Update 09/23/05: Thompson's trial starts. It will be "graphic"
Update 01/21/05: Thompson has been charged with felony public indecency
Update August 2004: Thompson tries to duck felony charges by resigning
I try to keep this a non-political, pretty-much-squick-free kind of reading experience. But I must say, the antics of Judge Donald D. Thompson, an elected District Judge of Creek County, Oklahoma, of the Twenty-fourth Judicial District of the state of Oklahoma, sitting at the courthouse in Sapulpa, Oklahoma --you can take a tour of Sapulpahere. The town, Salpulpa even has a daily newspaper, the Sapulpa Daily Herald
--well, Judge Thompson really went too far. It's not a joke when it involves a razor, exposed genitals, and subsequent lotion applications. During murder trials. The Smoking Gun has the lubricious details.
The good news is that Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson said he didn't think information alleged in the ouster petition against Thompson would result in overturning any trials where Thompson presided.
What is kind of, well, funny in a sick way, is that in July of 2003, Thompson rejected a plea bargain and sentenced John Marquez to life in prison for spitting on a police officer.
And no, the Donald D. Thompson is not the Donald D. Thompson who wrote the Sol Chronicles. But I hope he gets some sales out of this embarassment.
Oh, no. The "murder trials" the AG was referring to were the Vomberg and Brooks trials, wherein 18-month old Skyla Brooks was beaten, raped, bitten, and killed. By the mom, Brooks, and the boyfriend, Vomberg.
Thompson served six years in the state House of Representatives starting in 1975; by 1988 (when he presided over the Hain/Lambert death penalty case) he was a the district judge.
He ran unoposed in 1998.
Of course, his attorney says Judge Thompson did not perform the acts of which he is accused. Too bad there are multiple witnesses.
Attorney: Sex-act accusations against judge false 01:38 PM CDT on Friday, June 25, 2004
OKLAHOMA CITY – Allegations that a district court judge engaged in improper conduct involving sexual acts are false and are part of an effort to attack and embarrass him, his attorney said.
District Judge Donald D. Thompson violated the code of judicial conduct "by his repeated use of a device known as a penis pump during non-jury and jury trials in his courtroom and in the presence of court employees while serving in his capacity as a district judge," Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson wrote in a petition filed Wednesday with the Court of the Judiciary.
The sound of Thompson using the pump was heard by a number of witnesses, who said that the noise sounded "like air being pumped or released" from a blood pressure cuff.
Thompson, 57, hasn't been available for comment but his attorney, Clark Brewster, said Thursday that Thompson is "horrified" by the accusations.
"The whole genesis for the allegations involves a well-known courthouse joke," Brewster said. "About the time he turned 50, he was given a gag gift by a hunting buddy, a penis pump, in poor taste. It sat in the courthouse the past several years and was in various places."
Many of the lawyers and court personnel were aware of the pump, which became the butt of jokes, Brewster said. "The individuals that we believe are behind this attempt to embarrass the judge took that opportunity to blow it into a much more sinister set of allegations."
The petition also alleged that Thompson masturbated in view of his female court reporter during a number of court proceedings. The judge admitted the penis pump was under the bench during a murder trial on Aug. 22 and at other times but denied using the device, Edmondson's petition states.
"A couple of police officers upset with rulings he made tried to make it something it was not," Brewster said. "Thompson's not going to tolerate these falsehoods."
Sapulpa police officers wouldn't comment on Brewster's statement Thursday. The officers, the police chief and court personnel are listed as witnesses who were present at a criminal trial in Thompson's court.
The attorney general said Thompson violated the code of judicial ethics that requires high standards of conduct, among other things. He also committed an offense involving moral turpitude, Edmondson alleges.
Lisa K. Foster, a court reporter for Thompson for 15 years, told investigators she witnessed the judge's sexual behavior "15 to 20 times." She was fired after the judge heard she had cooperated with an investigation into his activities, Edmondson said. Also fired was Zelma Hindman, the judge's secretary, who talked to investigators, Edmondson said.
"On one occasion, Thompson sent Hindman to run an errand and when she returned to the courtroom, she saw that Thompson had the pump in his lap," the complaint said. "He jumped when he saw her. Hindman thought she saw his penis."
Oh, it gets worse. He used the pump in the court all the time and he fired the women who complained.
Women describe judge’s behavior, 2004-06-26, By Larry Levy, The Oklahoman
TULSA - A Sapulpa district judge accused of improper behavior used a sexual device nearly daily and made an inappropriate comment, a clerk working for Donald D. Thompson said Friday.
In a press conference, Dianna Horath Strickland--who served as the judge’s minute clerk for 15 years - said she was surprised by Thompson’s behavior.
“You wouldn’t believe what I saw,” Strickland said in the no-questions-allowed conference held in the Tulsa law offices of Andrew Williams. Thompson’s use of a penis pump became “almost a daily occurrence,” said Strickland, who is a court clerk employee. One day in chamber Thompson told her that he would like to perform oral sex on her, she said.
Thompson’s attorney, Clark Brewster, earlier said the allegations are untrue and the motivations behind them “aren’t pure and are calculated to take the courthouse over.” He said the penis pump was a gag gift that was not really used. Brewster couldn’t be reached for additional comment Friday.
Attorney General Drew Edmondson petitioned to remove Thompson from the bench and on Friday, his trial was set for Sept. 20, pushed back from the original date of Sept. 13.
Also, the prosecutor was named Friday for Thompson’s Court on the Judiciary trial. Prosecuting will be former U.S. Attorney Patrick Ryan, a prosecutor in the federal trials of Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, charged in the 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building.
At the Tulsa press conference, Lisa Foster, Thompson’s court reporter for 15 years, said she didn’t speak up about Thompson because she was afraid and didn’t want to lose what she described as “a great job.”
She was fired in January. Thompson’s use of two penile devices “got pretty constant” during jury and non-jury trials, said Foster, who frequently was in tears. Foster said Brewster had talked to her for about two hours since she was fired. She wanted to record the conversation but said she was told by the defense attorney that he would subpoena it if she made a recording, so she did not.
