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Man gets 19 years for Deep Ellum fight

12:40 PM CDT on Wednesday, April 6, 2005


By MATT STILES / The Dallas Morning News



The man convicted in the Deep Ellum nightclub assault that left a Lakewood man partially paralyzed should spend 19 years in prison, jurors decided this morning.

The panel, which found Jesse Chaddock guilty Monday of engaging in organized criminal activity related to the assault of David Cunniff, deliberated about eight hours before delivering the sentence.

Mr. Chaddock, 28, would be eligible for parole in roughly 9 years, authorities said.

“I think justice was served,” said Mr. Cunniff, who overcame a broken neck to regain some use of his hands and legs thanks to months of rehabilitation.

Prosecutor Toby Shook - who wanted a life sentence - successfully convinced the panel during the week-long trial that Mr. Chaddock had ties to a skinhead gang called Confederate Hammerskins. Those alleged ties contributed to what prosecutors said was a brutal attack in July after a Old 97s concert at Gypsy Tea Room.

“They obviously thought it was an organized gang,” he said after the verdict, acknowledging some disappointment with the length of the sentence. “Some cut him a break because it wasn’t a planned attack.”

Mr. Chaddock testified that he punched Mr. Cunniff to defend a friend, and that he believe the broken neck resulted from the two men’s fall to the club’s concrete floor.

His defense attorney, Phillip Hayes, said his client was “shell shocked.”

“It’s a pretty steep sentence for an accidental injury in a bar fight,” he said.

But he said jurors might simple have believes the prosecution’s theory that Mr. Chaddock’s gang lifestyle and history of violent behavior factored in the incident.

“If the evidence showed them that, then it was a fair verdict,” he said.