AKRON, Ohio -- Lawyers for kidnap and rape suspect Jimmy Lee Tayse say they will rest their case this morning without calling any witnesses.

Mr. Tayse's trial then will move to closing arguments by prosecutors and the defense. Jurors should begin their deliberations by this afternoon.

Defense lawyers said they decided not to offer any testimony on the hope that the state did not meet its burden on at least some of the 15 felony charges against Mr. Tayse.

"It boils down to whether the state has proven its case," said Scott Rilley, one of Mr. Tayse's lawyers.

Summit County prosecutors called more than 20 witnesses, including the 5-foot-2, 99-pound woman that Mr. Tayse is accused of kidnapping from the parking lot of Waterworks Mall in Pittsburgh. He is 7 inches taller and at least 100 pounds heavier than the woman, who is from Fox Chapel.

She testified that Mr. Tayse put a knife to her 16-month-old daughter's throat the morning of April 7, then ordered her to drive him out of Pennsylvania.

During the five harrowing hours that followed, prosecutors say, Mr. Tayse raped the woman three times in Brimfield, Ohio. He also is charged with robbing her of her wedding rings and forcing her to withdraw money for him from banks and cash machines in stores. As she tried to get him the money he demanded, she said, he stood right by her, clutching her daughter.

Mr. Tayse, 30, formerly of Johnstown, Pa., spoke just two words during his five-day trial. Common Pleas Judge Thomas Teodosio asked him yesterday if he had decided not to testify in his own behalf.

"Yes, sir," Mr. Tayse said in a loud voice.

Jurors were not in court when that exchange occurred, but they heard Mr. Tayse's voice on a tape-recorded call he made to his mother from jail.

"They don't have the knife," Mr. Tayse said of detectives. Later, he tried to play down his own statement, telling his mother he was referring to a knife police said he used in the kidnapping.

The Fox Chapel woman said Mr. Tayse told her he was "going away for life" when the kidnapping began. But Mr. Rilley said Mr. Tayse was not in serious legal trouble before the abduction and rape case.

Mr. Rilley said Mr. Tayse could have faced charges for violating a protection order and for punching his former girlfriend, Amanda Miller, in the face.

Judge Teodosio yesterday excused one female juror from further service because of a family emergency. A young man who had been an alternate took her place. The jury that will decide whether Mr. Tayse should spend the rest of his life in prison now consists of seven women and five men.