Tuck Convicted in the hate crime

Tuck Convicted in Brutal Pipe Attack"

Lee McGuire's 11 News at Noon report Wendell Edwards 11 News at 5 report
HOUSTON -- A Houston jury Thursday convicted the teen described as a neo-Nazi of savagely beating and sodomizing a teen at a party in Spring.

David Henry Tuck, 18, showed no emotion when the verdict was read.

He faces up to life in prison for aggravated sexual assault.

The jury of 10 women and two men took about five hours to reach a verdict.

The victim's family was relieved.

"It's a great uplifting situation today. I mean I think it's just step one," said Carlos Leon, the victim's family attorney. "I mean we're excited, we're happy, but we still have punishment phase. We still have another trial in a month so it's a good first day."

Tuck’s defense attorneys said in closing arguments that their client was innocent and blamed a 16-year-old boy and his 13-year-old sister for the attack. The prosecutor said racial hatred fueled the four- to five-hour attack in which the victim was beaten, kicked and sodomized with the plastic pole of a patio umbrella.

During the trial, 16-year-old Gus Sons and his 13-year-old sister Danielle offered graphic testimony about the attack a party at their home in the Houston suburb of Spring. The youths at the party were drinking, smoking marijuana, snorting cocaine and taking Xanax, according to testimony.

They said the attack was triggered by the victim’s drunken pass at Danielle Sons, then 12, and by an alleged attempt to steal drugs from Gus Sons.

“That day, who had the motive to want to hurt (the victim)? All he is doing is putting Mr. Tuck’s name on what he did,” defense attorney Ken Goode said.

The defense called Gus Sons a "lying scumbag" and said his testimony isn't nearly enough to convict Tuck.

An earlier defense witness testified Danielle Sons told her she participated in the attack.

Trent told the jury of six white people, five black people and one Hispanic that the Sons siblings were not likable but they were telling the truth. He also reiterated earlier comments about Tuck being a skinhead and a neo-Nazi.

“They wanted to kill him, violate him in any way they could,” Trent said of Tuck and 17-year-old Turner, who will be tried separately in the attack. “This man is guilty of about the most heinous crime you will ever see where the victim survived.”

Hinton told jurors the attack was not racially motivated, despite testimony referring to swastikas on Tuck’s possessions.

“You’ve heard about the swastikas and all that stuff; that’s not what this case is about,” he said. “It’s about a bunch of guys all messed up on drugs and someone wound up getting hurt.”

Defense attorneys said there was no physical evidence linking the pole to Tuck or Turner, who is being tried next month.

They said authorities didn’t find any of the victim’s blood on Tuck’s knife, and that they never tested a knife that Sons had.

Trent said Tuck and Turner probably cleaned the knife while pouring bleach all over the victim’s body. He also told jurors the victim’s blood was found all over Tuck’s clothing.

The victim, who was seated with his family near the front row during closing arguments, testified Wednesday he remembered nothing of the assault. He glared at Tuck while sitting on the witness stand.

The victim is a high school senior who spent more than three months in a hospital recovering from his injuries. He initially was not expected to survive. He told jurors he has undergone 20 to 30 surgeries.

The victim’s family has said it believes the attack was a hate crime and law.

Authorities have said they didn’t prosecute it as a hate crime because it wouldn’t affect the possible punishment.

The punishment phase of the trial begins Friday at 10 a.m.

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