The Bishop State thing concerns Herman’s cousin, David Thomas, and his link with Bishop State.  David was accused of all sorts of mischief, including that Mardi Gras hit and run.  He was fired from his position at Bishop State shortly after.  After his conviction, Herman allegedly intervened to help him get moved to a more comfortable prison.  This was one of the many complaints against Thomas for abusing his power by helping friends and relatives. 

There was very recently an appeal filed in a wrongful termination case against Bishop State by David Thomas.  So they don’t want anyone involved with Bishop to get in the middle of this.

Well, I guess that makes some sense and the prosecutor can always object if Cowboy crosses a line with his questioning.

Everyone already knows none of these young guys are saints and most do have long records.  So, it will all come down to how it all ties together.  You are right though.  There ain’t nothing in this for them except for ridicule and worse coming from the supporters of Thomas.

In that jury questionnaire they specifically want to know if a person has any connection to Bishop State.  What does everyone make of that?

I think people do care about the back stories of criminals,more than you would believe probably. For some,there may be a chance to move onto a better life and do right.Some will be career criminals.It is those we usually see reported on. I had the privilege of talking to one not too long ago. A guy on parole, who t-boned me in Prichard-no insurance,no license…but didn’t run and I had a nice chat with him. I wish him the best. I even BEGGED the responding officer NOT to ticket him. I also met a young man the other day who had been kicked out of school for being “bad.” I don’t know the story behind it-but after I told him to pull his pants up, I told him I believed in him and that I knew he COULD succeed.

All that being said, I wouldn’t be too quick to jump to the conclusion that because people want to see the criminal element locked up, that they don’t believe there is “some” good in them too.jmo Hopefully the jury will be fair minded,and this doesn’t get thrown out on “technicalities,” or whatever the correct legal term would be if Cowboy said the jury was biased.

I agree Bob.  I think he’s going down hard.  These guys aren’t going to get out of jail because of their testimony.  This isn’t fun for them.  Some of them are being threatened and mocked by their community.  Thomas was very well respected and loved.  These boys are brave.

PS..  You’re right Bob.  Some of them were former clients of the defense attorneys.  I think that is one of the complaints of the prosecution, but it looks like they’re going to be allowed.

Since the cases with the victims are already long over, the conflict of interest rules would be there to protect the current client (Thomas).  So that means if they inform him of the conflict of interest, he has the right to waive it and go ahead and allow them to represent him.  So in this situation, it looks like it’s up to Thomas. 

So back to your original question… What happened in the original cases with these victims?  What sort of relationship did these attorneys have with Thomas then?

If it was just one guy’s story, it probably would be an opened and closed case.  But, there are 15 of these guys willing to testify.  There are jail records showing when he would check them out for a weekend.  Plus, semen belonging to at least one of the fifteen was found in the room at Government Plaza.  That starts to build into a fairly solid circumstantial case, imo.

Cowboy will slam the 15 black guys and then yell racism at the top of his lungs.  It should make for an interesting show.

I’m pretty sure Cowboy’s strategy revolves around trashing the credibiilty of the accusers.  I think it’s unfortunate that many people (possibly jurors?) will sympathize with that reasoning.  In that regard, Thomas did a good job choosing his victims.  (Allegedly, of course). 

Nobody’s really looking out for the young “thugs” locked up in jail.  Just from the comments you can read on here alone, people dislike them in general and aren’t interested in their back story or what good they may or may not have done, and may one day do in the future if they turn their life around. I see a lot of: “If you commit a crime (or run from the cops, etc), screw you! You deserve whatever’s coming to you!” 

If too many of the jurors have that attitude, Cowboy will convince them that the witnesses are not credible.  That’s what makes this such a tough case for the prosecution.  Thomas’ (alleged) actions seem completely outrageous in retrospect, but he knew what he was doing.  Bully the folks nobody else cares about, and no one will even notice.

I would think comments to WKRG would count depending on which side was questioning you and what your comments were.lol I’ve never had the joy of jury duty…wonder why????lol

So, I guess we will hear opening statements Friday, if all goes well.  That should give us an idea what direction Cowboy will try to take the case.