She also said Brewster told her: “I believe every word you told me.” Zelma Hindman said that work as secretary-bailiff to Thompson was “probably the best job I’ve ever had.” Returning to the courtroom after running a personal errand for him, Hindman said she saw him use the penis pump. “I was afraid if I said anything I would get fired,” Hindman said. “It’s hard to talk about something like that.”
After firing Foster, the judge fired Hindman with “no reason” given, which makes it difficult to find another job, she said.
Previous mentions of the Judge:
Thompson Blocks No-Smoking Ruling7, 2002 - Court-shuffling in Oklahoma - The Oklahoma Restaurant Association succeed in moving its lawsuit against the Oklahoma smoking ban back to Creek County District Court from the federal court in Tulsa. Yesterday, Oklahoma District Judge Donald D. Thompson issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting the state Health Department from enforcing smoking regulations in Oklahoma restaurants and indoor workplaces. Health Department lawyers have now turned to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver to have the lawsuit heard in federal court in Tulsa instead of district court in Sapulpa.
ALL you want to know on the smoking issue
Thompson Rejects Mental Retardation Defense
Calvin Lee Johnson was sentenced to death.
In Sapula, judge handed a Sand Springs man a death sentence, rejecting what is believed to be the first mental retardation defense in Oklahoma since the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed executions of such defendants. District Judge Donald D. Thompson on Tuesday sentenced Calvin Lee Johnson to die for the 1999 shotgun death of Russell Milton. A jury recommended capital punishment for Johnson in May after he was convicted of 1st- degree murder.
Attorneys with the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System argued during sentencing that Johnson was "borderline retarded" and should be spared execution under the Supreme Court's ruling last month.
Assistant District Attorney Carol Iski argued that a defense psychologist placed Johnson's abilities above the standard definition of mental retardation -- an IQ of 70 or below.
Psychologist Dean Montgomery testified during trial that Johnson had an IQ of 71. Iski also said Johnson, 50, had scored an 85 on an IQ test in 1985.
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on June 20 that executing mentally retarded people is unconstitutionally cruel. The ruling came in a Virginia case where a man with an IQ of 59 had been convicted of killing another man over beer money.
While the Johnson case is believed to be the 1st in Oklahoma using the mental retardation defense since that ruling, officials have said they expect many death row inmates to seek reduced sentences.
Thompson Denies Venue ChangeConvicted killer's venue change denied
SAPULPA, Okla. (AP) -- The jury trial to determine whether convicted killer Robert Wayne Lambert is mentally retarded and thereby immune from capital punishment will remain in Creek County, a judge ruled. District Judge Donald D. Thompson on Tuesday rejected Lambert's claim that he faces "a hostile environment" in the county because of widespread knowledge of the 1987 murders of Michael Houghton and Laura Lee Sanders. Lambert's trial on his mental capabilities is May 3.
Thompson Presides Over Retarded Man's Trial
After 5 hours of deliberation Friday, a Creek County jury found Robert Wayne Lambert was not mentally retarded and could be returned to death row for the 1987 murders of 2 young Tulsans.
Lambert, now 38, has been found guilty twice in a series of trials to determine guilt and competency related to the deaths of Laura Lee Sanders and Michael Houghton.
Lambert and Scott Hain were found guilty of kidnapping Sanders and Houghton outside a Tulsa bar, locking them inside the trunk of Sanders' car, driving it to a rural area in Creek County and setting the car on
fire.
Hain was executed in April 2003.
The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals ordered the mental retardation hearing for Lambert because of a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling stating that it is unconstitutional to execute mentally retarded people.
The Creek County jury of seven women and five men was given 18 instructions by District Judge Donald D. Thompson, who has presided over all of Lambert's trials. To find Lambert mentally retarded, the jury would have had to find significant function limitations in 2 of 9 major categories, and an IQ score of under 70. The trial lasted 12 days, and the verdict was unanimous.
Wyndi Hobbs, Lambert's court- appointed attorney, had asked earlier that the trial be held elsewhere because of publicity, but that was denied by Thompson. She said Friday's decision will be appealed.
Several other appeals also are pending, including in federal court, Hobbs said.
Thompson was the presiding judge in Scott Hain's trial.
This just in from Salpulpa
Former employees speak about experiences with judge Editors Note: This story contains graphic information of a sexual nature.
By BOB SHERRILL Herald Staff Writer
Three women told graphic and sordid stories of the years they had spent in fear while working for Creek County District Judge Donald Thompson Friday in a press interview in Tulsa.
There were sobs and tears at times as Zelma Hindman, Lisa Foster and Dianna Horath Stricklin told of allegedly observing masturbation, exposure and propositions of sexual acts. Foster said she had told a friend of how Thompson had been exposing himself deliberately in front of her for years.
"My friend asked me why I did not tell someone what was going on," she said. "I told her that I was afraid that I might find myself dead in a ditch someday."
One reporter asked what prompted her to make that statement and Foster said, "You just don't know Creek County."
Strickland said she had worked as a minute clerk in Thompson's courtroom for 23 years. She said that one day Thompson called her into his office and said that he would like to perform oral sex on her. Strickland said she turned him down and then quickly started to leave his office. She said Thompson then said, "Well you think about it for a while."
Strickland said that was when the fear of retribution began to set in and she began to fear what the man might do to her. Strickland said that was when she asked Pat Hobbs, Creek County court clerk, and her boss to assign her to another courtroom.
Hindman said that she started working as a secretary and bailiff for Thompson in March 1999 and that it was the best job she ever had. But Hindman said she soon learned there was a darker side to the judge. She said that on one occasion he requested her to run an errand. Hindman said that when she returned she walked up to the bench and Thompson had his penis in his hand. He appeared surprised and quickly pulled down his robe, she said.
"I looked at Foster and she looked at me and right then I knew she was seeing the same thing," Hindman said. She said the job was extremely important to her and she was fearful of losing it if she said something.
"When I saw that smile and that look on her (Foster's) face I knew she and I were on the same side," Hindman said. Foster said she had worked for Thompson for 15 years as a court reporter and she loved her job.
"I had a lot of free time and I was being paid for the transcripts I produced," she said.
