DUNCANVILLE, TX — Don’t screw with Duncanville, TX — or in it, for that matter, unless you’re screwing only your spouse.That’s the message Cherry Pit owner Jim Trulock received Tuesday when a jury deliberated just 45 minutes before finding him guilty of 10 municipal misdemeanor charges leveled against the swinger club. Trulock faces a $7,500 fine for operating what he calls “private parties” without a sexually oriented business license and for allowing people to have sex on the premises of his single-family residence during the parties.
During the two-day trial, Trulock and his attorney argued Cherry Pit isn’t a business. City prosecutor Kim Lafferty countered by producing four witnesses who said they paid $50 to attend Cherry Pit parties. The witnesses also described the home’s living as playing pornographic videos on multiple television screens.
“This is not a house that is being used as a residence,” Lafferty told the jury. “There aren’t too many people who have a stripper pole in the middle of their living room or a bar upstairs where you have a bartender serving drinks.”
Lafferty also produced a copy of the assumed name certificate filed with Dallas County. The certificate, purchased by Trulock, allows him to do business under the name Cherry Pit.
Six of the 11 witnesses called by the prosecution — based on paperwork seized from the home — invoked the Fifth Amendment, saying they were afraid of incriminating themselves with their testimony. Criminal charges related to Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code violations and organized crime remain outstanding against Trulock and the home’s co-owner, Julie M. Norris.
Ed Klein, Trulock’s attorney, said the convictions were “indicative of a climate of intolerance in the city of Duncanville.” He also said he will appeal the jury’s verdict and seek to have the fine reduced. The prosecution provided only hearsay evidence, he argued.
“They didn’t bring you anything you could touch, see, smell or hear,” he told the jury during closing arguments. “With the resources the city of Duncanville has available to them, they could have brought you evidence of business activity there if they had any, but they don’t.
“Duncanville’s motto is ‘the perfect blend of family, community and business,’ and Mr. Trulock just doesn’t fit in,” he added. “They designed an ordinance around [Trulock and the Cherry Pit] to try to run him out of town.”
