Former judge denies using pump in court

BRISTOW - Former Judge Donald Thompson testified Tuesday he never used a penis pump during trials in 2002 and 2003.

Thompson said he never even considered using the penis pump to curb his erectile dysfunction, especially not in the courtroom.

He also denied shaving his scrotum during a murder trial and urinating into a trash can, as his former court reporter claimed.

"To me it's inconceivable; it defies common sense," Thompson said.

The prosecution rested its case Tuesday after Lisa Foster, Thompson's longtime court reporter, testified.

The retired Creek County district judge was the first witness called by the defense after more than four days of prosecution testimony.

Thompson has been charged with four counts of indecent exposure. Each count carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail.

Defense attorney Clark Brewster said he expects the defense to call its last witness by this evening.
Prosecutor Pattye High asked Thompson how many penis pumps he had owned in his life, and Thompson answered, "One."

Thompson earlier told Brewster he had never seen a pump displayed in pictures taken by Foster in 2001, and didn't know how it ended up under his bench.

When High pressed Thompson, he said he had owned two pumps but didn't know if the pump he owned was the one shown in the photograph. Thompson said he could not recall whether he bought the first pump or received the pump from a doctor.

Thompson's friend Pat Hale said he gave the judge the second pump in his courtroom in 2001 as a joke.

Thompson said he kept the pump under the bench and had played with it and taken it apart in court before.

High asked Thompson why he moved the pump between the bench and his office more than once and why he felt bound to keep the gag gift around.

"I felt that somebody would find it (in the office) and think worse than if it was in the open out there," Thompson said. "Twenty-twenty hindsight, I should have thrown it away, but I didn't."

Thompson said Sapulpa police officers with a grudge against him could have staged a photo of the second pump beneath his bench.

From her position at the court reporter's desk, Thompson said, it was impossible for Foster to see what she claims to have seen.

Under cross-examination, Foster stuck by her assertion that Thompson shaved his scrotum during a murder trial and urinated twice into a wastebasket.

Defense attorney Clark Brewster repeatedly questioned Foster about why she had not mentioned these instances and her notes when questioned by investigators at the Sapulpa Police Department and before the Council on Judicial Complaints.

"I just answered the questions they asked me," Foster said.

Thompson said he had no idea why Foster accused him of anything but had no choice but to fire her after she testified against him. He said their working relationship could not have continued under those circumstances.

Later that year, Thompson said he sent a letter to Foster, asking her to return to work with him. High asked Thompson if the letter stemmed from a legal warning to "get her back" before she filed a lawsuit.

Foster did not return to work and has filed a lawsuit with the state seeking more than $75,000.