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Oct 27, 2008 6:23 pm US/Central
BLOG: Trial Of Duncanville Sex Club Owner
DALLAS (CBS 11 News/ AP) ―
CBS 11's Bud Gillet blogged from what may be the most media-covered class-c misdemeanor trial in Dallas county in years.
Jim Trulock is the co-owner of a swinger's club located in the residential area of Duncanville. Trulock, 59, owns the "Cherry Pit" with 30-year-old Julie Norris. None of the citations were issued against Norris.
Attorneys for Trulock say the Cherry Pit is a private residence where a group of friends get together on weekends to socialize in whatever way they prefer. Guests are encouraged to make voluntary donations to cover the cost of food and refreshments, but organizers deny that anyone is being charged admission to his parties.
Trulock is charged with the five counts of operating a sex club without a license and five counts of operating a business in residential area. The class-3 misdemeanors carry a maximum penalty of $2,000 per guilty verdict.
Trulock has pleaded not guilty to all 10 counts. His defense attorneys opted to make their opening statement after the prosecution presents its case.
The citations were issued before
Duncanville and Cedar Hill police raided the Cherry Pit on July 18. Police confiscated business records, alcoholic beverages and other evidence in the raid.
In September,
police arrested both Norris and Trulock on charges associated with operating an unregistered club. They have also been accused of illegally selling alcohol.
On Thursday, Oct. 20,
Trulock was arrested and charged with money laundering, a second degree felony. Norris faced the same charge.
"We think this is a situation where the government has attempted to regulate in an area where they are not entitled to regulate and it's an invasion of these people's privacy and their constitutional rights," said defense attorney Ed Klein.
Trulock and Norris have a civil case pending against the city challenging the ordinance.
CBS 11 first
reported on the Cherry Pit on November 5, 2007. Later that month, the
Duncanville's City Council passed an ordinance banning sexually oriented businesses.
Stay with CBS11TV.com for more on this developing story.
5:58 p.m. At least two other witnesses were allowed to plead the Fifth Amendment since testimony could conceivably be used to charge them in the more serious organized crime charge.
That's because -- in theory -- anyone who'd been inside or a patron could be part of the conspiracy. That matter is still waiting for the district attorney to act.
4:46 p.m. The second witness, a "possible client," pleaded the 5th and was released.
2:51 p.m. Opening arguments. Duncanville City Prosecutor Kim Lafferty told jurors the issue is not about sex, but about an unlicensed business.
She said evidence will show the Cherry Pit even has a Web site advertising a bar and dance floor, the largest hot tub in Dallas, and a room with six beds in it where patrons can engage in sexual activity or watch others.
Defense will wait to offer opening arguments. The first witness is Thomas Grecco, a city code inspector who witnessed the sex business that led to two of the ten counts.
1:18 p.m. The jury has been seated: two women, four men. Opening arguments begin at 2 p.m. and the trial could take a few days.
9:45 a.m. There is a jury pool of 28. Only six will be chosen.
Several in the potential jury pool said they felt a sexually oriented business should not be allowed in Duncanville.
"Something labeled a cherry pit that's not a fruit stand should not be here," one woman said during jury selection. She was not chosen for the jury.
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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