George Gilbert Thomas, 53, is back where he has been since he was arrested: in limbo.

District Court Judge Donald E. Rysavy heard arguments today in the possible retrial of Thomas, who has been accused of having sex with a minor.

Rysavy said he will make a decision as soon as possible.

Thomas' trial on criminal sexual conduct charges was stopped after two days, when Rysavy declared a mistrial. Defense Attorney Karen Duncan charged that Thomas had been deprived of a fair and impartial trial, when it was revealed material evidence being used by the prosecution was not made available to Thomas' defense.

Today's hearing on the double jeopardy issue lasted only 15 minutes.

Duncan said Thomas "didn't do anything to cause a mistrial."

Patrick W. Flanagan, the Mower County Attorney who prosecuted the case, maintained "the state provided all the evidence provided by Gerard."

It was revealed on the witness stand that when a Gerard therapist testified, she was referring to documents the defense did not have at its disposal.

"There's no way this was intentional," Flanagan said.

The judge's only question was to inquire of Duncan if she was suggesting the act of withholding evidence was "negligence or deliberate."

Duncan did not answer the question directly.

"The Gerard therapist said on the witness stand that the prosecution requested her notes," Duncan said.

When Austin Police Detective David T. Schaefer testified and also referred to the notes in question, the defense requested a mistrial, saying it had not been provided the material evidence.

Rysavy declared a mistrial Jan. 15. Duncan complained certain items used by the prosecution were not made available to her.

Thomas, 53, was originally charged with four counts of criminal sexual conduct.

A now 17-year-old teenager alleged she had sex with Thomas in an apartment near the Welcome Center, where he was employed a counselor.

The alleged victim told a therapist at Gerard of Minnesota she had sexual intercourse with Thomas in May 2001, when she was 15-years-old.

However, she made the claim in February 2002 -- nine months after the alleged act occurred.

The allegation was reported to police Feb. 21, 2002. On that same date, the alleged victim was instructed to make a taped telephone call to Thomas at his Welcome Center office.

Also that date, she was instructed to go to the Welcome Center and meet with Thomas, while wearing a hidden recording device that police monitored from a car parked nearby.

Also that date, police took Thomas into custody, questioned him and arrested him for criminal sexual conduct.

Thomas entered a plea of not guilty to the charges and went to trial Jan. 13.

After the mistrial was declared, Flanagan held meetings with Austin Police Chief Paul M. Philipp and Mower County Sheriff Terese Amazi to review procedures for making evidence in criminal cases available to both the prosecution and defense.

"The evidence was never missing. It just didn't get to the defense as it should have," Flanagan said.

Thomas' employment was terminated after his arrest with the Welcome Center, a publicly funded agency designed to help new immigrants acclimate to life in Austin.

At the time the alleged incident took place, Thomas was facilitating an after-school, cultural diversity class for teenagers at the Welcome Center headquarters. The alleged victim, as well as a boyfriend of her's, knew Thomas because of the class and attended the class, according to trial testimony.

Thomas was a spokesman for the Welcome Center on matters of minority rights, ed the 2002 city of Austin Martin Luther King Jr., Day parade and he received a hero's award from the city of Austin for rescuing a northwest Austin couple from a house fire.

Lee Bonorden can be contacted at 434-2232 or by e-mail at

lee.bonorden@austindailyherald.com