Foster claimed the level of the sexual manipulation continued to rise and he even adjusted the side panels of the bench so she could see what he was doing with the pump.
Foster said at one point she even borrowed a camera to shoot pictures of the pump behind the bench.
She said that during the murder trial of Tammy Brooks, Thompson allegedly worked the pump first in the morning and then again in the afternoon.
Foster said she felt there were a number of attorneys in the county that knew what Thompson was doing, but she said they probably were just as fearful of Thompson as she.
In the trial of Kurt Vomberg, also on trial for murder, she felt that defense attorney Pat Williams had seen Thompson with the pump in use during the trial, she said.
"Pat was a tall man and I watched him as he leaned over the bench," she said. "Suddenly he just stood up erect with a funny look on his face. "I just know that he had seen the judge and the pump," she said.
Foster said she had other reasons for not blowing the whistle on Thompson. "He has a nice, wonderful wife and children and I really did not want to hurt her," she said. Foster said Thompson had often talked about retiring and she was hoping that he would. "But, that never happened," she said.
Foster said it was the trial of Paula S. Moss, in 2003, that brought the reported sexual activities of Thompson into the open.
She said that during the trial one of the detectives, Mike Reed, of the Sapulpa Police Department, had first heard and then seen the pump behind the bench.
During a lunch break, Reed and others came into the courtroom and shot a picture of the pump, she said.
Foster said the police wanted to interview her but she declined. She said that later an investigator came to her and pressured her to talk. But Foster said she did not want to talk. Foster said she then received a subpoena to appear before the judicial board in Oklahoma City.
"I did not lie to them. I told them the truth," she said.
Both Hindman and Foster were fired on the same day in December (2003) but Foster received a call the following Monday from Thompson asking her to come back to work. Foster said she would if she did not have to work for him. Foster said she came back to the courthouse to work and then she was again fired in early January.
Hindman said thus far she has not been able to find another job because she has to list that she was fired on the job application. Hindman claimed that in either 2001 or 2002, by accident, she found pornography websites on Thompson's computer.
The women also covered much of the information found in the petition filed by Drew Edmondson Thursday to have Thompson removed from the bench.
There had been a date of Sept. 13 set but a representative with Oklahoma Court of Judiciary Trial Division said Friday that the trial would be conducted before the nine district court judges at the Oklahoma Supreme Court.
Update--the plot thickens--the Sapulpa police are alleged to "have it in" for Judge Thompson.
http://www.tulsatoday.com/getnews.php?key=24069
Tulsa Today has also learned that SPD conducted a search of the judge’s area while he was not at his office. That search, according to inside sources, produced the now infamous penis pump. At question is the authority of the Police Department to take action within the courthouse. The Creek County Courthouse is excluded from the city and patrolled by the Creek County Sheriff’s Office. The Judge’s chambers are therefore improper if not illegal for SPD to search.
Multiple sources confirm to Tulsa Today that the pump was a gag gift given to Judge Thompson as a joke in the late 1990s.
The allegation appears to be that Judge Thompson, in the middle of a crowded courtroom during one of the county’s most exhaustive and widely publicized murder trials, made personal use of the pump. The sources also indicate that members of SPD reported seeing “tubes” under the judge’s robe.
The trial in question was of Kurt Vomberg, charged in the death of Skyla Brooks. That trial brought an onslaught of press attention to the courtroom where the Judge was alleged to have used the devise. How that could occur without everyone in the room knowing is unexplained as of this time.
While bizarre, the story didn’t begin there. For years SPD appears to have been waging a quiet war against Judge Thompson and incidents include some open hostilities. Inside sources tell Tulsa Today that there has been a known department effort to “get him” [Judge Thompson].
In one incident, officers arrived at the Judge Thompson’s home during a party for one of his teenage sons. The police reportedly ordered the Judge to stop a live band’s performance. The Judge agreed to reduce the volume of the music, but the officer insisted on having the band stop altogether.
The Judge in attempting to resolve the dispute asked the officer to contact whoever had complained about the noise suggesting he and the complaining person could negotiate a reasonable outcome. Shortly after the police left, the Judge learned that officers were stopping persons coming and going to the party.
In response, the Judge grabbed his video camera and went to the location where he began recording events. One officer reportedly approached the judge and asked if there was anything he needed. “No, I think I can handle a video camera by myself,” Judge Thompson is said to have replied.
In another incident one of Thompson’s teenaged sons was arrested by the Sapulpa Police. When he went to retrieve his son and bond him out on an O.R. bond (typically presented by an attorney), Judge Thompson was reportedly refused access to his son.
As the accumulated result of multiple incidents, tensions between Judge Thompson and the SPD are not unknown throughout the community. This incident appears to be the latest round in an ongoing contest of authority and control.
Some observers question if Creek County can get much more bizarre and wonder what public risk may exist if the Sapulpa Police Department is operating on vendetta at this level of intellectual competence. Repeated attempts to reach Sapulpa Police Chief Jim Wahl for comment have been unsuccessful to date.
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=29&art_id=qw1066321441806B216&set_id=1
French judges--well one, anyway, do it to:
October 16 2003 at 06:24PM
Bordeaux, France - A French magistrate caught masturbating during a court session was locked up on Thursday and put under investigation, justice officials in the south-western city of Bordeaux said.
The head judge of the city's appeals court said "a penal inquiry ordered by the prosecutor of the republic is currently being carried out by the police" while a request for a psychiatric evaluation of the magistrate - who was not named - had been made.
He said the justice ministry had also been asked to temporarily suspend the magistrate while the matter was looked into.
According to La Charente Libre, a local newspaper who had a reporter in court at the time of the alleged offence, the magistrate had discreetly lifted up his ceremonial robe while a lawyer was presenting final arguments, undid his pants and "engaged in gestures that left nothing to the imagination". - Sapa-AFP
Posted by: liZ | Monday, June 28, 2004 at 02:10 AM
I wonder if Richard Brown will ask for his case to be transferred to Thompson's courtroom.
Milford, Connecticut-AP) -- The moon in Milford, Connecticut, wasn't in the sky -- but in the courtroom. Richard Brown has been sentenced to six months in jail for mooning Superior Court Judge Patrick Carroll.
