard about Mueller’s claim two years after Mueller was fired from KYGO. Coomer called it a lie.

On Tuesday, Mueller testified that Coomer said he met Swift before the show and had his hands on her backside.

The testimony was aimed at questioning Swift’s claim that Mueller had groped her.

Mueller has sued Swift, claiming he was falsely accused and lost his job.

Coomer said Mueller was fired for violating a contract clause that permitted termination in cases of real or perceived behaviour that reflected badly on the station.

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12:30 p.m.

Taylor Swift has wrapped up her testimony in a civil trial over whether a former radio DJ groped her before a 2013 concert.

The pop star was cordial, but direct and sometimes testy while being questioned by a lawyer representing the DJ, David Mueller, on Thursday in federal court in Denver.

When questioned about her reaction when she learned that he had been fired over the allegations, Swift replied that she wasn’t going to allow the lawyer or Mueller make her feel like it was her fault.

Swift testified Mueller grabbed her behind underneath her skirt, not above it, during the pre-concert meet-and-greet photo session.

Mueller denied groping her in testimony on Wednesday.

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10:05 a.m.

Taylor Swift has wrapped up her testimony in a civil trial over whether a former radio DJ groped her before a 2013 concert.

The pop star was cordial, but direct and sometimes testy while being questioned Thursday by a lawyer representing the former talk show host, David Mueller, in federal court in Denver.

When questioned about her reaction when she learned that he had been fired over the allegations, Swift replied that she was not going to allow the lawyer or Mueller make her feel like it was her fault.

Swift repeatedly said no one else could have groped her.

Her testimony lasted about an hour.

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9:35 a.m.

Taylor Swift says a security guard working for her witnessed her being groped by a former radio host ahead of her 2013 concert in Denver.

She testified guard Greg Dent saw David Mueller “lift my skirt” and grab her but that it was it was impossible for anyone to see Mueller’s hand beneath her skirt and on her buttock because they were posing for the photo with their backs to a wall.

Swift said Thursday that someone would have had to have been underneath her to see the actual groping “and we didn’t have anyone positioned there.”

Mueller testified Wednesday that the photo taken before the concert was “weird and awkward,” but he insisted that he touched Swift in the ribs, not in the rear.

Mueller testified his hand was touching Swift’s skirt after he put his arm around her and their arms got crossed: “My hand was at rib-cage level and apparently it went down.”

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9:25 a.m.

Taylor Swift says a former radio DJ grabbed her behind underneath her skirt, not above it, during a 2013 pre-concert meet-and-greet photo session in Denver.

Swift repeatedly gave the account of the incident on the witness stand Thursday in federal court while being questioned in a civil trial over the allegations.

The pop star, dressed in a floral print dress, testified she tried to get as far away from DJ David Mueller as she could but didn’t want to stop the event and disappoint the few dozen people waiting in line.

She said couldn’t have said anything about what happened without others already in the photo area overhearing. She testified that “this was something I did not want known.”

She said she was absolutely stunned and told Mueller and his girlfriend, Shannon Melcher, “thank you for coming” in a monotone voice before they left.

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9:10 a.m.

Taylor Swift has testified in her trial accusing a radio host of groping her that “he grabbed my ass underneath my skirt” when the two posed for a photo together before her 2013 performance in Denver.

David Mueller sued Swift and others on her team, claiming they cost him his job and is seeking up to $3 million in damages. Swift countersued, alleging sexual assault, and is asking for a symbolic $1 judgment.

Swift testified that after she was grabbed she “got as far away from him as I possibly could.”

Swift said she didn’t stop the meet-and-greets after Mueller left because she didn’t want to disappoint a few dozen people who’d been waiting in line. She testified she first mentioned the incident about 15 minutes later to her photographer Stephanie Simbeck.

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9 a.m.

Taylor Swift has taken the witness stand in her lawsuit claiming she was groped by a radio host.

Swift has testified that “it was a definite grab. A very long grab.”

David Mueller sued Swift and others on her team, claiming they cost him his job and is seeking up to $3 million in damages. Swift countersued, alleging sexual assault, and is asking for a symbolic $1 judgment.

Swift’s lawyers have said she does not know Mueller and has no incentive to target him or to fabricate a story.

The case is being tried in federal court under a law allowing the proceeding when the parties live in separate states and the dispute involves a damages claim higher than $75,000.

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12 a.m.

Taylor Swift’s mother didn’t call police to report allegations that a radio station DJ groped her daughter before a 2013 concert, and a liaison for the pop star asked the DJ’s boss to keep a photo of the alleged assault confidential.

Wednesday’s testimony highlighted an initial attempt to keep the encounter in Denver out of the spotlight. Yet four years later, Swift and former DJ David Mueller are embroiled in a widely publicized federal court case.

Andrea Swift said she wanted to keep the encounter private because she didn’t want it to define her daughter’s life.

Mueller sued Taylor Swift for at least $3 million, saying she cost him his job and reputation.

Swift countersued, claiming sexual assault. She says she wants to be an example to other assault victims.

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