FBI Agent Kelly Smith held his ground yesterday in calling into question testimony from a string of high-profile defense witnesses in the criminal insurance fraud trial of former state Superior Court Judge Michael T. Joyce.

"Surely, you're not calling Judge [John] Musmanno a liar, are you?" asked defense attorney Philip B. Friedman.

"I don't think his testimony was accurate," Agent Smith responded.

"Are you calling Judge [Kate] Ford Elliott a liar?" Mr. Friedman asked.

"I'm telling you what she told me," said Agent Smith, who had said earlier in his testimony: "Just because someone's a judge doesn't mean they're incapable of lying."

The exchange was the last in the trial of Mr. Joyce, who is facing eight counts, including mail fraud and money laundering.

On Monday, fellow Superior Court Judges Elliott and Musmanno testified on Mr. Joyce's behalf that he complained of back problems in 2002, after a low-speed traffic accident. Agent Smith said the judges told him the complaints occurred in 2001, before the August 2001 accident.

That crash, in which Mr. Joyce was rear-ended, is the impetus for the charges against him. The prosecution contends that Mr. Joyce received $440,000 in insurance payments, even though he wasn't really injured.

The trial, which began Oct. 21, has been filled with testimony about Mr. Joyce golfing, taking flying lessons and scuba diving following the accident.

But the defense has presented evidence that Mr. Joyce truly believed he was injured and has produced binders of medical records to show his many trips to various physicians.

The defense rested yesterday without Mr. Joyce taking the stand. Though there had been much speculation that he would testify, he decided against it.

The government is expected to call at least one more rebuttal witness today, and closing arguments could begin soon after.

Agent Smith also was called by the government as a rebuttal witness yesterday.

He went over his notes and countered several pieces of testimony offered by defense witnesses, including three judges who testified on Monday.

The judges' testimony did not match what Agent Smith had written in his notes from his interviews with them.

Throughout the cross-examination by Mr. Friedman, the attorney questioned why Agent Smith did not record the interviews he conducted with each judge.

Agent Smith kept his cool during the aggressive questioning, telling the jury that it's against FBI policy to tape conversations, because the presence of a recorder can have a chilling effect on a person's speech.

But Mr. Friedman continued, "Since we don't have a recorded statement, you can say anything?"

"I'm under oath. I can't say anything," Agent Smith replied. "I say the truth. I take an oath for this position, and I take it very seriously."