Brown was in court for a plea hearing on robbery charges. The judge told Brown to address him as "sir."
Brown told the judge to "kiss my" -- you-know-what -- and dropped his pants. He then pointed his rear-end at the judge. Brown continued to shout taunts and expletives as marshals hauled him out of court.
Posted by: liZ | Monday, June 28, 2004 at 01:19 PM
Maybe Thompson was ingesting the evidence. Evidently the County has a gigantic methamephetamine problem. Also, the babykiller was a meth addict and manufacturer.
http://www.tulsatoday.com/getnews.php?key=24024
Accused Baby Killer Back Behind Bars
By John O’Mara
Kurt Vomberg, free on bond awaiting a second trial for the murder of two-year-old Skyla Brooks, resides again today in the Creek County Jail facing charges of manufacturing methamphetamine, maintaining a dwelling where drugs are kept or sold, and other drug related charges.
Ed Willingham, Chief Investigator for the Creek County District Attorney’s Office, is known throughout Creek County for his successes at battling the County’s enormous methamphetamine problem, but in an odd mix of luck on stupid, Vomburg has been caught in Willingham’s net.
Willingham told Tulsa Today that the arrest came from an order by Creek County District Judge Donald Thompson after urine test results detected the presence of drugs in Vomberg’s system.
Willgham said that he went to Vomberg’s residence where he was stopped at the closed gate. “I honked and he came out,” he said.
Once Vomberg was in custody Willingham said that Vomberg told him he needed to use the bathroom. “I knew what he wanted to do,” Willingham said, “He wanted to dump some dope.”
Willingham escorted Vomberg back to the residence where Willingham says that he could smell the acidic odor of a methamphetamine lab and also spotted Iodine on Vomberg’s hands.
Willingham confronted Vomberg about the smell and says Vomberg admitted that there was a lab on the property. “At first he gave consent [to search] then immediately withdrew the consent,” said Willingham.
Willingham said at that point he opted to stay at the residence and apply for a search warrant and Vomberg contacted his attorney, Pat Williams, who reaffirmed Vomberg’s refusal to search.
Moments later, as Willingham and Vomberg waited at the residence Vomberg contacted his attorney again and, according to Willingham, told his attorney that he did, in fact, have an operating methamphetamine lab on the property. “He told his lawyer that he was worried that his barn would burn down,” said Willingham.
By this point Vomberg’s private investigator, Jerry Harris, arrived at the residence and Vomberg’s attorney is reported to have advised his client to provide Willingham with consent.
Vomberg, as well as Harris signed a written consent to search form and that is when the discovery of a methamphetamine lab was confirmed. “It was a full lab,” Willingham said.
Investigators told Tulsa Today that the lab was in operation and in the “gassing” stage of the process. Vomberg is expected to stand before a Creek County Judge within the next two days to have a bond set on the narcotic charges.
Years ago this reporter saw Skyla Brooks lying still in a Hillcrest Hospital room as machines kept her alive. Bruises that marked her tiny body told the horror story. She never moved. She never made a sound. She just lay there looking healthy in all other ways, and beautiful.
Detectives hovered above Skyla’s figure, snapping photographs of the bruises that would later be determined to be bite marks and placing tape measurers around the marks that they knew would later be seen in a courtroom. Even with the massive amount of activity in the room by doctors, nurses, police officers, detectives, and officials from the Department of Human Services, nobody spoke of the inevitable – Skyla was going to die.
Within twenty-four hours Skyla Brooks would be declared dead when life-support machines were turned off. The case of Skyla Brooks became a homicide and two defendants were fingered for their parts in this death of innocence; Vomburg and Skyla’s own mother Tammy Brooks.
Tammy Brooks was convicted of a lesser charge of child neglect and sentenced to twenty years in prison. Kurt Vomberg was tried in a Creek County Court for first-degree murder but the jury deadlocked on a guilty verdict.
At the time of Skyla’s death Vomberg admitted to shaking the child and claimed he was trying to dislodge a piece of meat from her throat. A search of the residence by deputies never uncovered any evidence that there had been meat cooked that night.
Later, in jail, it was discovered that Vomberg had removed caps from his teeth and placed them in the jail cell’s commode. Those caps were recovered by investigators and used against him at trial.
Now Vomberg is expected before a Creek County Judge within the next two days to have bond set on the narcotic charges. His second murder trial was recently delayed when Vomberg’s attorney resigned from the case, causing the Court to reschedule.
Posted by: liZ | Wednesday, June 30, 2004 at 11:12 AM
Maybe Thompson was ingesting the evidence. Evidently the County has a gigantic methamephetamine problem. Also, the babykiller was a meth addict and manufacturer.
http://www.tulsatoday.com/getnews.php?key=24024
Accused Baby Killer Back Behind Bars
By John O’Mara
Kurt Vomberg, free on bond awaiting a second trial for the murder of two-year-old Skyla Brooks, resides again today in the Creek County Jail facing charges of manufacturing methamphetamine, maintaining a dwelling where drugs are kept or sold, and other drug related charges.
Ed Willingham, Chief Investigator for the Creek County District Attorney’s Office, is known throughout Creek County for his successes at battling the County’s enormous methamphetamine problem, but in an odd mix of luck on stupid, Vomburg has been caught in Willingham’s net.
Willingham told Tulsa Today that the arrest came from an order by Creek County District Judge Donald Thompson after urine test results detected the presence of drugs in Vomberg’s system.
Willgham said that he went to Vomberg’s residence where he was stopped at the closed gate. “I honked and he came out,” he said.
Once Vomberg was in custody Willingham said that Vomberg told him he needed to use the bathroom. “I knew what he wanted to do,” Willingham said, “He wanted to dump some dope.”
Willingham escorted Vomberg back to the residence where Willingham says that he could smell the acidic odor of a methamphetamine lab and also spotted Iodine on Vomberg’s hands.
Willingham confronted Vomberg about the smell and says Vomberg admitted that there was a lab on the property. “At first he gave consent [to search] then immediately withdrew the consent,” said Willingham.
Willingham said at that point he opted to stay at the residence and apply for a search warrant and Vomberg contacted his attorney, Pat Williams, who reaffirmed Vomberg’s refusal to search.
