Former Judge Herman Thomas Not Guilty

Alabama Mobile  Jury finds Herman Thomas him not guilty on 7 of 21 charges. The judge then found him not guilty on the remaining 14 based on lack of evidence.
by WKRG Staff/The Associated Press
Published: Mon, October 26, 2009 - 8:04 am CST Last Updated: Tue, October 27, 2009 - 8:21 am CST
MOBILE, Alabama - 3:28 p.m.
- News 5's Jessica Taloney says there was lots of shouting and cheering inside and outside courtroom when the verdict was read.
- Herman Thomas had no comment.
- District Attorney John Tyson says he is disappointed.

2:22 p.m.
- Jury finds Herman Thomas him not guilty on 7 of 21 charges (5 sex abuse,1 sodomy, 1 assault). The judge then found him not guilty on the remaining 14 counts based on lack of evidence.
- News 5's Jessica Taloney will have reaction tonight on News 5 at 5:00 and 6:00.

1:51 p.m.
- Jury foreman says the jury has reached a verdict on some of the charges. The foreman also said it was almost impossible to reach verdict on some of the other charges.
- The judge told them to keep deliberating.

9:05 a.m.
The jury in the trial of former Mobile
County Circuit Judge Herman Thomas is set to begin a third day of
deliberations.

The jury of seven women and five men is scheduled to report at 9
a.m. Monday. Jurors deliberated for two hours Thursday and all day
Friday without reaching a verdict on charges of assault, sex abuse,
sodomy and attempted sodomy.

Thomas is accused of sexually abusing and paddling inmates who
appeared before him in court. His attorneys say he's the victim of
lying felons. Prosecutors say he paddled young men with their pants
down for sexual gratification.

News 5's Jessica Taloney is at Government Plaza. You can follow what's going on inside the courtroom by following her on Twitter. As soon as there is a verdict, we'll bring it to you.

Keep up with breaking news when you're at work or on the go. Get breaking news updates on twitter or facebook. You can also sign up for News 5 Text Alerts. News 5 can also send breaking news alerts to your e-mail.
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Southfan 1981:  What are you talking about.  Did you attend South Alabama or are you a wanna be educated person.  Man I say that is why I left the South.  A lot of white people, I didn’t say all.  If you are black you are guilty.  How many of you would ever vote for an African American.  Polls have shown that if an African American and a European American apply for a job and the AA person is more educated and more experience, the mojority of you will still hire the White American.  So I probably may need to stop commenting because you all are all small minded.

MrBurt:  How may I say this.  You have lost your damn mine.  I know him.  I am educated and my be more educated than you and majority of the people on here.  Yes, I am a very confident man.  I have never heard this and my whole family lives there. And yes I have an educated family. To hear a so call African American man say this.  This leads me to say two things.  Either you had a family member go to jail or you are white.  It is over.  Please don’t let me bring up cases from the criminal justice system.  I tell you half of you would be shocked.

The answer is in the jury. If questioned by the D.A. he may get something that he was truely searching for. Yes, it may cost the city. Yes, it may cost this judge his own personal respect,but at what cost did it effect the men who were imprisoned. At what cost did this effect there families. It isn’t about race. Its about people, human being, doing something so horrible and heinous that it has been declared against the law. What is the problem? B&R brothers and relatives. We all have them. “Let me help you, and you help me.” Throw the judge out. He over stepped . It was a jury trial. So where did he get off making statements that were not his to make.I hope and pray the D.A. can do something. This criminal is walking free among all of us. Do You want to have him take you child for a little ride?

Could you just once let the OJ thing go, at this point it is not an issue of black or white Herman Thomas is a black man who violated black men. The issues at this point are whether the jury was tampered with, will the DA office investigate the concerns of the three jurors.  Will Mr. Tyson pursue justice for the new victims of Mr. Thomas who have recently come forward or will the city of Mobile worry more about the possible lawsuits that may come from Mr. Thomas actions.  The issue here today my friend is justice by any other name….

Mr.Burt,well said.

The DA’s office should pole the jury; at this point with three people coming forward, a runaway jury may be at work the DA office should investigate.

The DA’s office should pole the jury; at this point with three people coming forward, a runaway jury may be at work the DA office should investigate.

You OJ was found not guilty the first time around!
Thomas will get what’s coming to him!

the trial is over, its a dead issue. tyson will grandstand later today i am sure but the jurors were all there when the verdict was read in court, and thats where the opportunity to speak up was if they suspected irregularities. i dont doubt some were ramrodded a little. but again the wight rests on them for not reporting it DURING the trial. its a dead issue, its been adjuticated, its over. to bring it up again is double jeopardy.

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