Defense begins cross examination of accuser in DA Jeff Thomas trial

The prosecution set up the jury with a description of their first witness in the sexual assault trial of suspended Somerset County District Attorney Jeffrey Thomas.

The woman who accused Thomas of a sexual and physical assault "has flaws like every one of us," Chief Deputy Attorney General Patrick Schulte said in his opening statement on Wednesday to the jury panel of nine men and three females, along with two men and two women sitting as alternates.

What:What a new misconduct probe could mean for the Somerset County DA

While testifying she spoke quickly, softly and was reminded to slow down and move closer to the microphone at the witness stand. Her emotions were visible and changed with the testimony. She showed nervousness, often gnawing on the corner of her mouth while waiting for the next question from the prosecutor. When she wasn't sure of what was asked of her while, she became quiet and looked straight at the prosecutor with a puzzled expression waiting for guidance. At other times she raised her voice in frustration and to make a point.

She is a mother to a young child. She is proud that she has a good relationship with her ex and they share their time with their child "50/50." She has many friends and texts them often late at night. She is a professional and explained her job clearly and with details that indicated she enjoyed her work.

She said she started smoking marijuana for medicinal purposes. She places her bong, always filled with marijuana, on a high shelf behind several items in her living room, but visible to someone walking in the door of her home. She doesn't like to smoke around other people. That makes her uncomfortable.

Because of a new law, Somerset County DA Jeff Thomas is no longer receiving a paycheck

During the testimony she demonstrated to the jury how it is used, because she testified she had to do so for Thomas on the night she alleges he assaulted her.

She claims that she never initiated any communication with Thomas, but responded and gave advice from time to time. She was being kind and nice, she said. She believes that Thomas' definition of kind and nice was different from hers.

She spoke of the defendant as "Jeff" at times and "Mr. Thomas" at other times.

She took the stand for the third day Friday morning, ready for the defense team and their questions.

Leading up to that night

She knew Thomas through her work.

Soon she said he was texting her, mainly through the social media app known as Snapchat and on her phone, asking her what she was doing, if she wanted to "hang out" and if he could "come over."

Throughout their acquaintance, the woman testified, the text messages on her phone and on her Snapchat account were "always initiated by him." The woman said she hinted in her responses to the monthslong numerous messages from Thomas that she was not interested in him, but that he did not seem to get the hints. She said she'd write that she was going to sleep, or that her child was there with her and she did not want company. Or she just didn't respond.

Last motions hearing in the suspended DA Jeffrey Thomas case held, trial begins

She said she did not come straight out and tell him she was not interested because he was the district attorney and that position is powerful.

The woman said Thomas visited her place of work to a point that she "ended up hiding away" when he did. She testified that she spoke to her manager about her concerns for her safety. His advice, she said: "Just stay away from him."

The emotions

What happened the night of Sept. 18, 2021, took her peace of mind, comfort in her home, caused her sleepless nights and put her on a path with her friends trying to find someone or somewhere to fight to protect herself and her daughter so "it wouldn't happen again," she testified.

According to her testimony, it was around midnight when she looked out her window and saw Thomas on her porch with an armload of beer. She testified she had not invited him on Sept. 18, 2021, to her home. In fact, she said she had never invited him to her home. Her child was sleeping upstairs. She was ready for bed in her night clothes. A short time earlier she had run out to her car and said she hadn't had time to lock her door afterward. He walked in.

That evening, after Thomas entered her home, she said she was "appalled. He just walked in. I felt unsafe. Concerned for my daughter upstairs asleep. ..."

When asked by Schulte if she thought Thomas was intoxicated, she responded, "I don't know him well enough to know if he was intoxicated. He had been drinking."

She said she asked him, "Why are you here?" and that he responded, "I don't know." Then she said, "If you don't have a reason to be here, you need to get out of my house. You need to leave."

She claims on that fall night, Thomas sexually and physically assaulted her. He said it was a consensual encounter and that he never physically assaulted her.

When asked more than once during her testimony by the prosecution if she was attracted to Thomas, she replied, "Absolutely not."

She did not go to the police or a hospital immediately. The next night she did not sleep but lay beside her daughter on the chaise and watched the door until the sunlight came through. She texted friends to ask where she could go to learn self-defense. When her child went back to her father for his time with her, the woman did not want to go back to her home alone. She stayed with a friend the next night. She said she tried to cover her black eyes and her bruised neck with concealer. She told her story to the state police in Ebensburg and agreed to have a recorded telephone conversation with Thomas and next to meet him while wearing a wire. The jury heard those conversations Thursday afternoon in Courtroom No. 3 in the Somerset County Court of Common Pleas.

"We could all think now of something we could have handled differently. We are not going to judge her for what she didn't do. The focus of this case is what the district attorney did to this woman," Schulte told the jury on the first day in his opening statement.

Thomas is charged with sexual assault, indecent aggravated assault, indecent assault, strangulation, simple assault and criminal trespass.

This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Accuser testifies in former DA Jeff Thomas assault case