SAN ANTONIO – Glen Dukes, 45, whom prosecutors label a "pimp" refused to leave his jail cell when deputies arrived to transfer him to the Cadena-Reeves Justice Center for his trial Friday.
During a hearing outside the presence of the jury, Deputy Nick Rocha said Dukes became "agitated and animated" when he attempted to take him from jail to court.
"He basically said that he was improperly arrested, his rights were being violated and he doesn't feel as though he's getting proper representation and until he got proper representation, he's not going to come to court," Rocha testified.
District Judge Ron Rangel ordered that the trial resume without Dukes.
"Based on his behavior yesterday and this morning refusing to come to court, the court is making a finding that Mr. Dukes has voluntarily absented himself for today," Rangel said.
The day's first witness was one of five women that Dukes is accused of forcing into prostitution.
She said that she had been working the streets as a prostitute and that Dukes convinced her to join his "family," as he called it. The family, she said, consisted of several other woman working as prostitutes.
An admitted crack cocaine addict, she said Dukes would keep all of her earnings in exchange for drugs and a place to live. She described it as an East Side house where the women could turn "tricks" and do drugs.
She said she was often subjected to beatings from Dukes for not making enough money.
Dukes, who is awaiting trial on a capital murder charge in the killing of a prostitute, is facing a possible life sentence if convicted in the human trafficking case currently on trial.
Testimony is expected to continue on Monday in Rangel's 379th District Court.