State Sen. Robert Regola III never said a word to the jury during his perjury trial.

His lawyers rested their case yesterday in Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court after putting on a defense lasting just 40 minutes. Because Mr. Regola decided not to testify, his trial moved toward a conclusion several days sooner than President Judge John E. Blahovec said he expected.

Lawyers for both sides will make their closing arguments this morning, and jurors should begin deliberations by noon.

Mr. Regola, 45, a Republican from Hempfield, is on trial for perjury, false swearing, reckless endangerment and providing a firearm to a minor.

All the charges are connected to the shooting death in July 2006 of Louis Farrell, a 14-year-old neighbor of the senator's who killed himself with Mr. Regola's handgun, according to a coroner's ruling.

Mr. Regola's 9 mm pistol was found in the woods near Louis' body. Mr. Regola's son had given Louis a key to the Regolas' home hours earlier so he could care for the dogs while the family was away. Prosecutors say Louis took the gun and a loaded ammunition clip while he was in the home.

Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck offered a new witness yesterday who backed up the state's theory that Mr. Regola had supplied his son with the pistol, then lied about it.

David DePetris, estranged brother-in-law of the senator, said Mr. Regola gave the 9 mm pistol to son Bobby as a Christmas present in 2003. Bobby Regola had just turned 14.

"I was surprised. It's not an appropriate gift for a child of that age," Mr. DePetris said.

Earlier, two state police officers said Mr. Regola told them the handgun was his, but he had kept it in his teenage son's room before moving it to his own bedroom. Prosecutors charged Mr. Regola with perjury because they say he changed his story at the inquest, testifying that he never stored the gun in his son's room.

Mr. DePetris, 36, said he withheld information about Mr. Regola giving the pistol to his son until two months ago.

"I didn't come forward because of loyalty to the [Regola] family," he said. This loyalty ended after he legally separated from Mr. Regola's sister and the family stopped talking to him, he said.

Defense lawyer Charles Porter asked Mr. DePetris why he leveled his charges only five days after his wife filed a protection order against him. She claimed he abused her.

Mr. Porter also accused Mr. DePetris of threatening his wife and being vengeful toward the senator. The defense produced a blue baby bib that Mr. DePetris sent to his wife via their 2-year-old daughter. Mr. Porter said the bib contained a written threat -- "I'll get even."

In the defense portion of the case, Greensburg Police Chief Walter Lyons backed up Mr. Regola's account of where he stored his handgun.

Chief Lyons said the senator talked to him perhaps a month before Louis' death. He said Mr. Regola told him he had moved his 9 mm pistol from his work office to his bedroom because he was fearful of a drifter who appeared to be living in the woods behind the Regolas' home.

Mr. Peck asked the chief why he had never made a report about this and how he could be certain the gun was a 9 mm. Chief Lyons replied that his memory of the conversation was clear.

The defense also called seven character witnesses for Mr. Regola. They included the president of St. Vincent College, a retired Greensburg policeman and a boyhood friend of Mr. Regola's.

Mr. Peck briefly cross-examined most of those witnesses, often suggesting they were friendly with the senator because of his political power. The St. Vincent president, Jim Towey, conceded that he had known Mr. Regola only since about the time of Louis' death. Mr. Towey also said Mr. Regola had been helpful in the college's efforts to obtain a $1 million grant.