Herman Thomas Sex Trial In The Hands Of The Jury

5:30 p.m.
- The jury got the case around 3:00 p.m. and deliberate for about two hours before calling it a night.
- Deliberations will resume at 9:00 a.m.
- We'll bring you the verdict as soon as its reached.

2:56 p.m.
The fate of former Mobile County Circuit Judge Herman Thomas is now in the hands of a jury.

During closing arguments, which wrapped up just before 2:30 p.m. defense attorney Jeff Deen said Thomas is the victim of felons lying about being abused and trying to manipulate the court system.

Deen compared the 11 men's testimony about paddling and sexual abuse to fairy tales. Deen said a frog doesn't turn into a prince and a person with a good reputation doesn't turn
into a sex predator at night.

Prosecutor Barry Matson told jurors that Thomas paddled young men for his sexual gratification and then released some of them to commit more crimes.

Matson said testimony in the trial showed Thomas not only abused inmates, he also abused the power given to him by the people of Mobile County.

News 5's Jessica Taloney has been keeping people up to date through the trial on twitter.com/Jessica_Taloney. She will wrap up today's closing arguments tonight on News 5 at 5:00 and 6:00. And as soon as there is a verdict, we'll bring it to you.