Time Threatens Herman Thomas Case

Alabama Mobile  A former judge accused of forcing inmates to perform sexual favors wants the charges dismissed based on the statute of limitations.
by Jessica Taloney
Published: Fri, September 25, 2009 - 2:48 pm CST Last Updated: Fri, September 25, 2009 - 4:05 pm CST
MOBILE, Alabama - Former Circuit Court Judge Herman Thomas, 48, is scheduled to go to trial in ten days on allegations that he paddled inmates and threatened to send them back to jail if they didn't perform sexual favors, but the statute of limitations is threatening the case.

Thomas' attorney, Bob Clark, filed a motion to dismiss the charges, telling a judge Friday the incidents allegedly happened more than three years ago, which is the statute of limitations for felonies.

A Special Session of the Mobile County Grand Jury handed down a 57 count indictment in April and 46 additional counts in August, but the indictments do not list dates of the alleged incidents. During Friday's hearing, retired Marengo County Circuit Court Judge Claud Neilson, who is presiding over the case, ordered prosecutors to give dates to the defense.

Based on statements from the alleged victims, which were discussed in court, it appears the first allegation involves incident(s) in 1999, the year Thomas was appointed to the Circuit Court bench. The most recent incident allegedly happened in 2005.

"If the crime involves violence in any way it's taken out of that statue of limitations," said Chief Assistant District Attorney Nicki Patterson, who argued the allegations against Thomas are violent. "Some of these people had several beatings, others had one," she said.

Defense attorneys also challenged the ethics and extortion charges, disputing whether sexual favors can be considered property. "Illegal though it may be, you can sell sex," said Patterson. "It is something you can take from somebody just as well."

Jury selection in Thomas' trial is scheduled to begin October 5. Judge Neilson said he will make a decision on the latest motions early next week.






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the trial will tell. plan on attending, it will br better than court tv. i will let you know wht happens that they dont put on the news

Hard to explain away all the semen in the secret room.

i think they have what they need, now that the FBI is not sitting on the files. i guess news reporters don’t make the big bucks for this kind of stuff with news papers in decline.

there’s probably some essence of a 1/2 truth in those stories but not enough to convict him on. the da’s office had a very weak case. i would like to see some one investigate and report to us about what that entire affiar was all about, from steve giardone’s resignation and what led to that, same about the fbi director. and if they had a weak case going in like the senate did against clinton, the correlation is trying a weak case you know you are going to loose but dont care about the lives it will wreck, then why prosecute this case? why even bring it up, just let him fade off into retirement.some of the things he did i didint care about, like getting dave thomas housed in prichard. it even made sense to me you coulndt have him in general population. come out, make an apology, and drop the charges, tell the public, we suspect he is guilty of the charges but the evidence just isnt there to convict him. and then move on.

The FBI dropped all charges against the DA and the head of the local FBI was told to step down and a day later over 59 of the charges against Thomas came down. Framed by the FBI? The DA maybe, but don’t you think if the FBI from the home office in DC spanks there highly prized local leader and lets other things go? One thing for sure, a lot of spanking and crying going on but nobody is talking about any of this. Stink more than an exit on I-10 in Pensacola. This house for cards going to come down or is it going back under the rug????  They just leave us guessing.

The D.A. office isn’t a bowl of roses. Remember a few month ago when a assistant of the DA tried to have sex with a child? What ever happened to that case? Maybe Herman Thomas is not guilty of any of the 57 indictments. Those accusing Judge Thomas were sent to prison by Thomas. You know they would lie to get even. Also, it’s such a joke to think a sexual favor is property. Does this mean if you have sexual intercoures and don’t give it back, you could be charged with theft of property? It is so ovious that judge Thomas is being framed.

Quote from poster to similar article -
“The AG Troy King will need to override the statute of limitations based solely on the merits of the case. John Tyson will have to step up and request this exclusion and if the statute is overridden, prosecute the case to the fullest extent of the law. This must be handled as a non-race issue with any and all allegations of racism disallowed as a defense. This guy has to be tried just like anyone else and let a jury decide the outcome. There are so many charges against him that it is quite hard to believe that he is innocent and that all of the victims are making this up. Let justice be served. Disallow the statue of limitations argument in this case. JMO”
Do you think that this is possible?

Good point!  How many were into this spanking party business?  How could one guy in a building the size of Govt Plaza have a secret room?  How could other judges let this happen?  Where was the D.A.?

ickthus Says:
Fri, Sep 25, 2009 at 6:04 pm

was tha FBI sitting on this untill time ran out? why and the He99 do i care about the laws of this town or state if they are above them or up holding them?????
Smell’s like the former resigned female FBI director in charge of the Mobile office is in deep knowledge of this. Why did she QUIT?

There is more going on in this case that will never see the light of day in my opinion and the judge probably knows a lot of secrets concerning others of his peers.Seems a few are trying to stop the Domino effect by pulling out a few key pieces.

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