By Patrick Lynn

The trial of a Stevens Point lawyer facing 31 counts of sexual assault and battery is now underway in Appleton.

David G. Dudas, 49 formerly of the Town of Dale, could face as much as 700 years in prison after being accused of beating and raping his wife over a series of incidents as far back as March 2012. The last incident, in July 2013, resulted in her hospitalization and Dudas’ arrest.

Monday was day six of the trial, by which time the prosecution had rested. Jurors by then heard emotional testimony from Dudas’ wife and two of their adult children who relayed details of the night of July 21. According to court documents the children’s mother ran from the couple’s upstairs bedroom shouting for help, at which point one of the adult sons put her in his car and drove to the hospital. His testimony indicated she had trouble breathing and staying conscious during the drive.

During her testimony, Dudas’ wife alleges a series of violent encounters in the couple’s bedroom over the past year. She said she’d learned to not argue or turn her husband down for sex or she would be “taught a lesson” by being dragged around the bedroom by her hair or be harmed in some other way. She also claims Dudas choked her and shoved his fist down her throat but a medical expert called by the defense said there’s no evidence of that.

Another of  Dudas’ sons testified he heard sounds of a physical struggle on the evening of July 21, and minutes later saw his mother run from an upstairs bedroom with blood stains on her robe and bleeding from a cut above her eye. He said retrieved an ice pack for her then tried to call 911 but Dudas stopped him. The older brother made the call instead before driving her to the hospital.

Testimony has also been provided by medical providers who examined Dudas’ wife that night, as well as police officers who were familiar with video evidence of sexual violence, recorded by Dudas himself.

Jurors spent Thursday and part of Friday watching more than 2 hours of 17 different videos depicting Dudas and his wife having sex. Some jurors became ill while watching the graphic material and requested waste baskets. Defense counsel claims some parts of the video show Dudas’ wife was a willing participant in the events, proving the events were consensual.

Dudas himself took the stand in his own defense Monday, claiming while sexual relations between him and his wife were “extreme”, they were consensual and the marriage was a happy one. Dudas wiped a tear from his eye as he spoke of how much he loved his wife, then claimed the couple developed mutual a taste for sadomasochism during the course of their marriage.

Dudas claims on the night of his arrest, he and his wife began to argue during sex, after which his wife angrily ran from the room and accidentally hit herself in the face with the bedroom door, causing the cut above her eye.

Dudas’ lawyer, Stephen Hurley, argued Dudas’ wife returned home from the hospital and rearranged the bedroom to fit her story of what happened before Outagamie County investigators arrived to interview her and collect evidence. It wasn’t until after her sons asked what happened that Dudas’ wife made up the story of abuse, Hurley said.

Dudas, who has a law office on Clark Street in Stevens Point, also testified he had been depressed in the weeks following his arrest and had written suicide notes to his family members.

The trial is expected to conclude this week in Appleton with jury deliberations expected shortly after.