Jurors Dispute Ex-Judge's Acquittal in Prisoner-Paddling Case
At least three jurors in a sex-abuse trial in which a former Alabama judge was acquitted on all counts yesterday are disputing the not-guilty verdict in the Mobile County case.
This wasn’t their verdict, they told Mobile County District Attorney John Tyson, and hence the jury’s decision wasn’t unanimous, reports WKRG, a CBS affiliate. A meeting is scheduled between jurors and the district attorney’s office, which declined to discuss the situation.
As detailed in an earlier ABAJournal.com post, the jury reportedly found former Mobile County Circuit Judge Herman Thomas, 48, not guilty of seven of the 21 counts of sex abuse, sodomy and assault he faced in a case over his alleged paddling of prisoners. The trial judge then granted a defense motion to dismiss the remaining 14 charges.
Additional coverage:
Associated Press: “Acquitted judge won’t get law license back quickly”
Press-Register: “Herman Thomas timeline: From prominent judge to defendant to acquittal”
Updated at 5:30 p.m. to link to Associated Press article.