Moments later, as Willingham and Vomberg waited at the residence Vomberg contacted his attorney again and, according to Willingham, told his attorney that he did, in fact, have an operating methamphetamine lab on the property. “He told his lawyer that he was worried that his barn would burn down,” said Willingham.
By this point Vomberg’s private investigator, Jerry Harris, arrived at the residence and Vomberg’s attorney is reported to have advised his client to provide Willingham with consent.
Vomberg, as well as Harris signed a written consent to search form and that is when the discovery of a methamphetamine lab was confirmed. “It was a full lab,” Willingham said.
Investigators told Tulsa Today that the lab was in operation and in the “gassing” stage of the process. Vomberg is expected to stand before a Creek County Judge within the next two days to have a bond set on the narcotic charges.
Years ago this reporter saw Skyla Brooks lying still in a Hillcrest Hospital room as machines kept her alive. Bruises that marked her tiny body told the horror story. She never moved. She never made a sound. She just lay there looking healthy in all other ways, and beautiful.
Detectives hovered above Skyla’s figure, snapping photographs of the bruises that would later be determined to be bite marks and placing tape measurers around the marks that they knew would later be seen in a courtroom. Even with the massive amount of activity in the room by doctors, nurses, police officers, detectives, and officials from the Department of Human Services, nobody spoke of the inevitable – Skyla was going to die.
Within twenty-four hours Skyla Brooks would be declared dead when life-support machines were turned off. The case of Skyla Brooks became a homicide and two defendants were fingered for their parts in this death of innocence; Vomburg and Skyla’s own mother Tammy Brooks.
Tammy Brooks was convicted of a lesser charge of child neglect and sentenced to twenty years in prison. Kurt Vomberg was tried in a Creek County Court for first-degree murder but the jury deadlocked on a guilty verdict.
At the time of Skyla’s death Vomberg admitted to shaking the child and claimed he was trying to dislodge a piece of meat from her throat. A search of the residence by deputies never uncovered any evidence that there had been meat cooked that night.
Later, in jail, it was discovered that Vomberg had removed caps from his teeth and placed them in the jail cell’s commode. Those caps were recovered by investigators and used against him at trial.
Now Vomberg is expected before a Creek County Judge within the next two days to have bond set on the narcotic charges. His second murder trial was recently delayed when Vomberg’s attorney resigned from the case, causing the Court to reschedule.
Posted by: liZ | Wednesday, June 30, 2004 at 11:39 AM
Another interview with Thompson's court clerks:
Posted by: liZ | Friday, July 09, 2004 at 09:31 PM
Anyone who knows Judge Thompson knows that he is a honorable man and these bizarre allegations all untrue and unfounded. Why would these women lie? Who knows, but I beleive that when all the evidence is revealed it will prove that there is no way what these women have said could be true, I have personally been in his courtroom hundreds of times and he is surrounded by a SOLID wood desk that has SOLID wood all the way around, you are unable to see anything from any angle except directly behind him, there are also many statements from press reporters etc.. that none of them saw or heard anything so out of thousands of people who have been in his courtroom these three are the only to see or hear anything. Oh yeah and one cop that has had a issue with the Judge for years.
Posted by: Truth teller | Wednesday, July 14, 2004 at 12:21 PM
Well, you wonder about the women being bold enough to come out and make statements if they hadn't seen anything.
Posted by: liZ | Wednesday, July 14, 2004 at 12:42 PM
This is in response to "Liz". First of all anyone who has been in Judge Thompson's Courtroom would certainly know that NONE of the furnishings in that room are wood. It is ALL metal!! The bench, the jury box, the witness stand, the clerk's seat, everything is all metal. So, you obviously do not know what you are speaking of. You CAN see behind the bench from several angles not to mention the SOUND SYSTEM that picked up the pump noises. Know your evidence before you speak out. From one who KNOWS.
Posted by: One Who Knows | Friday, August 13, 2004 at 11:05 AM
What self-respecting woman would witness such alleged events and not report it for so many years? Both women must have enjoyed it, if the allegations are true. Additionally, the police officer involved has zero credibility and is a well known masturbator himself. I applaud the judge for being at the forefront of the Penis Pump Liberation Movement.
Posted by: liZ | Friday, January 21, 2005 at 08:07 AM
My father estate has been before Judge Thompson since 1991 in some form or another and is still going on 14 years later. It's now with Judge Golden.
This Judge Thompson, in my opinion, always played to the good old boy attorney network in Creek County. I've also witnesses him closing his eyes with some kind of strange look for ten or fifteen minutes at a time in hearings or searching through his papers for something obviously not paying attention to the matters at hand.
Years would go by between hearings and rulings in my fathers estate as the enormous legal fees mounted as the judge would sit on the case.
Judge Thompson probably should have been removed a long long time before he stepped down. He will not be missed.
It interesting he also stated he couldnt get a fair trial in Sapulpa. He of all people should know.
Posted by: Norbert Young | Saturday, July 02, 2005 at 09:27 AM
Former Creek County Judge Donald Thompson Faces Two Civil Lawsuits
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More legal troubles for a former Creek County judge accused of using a sexual device in court. Judge Donald Thompson now faces two separate federal lawsuits from two former employees.
6 in the Morning reporter Omar Villafranca says in the two lawsuits filed, Lisa Foster and Zelma Hindman claim they were fired because of Judge Thompson's actions. The two women also say they worked in a sexually hostile work environment created by Thompson and that caused them emotional stress.
Thompson faces three felony counts of indecent exposure. The charges stem from allegations he used a sexual device in court during two murder trials. Thompson denies the charges and says the device was just a gag gift that was given to him.
Foster was a court reporter and believes Thompson fired her because she told the state about his behavior in court. Hindman was Thompson's secretary and bailiff. She says Thompson fired her because he believed she gave evidence of misconduct to authorities.
Both women name the State of Oklahoma as a defendant and both want monetary damages.
Judge Thompson's trial on the three felony counts starts September 26th
Posted by: Norbert Young | Tuesday, July 05, 2005 at 10:11 AM
Former Creek County Judge Donald Thompson Faces Criminal Charges
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A special prosecutor files criminal charges Thursday against a former Creek County judge.
