Former Creek County judge convicted

BRISTOW - A Creek County jury Thursday night convicted retired District Judge Donald D. Thompson of masturbating while presiding over four trials in 2002 and 2003.

The jury ordered a year in jail and $10,000 fine for each of the four felony counts.

Their verdict came almost three years after the bizarre allegations first surfaced beyond courthouse gossip - that the county’s presiding judge was using a penis pump during witness testimony.

Thompson, 59, was ordered to spend Thursday night in the same county jail where he had sent hundreds of defendants during a judicial career lasting nearly 24 years.

Sheriff’s deputies led Thompson away without handcuffs.

Comanche County Judge C. Allen McCall set bail for Thompson at $75,000. His sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 14.

He could have faced up to 40 years in prison and $80,000 in fines.

Special prosecutor Pattye High said she was “completely fine” with the prison time the jury imposed.

“We just wanted to give them (Thompson’s former employees who became prosecution witnesses) an opportunity to tell their story and be believed,” High said.

The jury deliberated five hours before announcing it had reached a verdict about 8:45 p.m.

Twenty minutes earlier, they sent a note asking if the prison terms would be served consecutively or concurrently if they convicted Thompson.

McCall will decide how much of the four years his former colleague will serve.

Thompson showed no emotion as the verdicts were read. His wife, Paula, sobbed uncontrollably.

One of their sons glared repeatedly at key prosecution witness Lisa Foster, Thompson’s longtime court reporter.

“I hope they’re happy,” Paula Thompson said moments later, looking in Foster’s direction.

Thompson, 59, retired in 2004, shortly before a civil ouster trial was to begin. Prosecutors filed the criminal charges in January 2005.

In closing arguments Thursday, High told jurors the case hinged on the credibility of Foster.

Foster testified seeing her boss’ penis 15 to 20 times. She said she had no idea how often she had seen or heard him use the penis pump.

“That’s because it happened all the time,” High argued.

Defense attorney Clark Brewster told jurors Foster was an unwitting pawn in the Sapulpa Police Department’s plot to remove Thompson.

“I don’t think she’d intentionally tell a lie,” he said.

Prosecution witnesses portrayed Foster as reluctant to get involved until a friend coaxed her to acknowledge what by 2003 had become a widespread courthouse rumor.

Shortly thereafter, Foster was subpoenaed by the Council on Judicial Complaints.

She answered an investigator’s questions under duress, and Thompson found out and fired her.

He then fired his secretary/bailiff, Zelma Hindman, even though she hadn’t yet testified.

Brewster reminded jurors that both women have filed federal lawsuits over their firings.

Nine former jurors testified they heard pumping sounds coming from Thompson’s bench during murder trials.

Lawyers and court employees testifying for the defense said they heard nothing unusual during those trials.

High urged jurors to use common sense in deciding the case.

She said Thompson’s fuzzy memory on important details and the notion that he was a victim of a conspiracy defy common sense.

Brewster said Foster’s stories of what she saw through a thin gap behind the judge’s bench are what defy common sense.

Referring to a litany of defense witnesses who said they never heard or saw Thompson use the penis pump during trials, High said, “Just because you don’t see something doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.”

Brewster said his client has been “thoroughly, publicly humiliated.”

He said he has tried to imagine how the resulting media attention must have affected Thompson’s wife and sons, who have attended each day of the trial.

“How much does one have to bear?” he asked.

High told jurors to remember when considering Thompson’s punishment to remember “he was at the pinnacle of the Creek County judicial system - the same system that is now going to hold him accountable.”

She argued he must be treated no differently from any other defendant.

“He forfeited the right to live free in our society when he decided the rules didn’t apply to him,” High said. “He abused and corrupted his office. He should go to prison for that.”