Former Alabama Judge Faces Trial This Week For Allegedly Spanking and Sexually Assaulting Inmates in Chambers

We have been following the bizarre case of former Mobile County Circuit Judge Herman Thomas who is accused of ordering the male inmates be brought to his chambers where he would spank them and have sex with them. With the judge facing trial on various criminal charges, the case took another strange turn when a former inmate charged in a lawsuit that his former attorney coerced him into testifying against the judge. The case of Willie Pearson was dropped after he accused attorney Joe Kulakowski of threatening him. However, the prosecutor insists that the other cases will proceed as planned for trial.

Thomas now has 14 cases against him and the trial is in the jury selection stage. The trial could begin as soon as today.

While Thomas insists that he is entirely innocent, a forensic examination matched a semen stain on his carpet to one of the nine alleged victims.

Thomas, 48, has insisted that this is all due to race: “Did you ever think of the fact that this is the only black circuit judge we’ve ever had in Mobile County, and that the right-wing Republicans have gotten rid of him?” His attorney echoed the sentiment, telling CNN “[t]he South hasn’t changed all that much.”

Thomas is married with a wife and daughters. He is facing serious jail time, including a potential for effective life imprisonment for such charges as kidnapping. It is an interesting charge since he presumably kidnapped the inmates by arranging them to be brought to him by deputies.

The civil claims against the attorney presents some novel issues. First, the defense will likely want to get in such evidence, but, with that individual case dropped, the prosecutors are likely to oppose on the ground that it is not relevant. Second, the attorney could face a criminal and bar investigation. The prosecutor would be in a strange position since he believes there is a basis for the allegations as a whole. Moreover, the attorney could claim that he was merely trying to assist the prosecution while also strengthening any potential civil action against the judge.

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