Jurors have convicted a Gwinnett County man on simple assault and theft, but cleared him of a weapons charge in an alleged attack of a woman at a Walmart.
Manny Dupree was accused of kidnapping and raping a woman at a Lawrenceville Walmart store in 2013.
The jury made their decision Tuesday morning after becoming deadlocked on four other charges, including rape and kidnapping, Monday.
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“Exhausted that the minority might be induced to vote for a verdict just to be done if they’re still at the same position given the count we got and the time that the one or two that have been… I’m sure encouraged to change their vote for a significant period of time,” said judge Karen Beyers.
On the stand, Dupree said what witnesses described as an attack was really him trying to give a friend a hug. He said the woman offered him money for sex, which he accepted.
Jury foreman Danny Contreras said he's frustrated that after three days of deliberations, they jury he led couldn't reach a verdict on four of the seven charges.
"I'm very frustrated because regardless of the fact that he did get charged with something, I live in this location," he said.
Contreras said one juror insisted on not guilty.
"According to her, she was not raped and according to her, she went voluntarily. That made no sense and it made no sense to the other jurors," he said.
The judge declared a mistrial on the undecided charges and sentenced Dupree to six years in prison-- four to serve on the guilty verdicts.
He will be retried at a later date on the other charges.
Cox Media Group