Donald Thompson is charged with three felony counts of indecent exposure. The charges say at least two employees saw the judge's privates in 2003 while he was operating a penis pump while on the bench.
Judge Thompson resigned before a committee could decide whether to kick him off the bench. Then, the attorney general appointed a special prosecutor to see if any criminal charges should be filed.
After taking samples from the judge's former courtroom chair, robes and carpet for DNA testing, the charges were filed.
Thompson says he's innocent of all of it. Thompson’s attorney Clark Brewster: "I speak for the judge and his family when I say we are sad it's come to this point. There has been so much rumor and speculation about this case that the only good thing about charges being filed is that the truth will finally come out."
Thompson will be booked into jail Thursday then released on his own recognizance.
His next court date is in March.
Source: The News on 6
Posted by: Norbert Young | Friday, July 08, 2005 at 07:57 AM
Former Creek County Judge Donald Thompson Faces Criminal Charges
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A special prosecutor files criminal charges Thursday against a former Creek County judge.
Donald Thompson is charged with three felony counts of indecent exposure. The charges say at least two employees saw the judge's privates in 2003 while he was operating a penis pump while on the bench.
Judge Thompson resigned before a committee could decide whether to kick him off the bench. Then, the attorney general appointed a special prosecutor to see if any criminal charges should be filed.
After taking samples from the judge's former courtroom chair, robes and carpet for DNA testing, the charges were filed.
Thompson says he's innocent of all of it. Thompson’s attorney Clark Brewster: "I speak for the judge and his family when I say we are sad it's come to this point. There has been so much rumor and speculation about this case that the only good thing about charges being filed is that the truth will finally come out."
Thompson will be booked into jail Thursday then released on his own recognizance.
His next court date is in March.
Source: The News on 6
Posted by: Norbert Young | Friday, July 08, 2005 at 07:59 AM
Defense team requests pump
By BOB SHERRILL
Herald Staff Writer
The defense team for former Creek County District Judge Donald D. Thompson has filed an application to recover a penis pump being held as evidence.
Thompson is charged with three counts of indecent exposure stemming from complaints from three former employees who claim they witnessed Thompson using the penis pump on himself in 2003.
The former judge said he is not guilty of the exposure charges and there is no truth in allegations he had used a penis pump while on the bench.
The court application requests that Comanche County District Judge C. Allen McCall issue a ruling that would give the defense team possession of the pump seized by the state so their own forensic expert may conduct tests.
Potttawatomie County District Attorney Richard Smothermon has made an offer to send the pump directly to the testing agency, court documents show.
Defense attorneys Clark Brewster and Robert R. Nigh Jr. balked at the proposal and requested the pump be delivered to the defense team.
The defense attorneys reported they did not care to reveal the identity of the expert because it might divulge their thought process and strategy in defending Thompson in an upcoming trial.
In the paper filed by Brewster and Nigh, the attorneys said their examination could lead to evidence both helpful and harmful to their defense.
They said the examination of the pump also might lead to evidence the defense might wish to keep out of the hands of the prosecution.
Thompson is alleged to have exposed himself to three courtroom workers while he presided on the bench during two murder trials and a civil trial.
Thompson fired Lisa Foster, his court reporter, and Zelma Hindman, his secretary/bailiff, after they testified before a judicial review board last summer.
Thompson later gave his resignation the day the judicial court was scheduled to start public proceedings to remove him from the bench.
Thompson told reporters he was retiring from the bench but added the allegations against him were the work of Sapulpa Chief of Police Jim Wall.
McCall also has set a tentative date of Sept. 26 for Thompson's jury trial.
Smothermon was appointed by Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson to prosecute Thompson.
Bob Sherrill 224-5185 Ext. 201
[email protected]
Posted by: Norbert Young | Friday, July 08, 2005 at 08:05 AM
Former Creek County Judge Donald Thompson Faces Two Civil Lawsuits
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More legal troubles for a former Creek County judge accused of using a sexual device in court. Judge Donald Thompson now faces two separate federal lawsuits from two former employees.
6 in the Morning reporter Omar Villafranca says in the two lawsuits filed, Lisa Foster and Zelma Hindman claim they were fired because of Judge Thompson's actions. The two women also say they worked in a sexually hostile work environment created by Thompson and that caused them emotional stress.
Thompson faces three felony counts of indecent exposure. The charges stem from allegations he used a sexual device in court during two murder trials. Thompson denies the charges and says the device was just a gag gift that was given to him.
Foster was a court reporter and believes Thompson fired her because she told the state about his behavior in court. Hindman was Thompson's secretary and bailiff. She says Thompson fired her because he believed she gave evidence of misconduct to authorities.
Both women name the State of Oklahoma as a defendant and both want monetary damages.
Judge Thompson's trial on the three felony counts starts September 26th.
Source: The News on 6
Posted by: Norbert Young | Friday, November 25, 2005 at 08:38 AM
Former Creek County Judge Donald Thompson Faces Two Civil Lawsuits
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More legal troubles for a former Creek County judge accused of using a sexual device in court. Judge Donald Thompson now faces two separate federal lawsuits from two former employees.
6 in the Morning reporter Omar Villafranca says in the two lawsuits filed, Lisa Foster and Zelma Hindman claim they were fired because of Judge Thompson's actions. The two women also say they worked in a sexually hostile work environment created by Thompson and that caused them emotional stress.
Thompson faces three felony counts of indecent exposure. The charges stem from allegations he used a sexual device in court during two murder trials. Thompson denies the charges and says the device was just a gag gift that was given to him.
Foster was a court reporter and believes Thompson fired her because she told the state about his behavior in court. Hindman was Thompson's secretary and bailiff. She says Thompson fired her because he believed she gave evidence of misconduct to authorities.
Both women name the State of Oklahoma as a defendant and both want monetary damages.
Judge Thompson's trial on the three felony counts starts September 26th.
Source: The News on 6
Posted by: Norbert Young | Friday, November 25, 2005 at 08:39 AM
That has to be the funniest lawyer joke in the world.
"My god! A judge was arrested for using a peterpump on himself in court?! During a murder trial?! It doesn't surprise me."
