Judge's acts called 'bizarre'

BRISTOW -– A key prosecution witness testified Monday that she saw former judge Donald Thompson use a pump on his penis for the first time in January 2001.

Thompson’s court reporter, Lisa Foster, saw Thompson’s penis encased in the plastic pump through a narrow gap between a desk drawer and door. She said she heard a “sh sh” sound coming from the bench before she was able to identify the source of the sound.

“I was really shocked and I was kind of scared because it was really bizarre,” Foster said. “I didn’t know what to do.”

Thompson is on trial for four counts of indecent exposure. Each count carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail.

Foster said Thompson used two pumps over the course of three years, exclusively in jury trials when he wore a robe. The second pump was noticeably louder than the first, Foster said.

Foster began working with Thompson in 1988. She said co-workers encouraged her to report Thompson to a higher authority in 2002 when they discovered the pump in the courtroom.

“I said to them, ‘If you do something about it, leave me out of it. I don’t want to be found dead in a ditch somewhere,’” Foster said.

Foster described Thompson’s behavior as “bizarre” and “sickening .” She said she remembered Thompson using a pump during testimony in a rape trial and multiple murder trials.

The prosecution passed out wireless headphones to members of the jury and played tapes for over an hour of those trial proceedings.

Foster said there was a sensitive microphone installed on the judge’s bench for conferences out of the hearing of jurors, which could not be turned off.