Prosecutors, officials clash;
judge's ethics trial delayed
By Chip Drago
Mobile Bay Times
Attorneys for Alabama Attorney General Troy King have withdrawn from the Judicial Inquiry Commission's investigation of suspended Mobile County Circuit Judge Herman Thomas, citing "a conflict of interest in the respective positions" of the JIC and the office of the attorney general in the prosecution of the judge.
Styled an "Emergency Notice of Withdrawal of Counsel for, and Motion to Continue on Behalf of, the Judicial Inquiry Commission," the request to the state's Court of the Judiciary asks for a 90-day continuance of the trial which had been scheduled for July 25.
According to the JIC, more time is needed to hire new counsel to conduct the "additional investigation" that is necessary to properly resolve charges that Thomas violated the code of judicial ethics.
Through his attorney Dave Boyd, Thomas said he didn't oppose the delay, but he neither agreed nor disagreed that it was necessary. He asked that a "scheduling conference" be held once the JIC engaged new counsel.
Departing from the case were Deputy Attorney General Bill Lisenby, Jr. and Assistant Attorney General W. Brent Woodall.
The motion to withdraw was submitted Tuesday, July 17.
JIC Chairman Randall L. Cole, a circuit judge in Fort Payne, in a letter to King, also written Tuesday, noted that King's attorneys disclosed the conflict on Friday, July 13 in the aftermath of a lengthy attempt at mediation of the complaint. The mediation failed.
"In the light of your further discussion of this matter with the Commission's staff yesterday (Monday), the Commission is of the opinion that representation by outside counsel is necessary ...," Cole wrote.
Granting of the requests in the motion is virtually certain, according to parties in the dispute.
The JIC's split with the office of the attorney general in favor of outside counsel is not unprecedented.
Thomas was first charged in March with violations of the state's code of judicial ethics.
Subsequently, additional counts were added after most of the local bench complained about Thomas shifting cases to his docket from the dockets of his fellow judges, often without their knowledge and consent.
Previous reports in the saga of Thomas's alleged ethical missteps appeared in the Mobile Bay Times as follows:
Mediation of Thomas complaint fails.
Proceedings advance in Thomas matter.
Thomas, JIC set to confer again.
JIC lodges complaint against Thomas.
