by Jessica Taloney
Published: Wed, October 07, 2009 - 9:51 am CST
Last Updated: Wed, October 07, 2009 - 10:10 pm CST
MOBILE, Alabama - Before jurors were allowed to enter the ceremonial courtroom at Government Plaza Wednesday morning, prosecutors dropped one of the 15 cases against former Circuit Court Judge Herman Thomas.Prosecutors deny a lawsuit filed by the alleged victim, Willie Pearson, was the reason for dismissing the charges.
In the lawsuit, which was filed June 12 against Joe Kulakowski, Pearson claims Kulakowski, an attorney representing him in another case, told him to testify against Thomas and threatened him if he would not. "He said that I knew about a tape," Pearson wrote in the suit. "If I don't get him that tape I would get some time."
Pearson also claims Kulakowski used another alleged victim in the Thomas case to threaten his son. Pearson says his son was told he would get $1,000 if he would break into Pearson's house to get the tape.
Pearson, who was one of fifteen men accusing Thomas of sexual abuse, is suing for $50,0000 in punitive damages, but Kulakowski, who insists he still represents Pearson, says the suit will be dismissed.
Kulakowski says Pearson filed the lawsuit after Bob Clark, one of Herman Thomas' attorney's, visited him in jail and convinced him Kulakowski was misrepresenting him.
"He came and talked to me," Pearson told Kulakowski during a phone call from Metro Jail on May 29. "He said that y'all crossed me. You crossed me. My paper work was wrong and everything."
Kulakowski says Pearson has access to a sex tape involving Herman Thomas, and he says Pearson promised to give him the tape. Kulakowski admits he wanted the tape, but says Clark wanted it too. Clark denies that.
"So, you're going to sell the tape to Bob Clark," Kulakowski asked Pearson during the jailhouse phone call. "If I don't get back in court," said Pearson, who insisted he was wrongly put in jail over a probation violation.
Chief Assistant District Attorney Nicki Patterson says the lawsuit is not why Pearson's case was dismissed. She says prosecutors believe the allegations Pearson has made against Thomas, but said dismissing the case was a strategic effort to simplify the trial.
"This particular allegation was from a time period a couple years earlier and would require extensive testimony," said Patterson, who says allegations from the other fourteen accusers all allegedly happened around the same time. "We finally made the call not to confuse the jurors and just focus on the main events," she said.
Jury selection continued Wednesday morning in the remaining 14 cases against Thomas. Thomas is charged with more than 70 counts including sodomy, sex abuse, kidnapping and extortion.
Attorneys have narrowed the pool of potential jurors down to 152. Wednesday, potential jurors were questioned about their knowledge of the case and their associations with people involved in the trial.
Herman Thomas Jury Selection Begins
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