A Hill County jury found 40-year-old Christopher Donte Loud of Hubbard guilty of aggravated assault of a public servant for the December 2024 courtroom attack of court-appointed defense attorney Patrick Dohoney and returned a sentence of life in prison.
The jury was selected on Monday, June 23, at the Covington Street Annex, as requested by Judge Dib Waldrip, the presiding administrative region judge, because the offense occurred in the district courtroom of the Hill County Courthouse. The jury trial itself was presided over by Judge Rex Davis, former chief justice of the Tenth Court of Appeals, who held a hearing early Monday morning and then denied the defense’s motion to transfer venue to another county before the jury panel was brought into the courtroom.
District Attorney Mark Pratt handled jury selection and trial for the state, assisted by Assistant District Attorney Matt Boyle. The defendant was represented by attorneys Phil Martinez and Alan Streetman from Waco.
Pratt put two deputies and the victim on the stand in the guilt/innocence phase of trial, along with security camera footage of what he called a “cowardly, brutal attack” on Dohoney, who was seated at counsel table reading and preparing for trial when the defendant walked up and punched him in the face.
Dohoney testified that the assault broke orbital bones and ruptured the back of his eye, leaving him permanently blind in his left eye. The jury was also allowed to view photographs of the injuries taken by Dohoney soon after the incident.
The jury returned a verdict of guilty Tuesday afternoon and the punishment phase began. Boyle introduced the defendant’s prior convictions through DA Investigator Coy West, which included a prior 15-year sentence he had served for aggravated assault.
Pratt then called Bobbie Loud, the defendant’s grandmother, who testified that he burst through her door and punched her in the head, knocking her out of her chair, and continued beating her before taking her truck keys as police entered and stopped him.
That burglary offense is the crime for which Dohoney was in court for a jury trial in December when he was attacked by Loud. After a mistrial was declared due to the assault, Martinez and Streetman were appointed to represent Loud in both cases.
The burglary and assault of his grandmother resulted in a 60-year jury sentence for Loud in April. The jury in the burglary case was not allowed by Judge Waldrip to see the video of the assault of Dohoney in the punishment phase of that trial.
The juries found in their verdicts that Loud’s fist was a deadly weapon in both trials.
Wednesday morning, closing arguments began, with the state requesting a life sentence.
Pratt outlined the defendant’s criminal record and said, “We’ve all heard folks ask, when is someone going to do something about these violent repeat offenders? Today, y’all have that opportunity. I think your decision today will be long-remembered by not only Pat Dohoney, his wife and family, but also by your fellow citizens. And your decision will be heard by, and resonate with, any other defendants who walk into our District Courtroom, our hall of justice, with evil intentions.”
Defense counsel asked for a 15-year sentence, but the jury quickly returned a verdict of life in prison and a $10,000 fine, the maximum sentence allowed by law.
The court then held a hearing regarding the district attorney’s request for the life sentence to be stacked on top of the sentence from the April trial, which the judge granted. That determination means that the State Parole Board cannot release the defendant on parole for at least 60 years.
When asked for comment afterwards, Pratt said: “That’ll do him. He won’t spend another day of his life in the free world, and everyone is safer by that. The DA’s office sincerely appreciates the verdict of this Hill County jury.”
The Lakelander 