BRISTOW -- A key witness’ disappearance compelled prosecutors Tuesday to sever a misdemeanor charge accusing former Creek County Judge Donald Thompson of storing lewd photos on his state-owned computer.
Advertisement
The surprise announcement came one day after the Court of Criminal Appeals allowed the misdemeanor -- and the damaging evidence accompanying it -- to be used against Thompson in his indecent exposure trial.
It was yet another bizarre twist in the case against Thompson, 59, a former legislator who later presided in a Sapulpa courtroom for nearly 24 years.
He faces four felony indecent exposure counts accusing him of using a device called a penis pump and shaving his scrotum during trials.
Special prosecutor Richard Smothermon asked Comanche CountyDistrict Judge C. Allen McCall to remove the misdemeanor charge after a five-minute hearing during which Smothermon implied that Thompson knew the whereabouts of witness Angela McClanahan.
A warrant for McClanahan’s arrest was issued Monday after she failed to appear to testify.
Prosecutors allege she was Thompson’s mistress, and the woman depicted in computer photos showing a woman and man involved in sex acts. Investigators also found e-mails of a sexual nature exchanged between Thompson and McClanahan.
Outside jurors’ presence, Smothermon announced that McClanahan had eluded police in a foot pursuit Monday night. Her sister was arrested at an undisclosed house, as was a man at a second location.
Defense attorney Clark Brewster identified the second person as Mike Teal, a 78-year-old cancer patient.
Smothermon wanted McCall to ask Thompson whether he knows where McClanahan is or how to contact her.
He said within the last 60 days Thompson had been discovered in McClanahan’s car when she was pulled over in a 2:30 a.m. traffic stop.
Brewster said he wouldn’t allow Thompson to answer any questions about McClanahan’s whereabouts, calling prosecutors’ actions “a witchhunt.”
McCall said he wouldn’t question Thompson, prompting Smothermon to sever the computer charge from the indecent exposure counts. That means this jury won’t hear any evidence about what was found on the judge’s computer.
Testimony began later Tuesday morning with Sapulpa police Capt. Mike Reed describing the “sh sh” noises he heard coming from the judge’s area during a murder trial on Aug. 22, 2003.
Reed said he later saw tubing leading under Thompson’s robe to his crotch, and Thompson squeezing a device that matched the timing of the sounds.
During a break in that trial, Reed testified, he photographed the device. Those photos led to a Council on Judicial Complaints investigation against Thompson.
