A man with a criminal record has been found guilty of aggravated kidnapping and aggravated assault after brutally beating a prostitute in his home with several objects, as reported by the Dallas News.
J.G., 28, had pleaded not guilty to the charges. Collin County jurors, having the option of convicting J.G. for unlawful restraint instead of kidnapping, found him guilty on the original charges.
On July 5, 2012, J.G. bound M.D. with tape and struck her in the head and body with several objects: a skillet, a wrench and a knife. He also beat her with his fists and kicked her. M.D. testified during the trial that J.G. bound her hands and feet, and then used more of the tape to cover her mouth before he began the assault.
When J.G. used the wrench it was to hold it against M.D.'s neck until she felt herself passing out. He then carved his three-letter nickname, "Ace", into her thigh with a kitchen steak knife. After also suffering with a broken nose and tooth she was able to escape once J.G. fell asleep.
Prosecutor Brandon Wonnacott said, "He treated her like a piece of property" and then "he terrorized" her.
J.G.'s attorney Glenn Adams argued that the victim was not a credible witness as she had been arrested for prostitution, had a pending felony in Oklahoma and had a propensity for lying.
In her defense M.D. explained that she originally lied to the police about the beating because she was fearful of being arrested again.
In speaking to the jurors, Adams asked that they find his client not guilty. Even if they could believe M.D.'s testimony, the beating wasn't planned. He further suggested that the "ugly set of facts" presented by the prosecution didn't meet the legal definition of an aggravated kidnapping. Adams finished by telling jurors, "You can't convict because you don't like him."
During the sentencing phase prosecutor Cynthia Walker told jurors that this was only one of several criminal charges J.G. has faced over the years – at least his fifth. Some of the details given to the jurors included a two-½ year prison term for DUI with a suspended license, misdemeanor convictions for theft in North Texas, failing to stop at an accident and driving with a suspended license.
Lastly, J.G. was on probation – for an assault conviction involving his girlfriend – when he committed the assault on M.D.
Walker explained to jurors, "We'll be asking for significant prison time for the offenses …but for you to punish him appropriately, you need to know him."
Adams countered by stating that his client "still has a chance to have a life after he's atoned for what he did." According to Adams, J.G. was a victim himself of early physical abuse by his father and was raised alone by his mother.
J.G. is facing five to 99 years in prison on the aggravated kidnapping conviction and two to 20 years on the aggravated assault conviction.
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