-My cousin, Sharon Lee, the state appellate court judge
www.tncourts.gov/geninfo/Bio/Appeals/Biotca.htm
Posted by: Pirate News TV | Friday, April 07, 2006 at 06:22 PM
Thompson trial once again faces a delay
By BOB SHERRILL
Herald Staff Writer
BRISTOW –– The trial of former judge Donald Thompson has once again been delayed.
Shortly after 9 a.m. this morning, Comanche County District Judge C. Allen McCall dismissed jurors until 1:30 p.m. Monday while a judge appointed by the Oklahoma Supreme Court decides whether McCall will hear arguments on the fifth count against Thompson, misuse of a state computer.
Pottawatomie County District Attorney Richard Smothermon continued to argue that McCall should hear all five counts against Thompson, but he admitted if the trial has to continue with only four counts, he is ready to proceed.
Smothermon called today’s events “another delay tactic by the defense.”
“I’m tired. The delay by counsel has cost the state well over $10,000, and that doesn’t include our time, as well,” Smothermon said, adding the case needs to be resolved.
Defense attorney Clark Brewster maintains the fifth count is “nothing more than pure character assassination of Judge Thompson.”
The second issue that arose Tuesday concerning the constitutionality of the fifth count is before the state Appeals Court. That decision could take several days.
The often delayed trial hit another glitch Tuesday. Following a heated exchange with McCall, Brewster filed a motion requesting McCall disqualify or recuse himself from hearing the fifth charge, which is a misdemeanor offense.
McCall said since the Oklahoma Supreme Court appointed him to the case, the motion should be heard by possibly the Oklahoma State Court of Criminal Appeals.
The defense then scrambled out of the courtroom and headed for the phones to contact the administrative offices of the state Appeals Court for a ruling.
Late Tuesday, McCall said he intended to proceed with opening statements at 9 a.m. today unless he had word from the Appeals Court to stop.
“If I get a call to hold up, we will wait,” he said. “That could be a delay of just hours or a day or something longer.”
Smothermon argued the judge could not separate the misdemeanor count from the four felony counts. He said McCall did not have the option to try the misdemeanor count separately and that McCall must try either all five or none of the charges.
Smothermon said it was his role as district attorney to decide whether the infraction was of such a nature that it would call for criminal charges.
“That is where my office steps in. We have to determine if the offense reaches a level where charges should be filed,” Smothermon said. “That’s our job.”
Smothermon said prosecutors are not going to file charges against a state worker simply because he had used the computer to e-mail a message to a friend.
Brewster claimed in his motion McCall was biased and was not qualified to hear the fifth count because of the anger the judge displayed in a hearing earlier Tuesday.
In that hearing, McCall took exception to Brewster’s claim that every Oklahoma judge was in violation of the law, and McCall abruptly told the attorney he was overruling the motion and to sit down.
Brewster continues to claim the law about misuse of a state computer is vague and unconstitutional. He said any private use of the state computer was a violation –– even the fact McCall had the Bass Pro Shop Web site on his state computer in Lawton.
Despite the clouds of doubt over the trial, a five-man, seven-woman jury and two alternates were selected and were instructed to return to the courtroom at 9 a.m. today.
“I am a trial judge, and I do believe it is my job to try cases and not to determine if a law is constitutional,” McCall said.
Thompson also is charged with four counts of indecent exposure stemming basically from two chief witnesses.
The defense has been protesting the filing of the misdemeanor count almost from the time it was first filed in 2005.
But the defense has filed a parade of motions designed to block prosecution of the misuse of state computer charge and up to now all have been overruled.
Since the original three counts of indecent exposure were filed in January 2005, the defense has been successful postponing a jury trial at least twice.
Initially the trial was scheduled for September 2005 and was delayed once again in November 2005.
Brewster also was successful in delaying a preliminary hearing from December 2005 to January 2006 with the selection of a new associate district judge by the Oklahoma Supreme Court.
Prosecutors have stated in court documents the introduction of evidence in the fifth count –– which includes photographs and e-mail messages with Thompson’s female business partner –– were vital by providing collaborating evidence.
Brewster said the salacious photographs of the judge found on the state computer would create a bias against Thompson in the minds of jurors.
Without the misuse of state computer count, Brewster believes the state would have a difficult time getting the obscene photographs introduced into the indecent exposure trial.
Bob Sherrill 224-5185 Ext.201
[email protected]
Posted by: Norbert Young | Wednesday, June 14, 2006 at 07:15 PM
Thompson trial remains on hold
By BOB SHERRILL
Herald Staff Writer
BRISTOW –– A Washington County district judge could determine Friday whether the trial of former judge Donald Thompson will continue next week.
On Wednesday, Comanche County District Judge C. Allen McCall recessed the trial until 1:30 p.m. Monday to give the state Appeals Court time to resolve two issues concerning the charge of misuse of a state computer that is levied against Thompson.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Joseph M. Watt appointed Janice Dreiling, Washington County district judge, to preside at a recusal hearing for McCall at 1:30 p.m. Friday in Bristow.
If Dreiling rules McCall should step aside on hearing the misuse of a state computer charge, it is not certain whether the trial on the other four felony counts of indecent exposure will continue next week.
Thompson is accused of using a penis pump and masturbating while on the bench.
Both McCall and Pottawatomie County District Attorney Richard Smothermon believe all five counts should be tried at the same time and in front of the same jury.
Defense attorney Clark Brewster, however, filed motion with the Oklahoma State Court of Criminal Appeals claiming the law concerning the computer charge is unconstitutional.
While the recusal hearing Friday may solve one part of the problem, there has been no time line offered as to when the criminal appeals court will determine if the misuse of a state computer law is constitutional.
Smothermon said Wednesday he is prepared to continue the trial even if the fifth count is separated from the other four counts of indecent exposure.
Smothermon said the judge was charged with misuse of a state computer after pornographic pictures of Thompson and Angela McClanahan, his business associate, were found on the computer in his chambers at the Creek County Courthouse in Sapulpa.
Brewster has waged a battle to get count five dropped or at least separated from the four charges of indecent exposure since it was filed in October 2005.
