Witness testifies about night she alleges DA Jeffrey Thomas sexually, physically abused her
The prosecution's first witness in the sexual assault trial of suspended Somerset County District Attorney Jeffrey Thomas sat on the stand, her eyes never wavering, appearing to struggle to contain her emotions, at times scared and nervous, at other times angry and defiant through her second day on the stand.
Thomas, 37, of Windber, is accused of entering her home on the evening of Sept. 18, 2021, without permission and remaining there. Police said he then sexually and physically assaulted her.
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On Wednesday afternoon, the woman testified about meeting Thomas when he was a customer at a local vehicle dealership where she worked. Soon she said he was texting her, 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 8-year-old child was there with her and she did not want company. Or she just didn't respond.
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.
At one point during her testimony Wednesday, the woman turned and spoke directly to the jurors, saying, "He was the DA. What was I supposed to do?"
The woman said Thomas even visited her place of work to a point that she "ended up hiding away" when he did. She testified that when she spoke to her manager about her concerns for her safety, his advice was "just stay away from him."
Her early testimony led to a night that took away her peace of mind, 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 Thursday morning.
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She began her testimony Thursday describing the night she claimed Thomas came through her front door with an armload of beer, uninvited, and assaulted her a short time later. She indicated that she felt Thomas did not understand her kindness and niceness for what it was when she communicated with him.
When asked Wednesday if she was attracted to Thomas, she replied, "Absolutely not."
She continued with those sentiments throughout her testimony Thursday morning.
That night
The questions by the prosecution Wednesday afternoon built on the situation ending at the moment when she claimed that Thomas entered her home on the night of Sept. 18, 2021.
Four days later, charges of sexual assault, indecent aggravated assault, indecent assault, strangulation, simple assault and criminal trespass were brought against Thomas based on the alleged encounter. He is on trial facing those charges.
That evening, after Thomas entered her home while she was dressed for bed wearing loose-fitting exercise bra and shorts, she said she was "appalled. He just walked in. I felt unsafe. Concerned for my daughter upstairs asleep. My 8-year-old."
When asked by Chief Deputy General Patrick Schulte, with the prosecution, 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."
They talked about what vehicle he drove to her home. She went to the window to look outside for it. The vehicle was not there, she said. The woman said Thomas told her he had driven his mother's car and parked it a couple blocks up the street. He had come up close behind her.
"Do you want to smoke?" he asked.
She testified that she started smoking marijuana after an injury and kept a bong behind several items on a shelf near the door. Thomas grabbed at it and tried to light it, she testified. "He didn't know what to do."
The woman then lit it and he took a puff. "I told him to leave," she said.
When asked by the prosecutor why she did that, she responded: "I thought that is why he came and he is going to leave."
More details of her testimony will follow in the next report on the trial.
The prosecution
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On Wednesday, the state attorney general's office prosecutors, Schulte and Senior Deputy Attorney General Tomm Mutschler, said the woman said she was never attracted to Thomas, but didn't know how to deal with him because he is the county's district attorney. The result was a physical and sexual traumatic experience and fear and confusion on what to do about the incident, Schulte said.
She did not report the incident to the police immediately, he said the evidence will show.
"He is the district attorney. What am I supposed to do?" Schulte said about her mindset.
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The defense
The defense team is Ryan Tutera and Eric Jackson Lurie, both of Pittsburgh.
Tutera said Wednesday that the woman who claims that Thomas sexually and physically assaulted her was the person who "did the things that were criminal," such as destroying evidence. She destroyed telling text messages and "a marijuana grow operation in her basement," he said. "The police in this case were well aware of what she was doing at the house. The police gave her time to get rid of it" before they came to her home to gather evidence used to make a case against Thomas.
Destroying evidence such as text messages and a marijuana grow operation is a felony, Tutera said.
This article originally appeared on The Daily American: District Attorney Jeffrey Thomas trial begins with opening statements
