Testimony ends in trial of former judge

By Grant Slater

Published: June 29, 2006

BRISTOW - There were rumors. There were pictures. And then the situation exploded.

Prosecutors asked several Creek County Courthouse regulars Wednesday when they first heard about the sexual device under the bench in then-District Judge Donald Thompson's courtroom.

Local prosecutor Don Nelson said he found out about the penis pump shortly before stories appeared in the media from his assistant, Sue Lee, who had heard it from chatter in the court clerk's office.

That was after Nelson prosecuted an August 2003 murder trial before Thompson. Nelson testified he did not hear or see anything unusual from the bench. Prosecutors allege Thompson, 59, used a penis pump during that trial.

Sapulpa police supervisors Mike Reed and Brant Green, along with Police Chief Jim Wall, attended that trial and took pictures of the pump underneath Thompson's bench during a break.

Those pictures and information from Thompson's court reporter, Lisa Foster, led Wall to contact the Council on Judicial Complaints.

Thompson maintained his innocence but eventually retired rather than fight an ouster trial.

He faces four felony counts of indecent exposure stemming from charges that he used a penis pump during a civil case and three murder trials in 2002 and 2003. If convicted, he faces up to 40 years in prison.

Prosecutor Pattye High asked Nelson why he had not investigated what he later called in an affidavit the "incredible claims" against Thompson.

Nelson said he had absolutely no knowledge of what was going on and no Sapulpa police officer told him about the pump or the pictures.

"We wouldn't be here today if Mike Reed had said something, because I would have arrested him (Thompson) on the spot," Nelson said.

In the final day of testimony, the defense called a parade of witnesses who had passed through Thompson's courtroom over the years. None of the witnesses testified to seeing Thompson do anything inappropriate.

Courthouse personnel, lawyers, witnesses and a law enforcement official testified about what they didn't see and didn't hear during four trials in which Thompson is accused of misbehavior.

Prosecutors called rebuttal witnesses who identified the sound of Thompson's penis pump in the courtroom as the sound heard during the murder trial of Kurt Vomberg in 2003.

Comanche County District Judge C. Allen McCall said he expects jury deliberations to begin this afternoon.

Divided attention unlikely, lawyer says
Creekmore Wallace served as a defense attorney during the 2002 murder trial of Tammy Brooks. He said he raised continuous objections to graphic photos during the closing arguments of prosecutor Carol Iski, requiring both lawyers to approach Thompson's bench.

Foster said Monday that she saw Thompson shaving his scrotum during Iski's closing arguments.

Wallace said he did not think Thompson could have divided his attention between his privates and the proceedings.

"I've never shaved my scrotum, but I think he would have emasculated himself if he was," Wallace said.

Ed Willingham, chief investigator for the Creek County district attorney, said he often popped unexpectedly into Thompson's courtroom seeking signatures for warrants. He said he never saw Thompson doing anything inappropriate during his unannounced visits.

Much has been made of a small gap between a drawer and door on the right side of the bench in Thompson's courtroom at the Sapulpa courthouse by both the defense and the prosecution.

Foster said she saw Thompson using the penis pump, shaving his scrotum and urinating into a trash can from her position at the court reporter's desk.

Court reporter Jan Doolan, who worked with Thompson after Foster's dismissal, said it would have been impossible for Foster to have seen what she said she saw through the gap.