Nikola founder’s trial goes to jury after closing arguments

NEW YORK — The destiny of Nikola Corp ’s founder will probably be within the arms of a jury after he was portrayed Thursday in closing arguments by a prosecutor as a routine liar, and by his lawyer as an inspiring visionary being unjustly prosecuted.

Trevor Milton, 40, has pleaded not responsible to securities and wire fraud. In 2020, he resigned from the corporate he based in a Utah basement six years in the past.

Deliberations will start Friday within the Manhattan federal legal trial, after it was delayed for over every week after Milton’s lawyer examined optimistic for the coronavirus.

In closings Thursday, protection legal professional Marc Mukasey urged acquittal, saying there was “a shocking lack of proof” that his consumer ever meant to cheat buyers.

“The federal government by no means proved fraud,” Mukasey stated. “There have been no crimes right here and Trevor Milton will not be responsible.”

In 2020, Nikola’s inventory worth plunged and buyers suffered heavy losses as stories questioned Milton’s claims that the corporate had already produced zero-emission 18-wheel vehicles.

The corporate paid $125 million final yr to settle a civil case in opposition to it by the Securities and Change Fee. Nikola, which continues to function from an Arizona headquarters, didn’t admit any wrongdoing.

In his closing rebuttal argument, Assistant U.S. Legal professional Matthew Podolsky insisted the proof was overwhelming that Milton lied repeatedly to make it appear Nikola had produced operable vehicles fueled by hydrogen gasoline and that the corporate had billions of {dollars} in contracts once they did not exist.

Podolsky stated Milton needed to get wealthy and realized that he might dupe buyers into supporting Nikola by means of lies, like when he claimed Nikola had constructed its personal revolutionary truck that was truly a Normal Motors Corp. product with Nikola’s emblem stamped onto it.

One other instance was when he sped up the video of a truck rolling down a hill to make it appear to be the corporate had developed a completely functioning truck when it had not, the prosecutor stated.

“The lies. That’s what this case is about,” Podolsky stated.

He stated Milton went on tv information applications to inform his lies and tweeted them as nicely.

Podolsky advised jurors to not settle for Mukasey’s explanations for his consumer’s conduct, together with arguments that Milton had the assist of the corporate’s board of administrators and was not warned by anybody to cease conveying his enthusiasm for Nikola publicly.

“That is the robber blaming the guard for not stopping him,” he stated.

Associated video: