Suspended Somerset DA wants 'wiretap' statements tossed; state aims to include alleged previous 'bad acts'

SOMERSET — Suspended Somerset County District Attorney Jeffrey Thomas wants recordings of conversations between him and a woman he’s accused of sexually assaulting to be excluded from his upcoming trial.

The request is part of a lengthy list of motions filed by attorneys on both sides that could determine what jurors will hear about the case — as well as separate charges against Thomas.

Thomas’ defense attorneys, Ryan Tutera and Eric Jackson Lurie, are asking Senior Judge Timothy Creany to suppress the recordings, saying they were unlawfully authorized.

Tutera and Lurie are also asking the judge to compel prosecutors to turn over the phone records of the Windber woman he’s accused of assaulting, DNA evidence and other discovery evidence — and to remove Somerset County Court Administrator Tammy Jo Escalera Rivera from assembling jurors during the September trial, due to “conversations” they say the county row officer had with one of her employees and a county judge.

On the prosecution’s side, Senior Deputy Attorneys General Patrick Schulte and Tomm Mutschler are asking Creany to permit them to include evidence of alleged similar prior “acts” by Thomas to show his intent.

They allege that Thomas made unwanted visits in the summer of 2020 to the home of the woman he’s accused of assaulting — and, separately, to the residence of a former paramour’s mother in November of the same year.

In the latter incident, Thomas allegedly “forced himself” on his ex-lover inside a vehicle and touched her inappropriately, the prosecutors wrote.

Regarding the alleged Sept. 18, 2021, sexual assault, prosecutors cited text messages that Thomas sent to colleagues stating he was going to get “white girl wasted” and “black out drunk.”

Thomas is accused of sexually assaulting and strangling the Windber woman after entering her home without consent. Police said Thomas arrived at the woman’s home with alcohol that night.

Thomas has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Creany has scheduled a June 16 proceeding to hear arguments on pre-trial motions, including a request by prosecutors to find Thomas in contempt of court for failing to abide by Creany’s order to avoid making “extrajudicial” statements about the case outside court.

Numerous motions filed by both sides

Motions by both sides are common in criminal cases as the matters move toward court. It’s part of a process in each case that determines what evidence, testimony and additional details are relevant to the specific set of charges that the defendant — in this case, Thomas — faces before the jury.

Both sides are seeking to suppress certain items.

Prosecutors are seeking to suppress matters related to protective orders against Thomas and his wife for which the alleged victim in the case filed. At the time, they wrote, she believed it was the proper action to take. As it turned out, the order against Thomas’ wife did not qualify for approval — a fact that could look prejudicial against her, Schulte wrote.

Thomas’ defense has attacked the filings for protective orders as steps meant to portray Thomas in a bad light.

Separately, prosecutors are also seeking to exclude “opinion evidence” that, if admitted, could enable attorneys to ask witnesses to offer opinions about the Windber woman’s credibility.

Tutera and Lurie, meanwhile, filed a four-page motion aiming to suppress state police recordings of conversations between Thomas and the woman, calling them a “violation of the Wiretap Act.” The act defines steps that must be taken to get approval to record someone without permission and instances when doing so is permissible.

The defense attorneys wrote that the woman agreed to participate in a recorded cellphone conversation with Thomas three days after the alleged assault, then wore a wire to meet him at a Richland Township restaurant.

The motion provided no details about the conversations, but Tutera has previously told media that the woman confronted Thomas about her allegations.

“The defendant had a reasonable expectation of privacy in his home and the words uttered from the phone used in his house,” they wrote, noting that the phone conversation took place while Thomas was inside his residence and argued that “… therefore a search warrant was required.”

Windber police chief a likely trial witness

Tutera and Lurie have also raised issues about the length of time it took before a police report was filed about the incident, which they said was first reported by the woman to Windber police Chief Andrew Frear at a social club.

Saying that Frear is likely a “indispensable witness,” defense attorneys are seeking his personnel file to explore what they described as “credibility” questions.

They referenced the fact that Frear previously served as a Johnstown police captain during a three-year period when evidence was being stolen by a heroin-addicted police officer within the city department’s ranks.

No evidence of criminal wrongdoing was found regarding Frear, who was the department’s second-in-command, but a state police investigation resulted in a jail sentence for the drug-dependent patrol officer and the suspension of the department’s chief of police, who retired before the report was completed.

Thomas’ attorneys are asking Escalera Rivera to be removed from her role as court administrator in the case because of conversations they cited between her and an employee in her office — a former paramour of Thomas’ — about obtaining a protection order. Escalera Rivera, they wrote, also spoke with a Somerset County judge about the procedure for obtaining such an order.

They argue she acted improperly with “malice” and could impair Thomas’ ability to receive a fair trial if she interacts with jurors.

In other moves, they are seeking to have Thomas’ bond conditions amended to allow him to resume communication with his wife — the alleged victim in a separate domestic case against Thomas, although she has denied he assaulted her — saying the couple opposes the requirement. The motion also lists Amy Thomas as an “integral” part of Jeffrey Thomas’ defense.

Phone records, DNA results, police camera footage and any expert reports are also being sought by Thomas’ defense attorneys.

Schulte indicated he intends to call on a sexual assault expert for the case.

Thomas is on house arrest and wearing an electronic ankle monitor, awaiting trial. The case is scheduled to go to trial in September.