Lawyer gets 30 years for abusing his wife
A suspended 49-year-old Wisconsin lawyer was sentenced Wednesday to 30 years in prison after being convicted in a jury trial earlier this year of 30 of the 31 counts he faced concerning the abuse, strangulation and sexual assault of his wife.
David Dudas did not speak at his sentencing in the Outagamie County case and showed little emotion, according to the Appleton Post-Crescent and Fox 11.
Although he contended at trial that his extreme sexual conduct with his wife was consensual, jurors apparently were persuaded otherwise with the help of 17 videos the lawyer recorded of their encounters between March 2012 and July 2013.
Judge Tammy Jo Hock was brought in from Brown County to preside over the case because of Dudas’ work in Outagamie County while he was still in practice. She said his failure to take responsibility and apologize for the emotional and physical damage done to his wife and the fear in which he placed her and their children played a role in the sentence.
During trial, “I thought it was also noteworthy that he positioned himself in a way during the trial to watch the videos completely unobstructed,” said Hock. “He put on his glasses and unflinchingly watched the videos in totality.”
Attorney Stephen Hurley represented Dudas. He sought a sentence of six-and-a-half years, saying that his client had been described as a good father and husband by his family in cards and videos and arguing that the 30 to 35 years sought by the prosecution was retribution rather than punishment.
“It’s really easy when someone’s done something wrong and harmed another to begin to view the one who’s convicted as a one- or two-dimensional person,” Hurley said. “To allow that act to define the entire individual. It’s a simple thing to do, it’s a human thing to do, and it’s inaccurate. The truth is, he’s multidimensional, as all human beings are.”
