“Can’t” sounded as though the defense was not allowed to, the way it was put. Have a blessed Sunday!
What the article said is: "Prosecutors don’t even have to acknowledge her absence, and the defense is not allowed to."
In other words, the prosecution need not explain why they did not call her. The defense is not allowed to talk about what witnesses the prosecution did not call.
The defense could call her, but why would they? She, by her own account, witnessed nothing.