Former Judge Accused Of Padding Prisoners Arrested

BREAKING NEWS

4:31 p.m.
Click here to read the 57 count indictment against Herman Thomas.

3:58 p.m.
The grand jury indicted Thomas on 57 counts including kidnapping, sodomy, extortion and ethics violations.

3:10 p.m.
D.A. John Tyson says Herman Thomas' attorney Bob Clark is not under arrest. They resolved their differences.

2:35 p.m.
Herman Thomas' attorney was arrested after he showed up at District Attorney John Tyson's news conference and refused to leave.

2:20 p.m.
An investigator with the DA's office took Herman Thomas into custody shortly after 2:00 p.m. Thomas was holding a news conference at Mobile Metro Jail about the grand jury indictment which was handed down today.

Thomas' attorney, Bob Clark, said the DA's investigation is racially motivated, calling it "a high tech lynching."

We'll have more details about the indictment after District Attorney John Tyson's news conference at 2:30 p.m

1:49 p.m.
Mobile County District Attorney John Tyson will announce at a 2:30 news conference whether or not a grand jury has indicted Herman Thomas.

Thomas resigned from the bench in October 2007 amid allegations that he manipulated a jail sentence for his cousin, swapped cases on other judges dockets, and paddled prisoners from Mobile Metro Jail.

The DA's office, as well as several other agencies, investigated Thomas' conduct during his tenure as a judge in Mobile County and turned the case over to a grand jury.

Thomas and his attorney Bob Clarke are holding a news conference at 2:00 p.m. at the Mobile Metro Jail.

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