Herman Thomas Denies Paddling

Former Circuit Court Judge Herman Thomas, cleared three months ago of sex abuse charges, admits he thought about what it would be like to go to jail.

Thomas, who announced last week his candidacy for the Alabama State Senate, said he was "disappointed" in 2009 about District Attorney John Tyson's decision to pursue the charges against him. "Individuals were trying to get out of jail and trying to make some money at the expense of my family and the prosecutors refused to investigate this case and allowed this to go forward," said Thomas, who insists all eleven accusers were bribed to make up lies about him with money and cigarettes.

During a one hour interview with News Five's Jessica Taloney, Thomas admitted he picked inmates up at Mobile Metro Jail and on some occassions brought them to his chambers after-hours when his staff was not present, but he denied ever paddling them. Thomas also said the District Attorney's office always knew when he was picking up an inmate. "Is it the norm? No it's not the norm," said Thomas. "The reason why I did it was to assist and to help. In hind's sight would I do things differently? Yes."

Thomas insists allegations that he forced inmates and defendants in his courtroom to submit to paddling and sex abuse in exchange for leniency from the bench were driven by people who did not want him to become presiding judge of the Mobile County Circuit Court.

"They wanted to destroy Herman Thomas," said Thomas, who stepped down from the bench in 2007 as the accusations started to surface. "In the mist of these allegations you have an attorney offering $10,000 for someone to lie on me," he said, referring to Mobile attorney Joe Kulakowski. Thomas said he did not know why Kulakowski would be involved in a conspiracy against him, but he also pointed a finger at the US Attorney's office and the FBI for not investigating Kulakowski's involvement.

In the race for the Alabama Senate, Thomas is challenging incumbent Senator Vivian Davis Figures, whose son was one of the men who prosecutors say Thomas abused. Figures testified for prosecutors during Thomas' trial, saying she gave the former judge permission to paddle her adult son. "That conversation never took place between Senator Figures and myself," said Thomas.

Throughout the interview, Thomas' wife sat beside him and briefly talked about how the trial affected their family. "We believe in Herman Thomas and we know none of this is true, said Linda Thomas, who says she never doubted her husband. "I've read every transcript that came through that house of all the inmates."

A special session of the Mobile County Grand Jury indicted Thomas on 103 counts including sodomy, sex abuse, extortion, ethics violations and assault, but most of the charges were tossed out before the case went to trial. Retired Judge Claud Neilson, who was brought in from Marengo County to preside over the trial, dismissed all of the ethics violations based on the statute of limitations, and cleared Thomas of the extortion and many sex abuse charges based on what he described as a lack of evidence.

After more than a week of testimony, a jury of seven women and five men found Thomas not guilty on seven of the 21 charges they deliberated. Neilson then acquitted Thomas on the remaining fourteen counts after jurors were hopelessly deadlocked.