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| Tuck asks court to suppress evidence |
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Posted: Friday, August 19, 2011 12:01 pm
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| Convicted serial rapist Bruce Tuck is asking another court to toss out evidence against him.
With more cases pending in Shelby County, the man who became known as the “Big Belly Rapist,” is now filing to suppress evidence found in his parents’ Gleason home that linked him to a series of crimes against women in Shelby County during 2009.
Tuck, 37, faces 21 felony charges, including kidnapping, burglary and robbery, and is currently serving a 60-year sentence for three aggravated rapes that occurred from July through August of 2009 in Martin.
Tuck made a brief appearance in Shelby County Criminal Court earlier this month and now claims that some evidence against him was “illegally obtained” from his bedroom in his parents’ home (in Gleason) and from a storage shed (in Carroll County).
These items include clothing, newspaper clippings and other items allegedly taken from the Shelby County victims, according to a report by The Commercial Appeal.
According to Tuck’s attorney, public defender William Yonkowski, on Sept. 2, 2009, offers searched the family home with a warrant to obtain a DNA sample from Tuck who was, at the time, a suspect for the rapes. Officers continued to search, however, until another attorney for Tuck ordered them to stop.
The search resumed after another search warrant was obtained – a warrant, according to Tuck’s defense, that was issued without probable cause.
Martin Police Cheif David Moore said Tuck’s move was not out of the ordinary.
“If you recall, he made the same claims here in Weakley County and Judge (William) Acree ruled appropriately on that case,” Moore said.
The police chief added he and his department will stand ready to support the prosecution in Shelby County with anything they need from the Martin Police Department.
According to a release from the District Attorney General’s office, Tuck faces five counts of aggravated rape, especially aggravated kidnapping, aggravated robbery, two counts of aggravated burglary, using a gun during a felony and burglary of a motor vehicle in an assault that occurred June 27 on Mikada in the Cordova area; five counts of aggravated rape, aggravated robbery, two counts of aggravated sexual battery, two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of aggravated burglary and using a gun during a felony in an assault that occurred Aug. 5 on Birchbrook in the Whitten-Macon area; six counts of aggravated rape, attempted aggravated rape, two counts of especially aggravated kidnapping, aggravated robbery, two counts of aggravated burglary and using a gun during a felony in connection with an assault Aug. 23 on Trinity Mills in Cordova.
Judge Chris Craft set an Oct. 7 hearing date for the motion to suppress the evidence. The case is set for trial Jan. 23, 2012, in Shelby County.
WCP 8..18.11 |
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