Man accused of punching his mother breaks down in court

A man accused of punching his mother so hard she collapsed to the floor broke down and cried Monday morning in state District Court.

Jefferey Shuck of Anaconda is accused of his third partner or family member assault. State District Court Judge Daniel Boucher said Shuck had already been convicted twice of the offense. That makes the third allegation a felony.

Shuck seemed disoriented at times. He asked Boucher whom he was addressing when Boucher addressed two defendants at once, Shuck included, of their rights before asking how they would plead. And just before entering his plea for the alleged assault on his mother, Shuck began to cry. His public defender, Jesse Fries, handed him a tissue, and Shuck managed to compose himself and plead not guilty.

Fries said, after the arraignment hearing was finished, that Shuck was well enough to answer for himself and the disorientation may have been a result of fatigue after driving to Havre from Anaconda.

"Long day, I guess," Fries said.

Shuck's alleged assault on his mother took place Dec. 10.

State District Court files say Hill County Sheriff's Office received a call from an Adult Protective Services worker who wanted deputies to check on a woman who had been treated at the Liberty County Medical Center emergency room for suffering blunt force trauma after being hit in the head.

Later that day, the Sheriff's Office received another call, this time from the same woman's daughter, asking that deputies check on her mother.

Deputies arrived at the residence and found the Shuck's mother and two others. After talking to the mother, deputies learned that Shuck and his girlfriend had been staying with them since Thanksgiving.

Deputies were told that Shuck and his girlfriend were arguing about their relationship that morning and Shuck hit her in the mouth, "causing injury to her lip," the charging document says.

Then Shuck's mother told officers how she got hit.

She said she was standing by the water cooler in the kitchen when she said something to Shuck. County prosecutor files say Shuck then walked over to his mother and punched her in the face.

"Shuck hit her so hard she fell to the floor," the charging document says.

Files say Shuck's mother's face was swollen, and she had redness in the lower white part of her eye.

Boucher told Fries to have motions and trial dates reserved by May 13. Shuck was told to go to the Hill County Detention Center to be booked and released.