Sandra K Reabuck
The Tribune-Democrat
EBENSBURG —
A Cambria County jury of seven women and five men is deliberating this afternoon on whether Robert Tubbs of Portage is guilty of sexually assaulting a woman for hours at gunpoint.
Tubbs, 45, is charged with 16 offenses, including felony counts of rape and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse. He’s also accused of endangering the welfare of a 6-year-old boy who was asleep in a nearby bedroom during the assault.
The jury got the case at 1:15 p.m. after hearing closings from the lawyers and instructions in the law from Judge Linda Fleming.
Tubbs, who testified in his own defense during the three-day trial, said that the sex was consensual. He denied that gun was used at anytime during the incident on Aug. 29, 2010, at his Portage home.
When he finally allowed the woman to leave the master bedroom, she got her son, went to the garage for the car and drove to her parents home several miles away before calling the police.
Assistant District Attorney Tamara Bernstein, asking the jury to convict the defendant, described the assault - which lasted for hours - as horrific. She maintained that Tubbs version that there had been romantic lovemaking was preposterous.
Defense Attorney Thomas Dickey said that Tubbs has had no history of violence. The defense lawyer suggested that woman had made up details of what had happened as he recalled that some of the details had never been told before she got on the stand.
Dickey also maintained that the prosecution’s case was filled with reasonable doubt as he asked for “not guilty” verdicts for Tubbs.