Brewster also claims it is not Thompson in the pornographic photographs on the computer.
McCall has overruled a number of motions to dismiss or separate count five, including the latest claims by Brewster.
Brewster filed the motion for recusal when McCall admitted he had the Web site for the Bass Pro Shop on his state-owned computer and displayed anger in a motions hearing Tuesday morning.
Brewster said McCall should step aside on hearing count five because he would be prejudicial because of his admission that he also was in violation of the law.
Smothermon has an entirely different view of the validity of the law, saying there is a major difference between having the Bass Pro Shop and pornographic photographs on a state computer.
Brewster alleged every Oklahoma judge with a state-owned computer was guilty of violating state law. But McCall’s initial reaction to Brewster’s allegation was quick and heated when he said, “The motion is overruled, sit down.”
Brewster also filed a request for a subpoena of Michael D. Evans, administrative director of Oklahoma courts, and all documents and other materials involving three Oklahoma judges who allegedly had been found with pornographic material on their state computers.
However, Evans said Wednesday he has no knowledge of any Oklahoma judge with pornography on his computer. Evans said he had no knowledge of any correspondence or documents involving any Oklahoma judge and obscene material.
Smothermon said the law would be upheld as constitutional, and the recusal motion against McCall would be overruled.
“Three times both sides (prosecutors and defense) have announced they were ready for trial, and three times Brewster has come up with some new issue to cause another delay,” Smothermon said. “Sooner or later he is going to run out of excuses and we’ll get this case tried.”
Brewster said count five is a part of a character assassination against Thompson. “They want to wave those pictures of Thompson in front of jurors,” he said.
Bob Sherrill 224-5185 Ext.201
[email protected]
Posted by: Norbert Young | Saturday, June 17, 2006 at 08:15 AM
Key witness ‘disgusted’ by judge’s behavior
By BOB SHERRILL
Herald Staff Writer
BRISTOW – A veteran court reporter said Monday she was “shocked and disgusted” when she saw former judge Donald Thompson shaving his scrotum during the 2002 trial of a woman accused of murdering her 21-month-old baby.
Lisa Foster, who for 15 years was a court reporter for Thompson, said it was “just sickening” to have a grandfather telling about the death of his granddaughter and “there was the judge pumping on his penis.”
Foster perhaps is the final state witness in the trial of Thompson, who is charged with four counts of indecent exposure.
Thompson, 59, was a Creek County district judge for more than 20 years before he chose to retire rather than face a state judicial review board in August 2004.
At times Foster fought tears as she told of the secret that began when she first heard the “sh-sh” sounds in September 2000.
She said it was January or February 2001 when she finally tracked the sound to the judge.
“I stared at this plastic tube with his penis in it,” she said. “I was really shocked, and I was kind of scared because it was so bizarre.”
Foster said the judge was seated in a chair that was turned at an angle, and Foster said she could see him squeezing a plastic bulb and heard the “sh-sh” sound.
During a break in the trial, Foster said she ran downstairs to Theresa Clee’s office and closed the door.
“My face was red, and I told her he (Thompson) had a sex toy with his penis in it,” she said.
Foster said she heard the sound again in March 2001. “I saw him pull the tube off and lay it under the bench,” she said.
Foster said Clee stood by the courtroom door while Foster took pictures of the device with a Polaroid camera borrowed from the district attorney’s office.
“I shot three pictures of the pump, and I gave one to Clee and I took the other two home,” she said.
At that point, Special Prosecutor Patricia High showed Foster a small photograph of a penis pump and ask her if this was the picture she had taken in 2001.
Foster said yes and added the picture had been taken on March 13, 2001 in the criminal trial of Oklahoma vs. Gibbs.
“I did not want people to think I was crazy or lying,” she said. “I wanted to tell someone, but I did not know who to call.”
At first, Foster said she saw the judge using the pump only when someone in the courtroom was talking. But she said he later used it brazenly, even during rape and murder trials.
In 2002 a new sound system was installed in the courtroom complete with a microphone mounted on the bench. Foster said about the same time, Thompson began using a second pump that was much louder than the first one.
The first pump has been described as a plastic tube open at one end, and the other end was closed except for a small plastic hose connected to a bladder, much like the bulb on devices used to measure blood pressure.
The second pump had a clear plastic tube of about 8 to 10 inches long with one end open and the other end closed except for a plastic hose that ran to a calipered hand pump complete with a vacuum pressure gage.
Foster said she was certain that Sapulpa Police detective Mike Reed had heard the pump, and at one time she was urged to talk to the police department by one of her childhood friends, Stacy Young, the wife of a Sapulpa police officer.
“I did not want any part of it.” Foster said. “I did not want to be found dead in a ditch somewhere.
“I had a job where I was making $25,000 a year more than my husband, and I did not want to lose my job,” she said. “I never wanted this.”
Things began to unravel in 2004 when Foster was given a subpoena to give a deposition to Duke Logan, who was investigating the activities of Thompson for the state judicial review board in Oklahoma City.
Foster said she later was forced to testify before the judicial review board in Oklahoma City, and Thompson fired her and Zelma Hindman, his secretary bailiff the next day.
Foster said throughout the two years from 2001 to 2003 she began to mark her steno notes when she heard the operation of the pump.
Jurors and reporters also listened to about three hours of audiotapes of trials conducted by Thompson and heard the alleged audible sounds of the pump in operation during the jury trials.
High asked Foster to describe Thompson’s penis. At first Foster said it was flesh colored, but over time started looking “raw” and then finally purplish.
Samuel Dakil, a Norman urologist, in his testimony earlier offered the same description of a penis that had been subjected to a pump.
In cross-examination, defense attorney Clark Brewster challenged Foster’s testimony, noting instances where it differed from previous testimony she had given under oath.
When asked by the defense if Thompson had intended for her to see him, Foster replied, “I don’t know what he was trying to do.”
Foster faces more questioning by Thompson’s lawyers today. She is expected to be the state’s final witness in the trial, which began last week.
Bob Sherrill 224-5185 Ext.201
[email protected]
Posted by: Norbert Young | Tuesday, June 27, 2006 at 05:50 PM
Ex-Judge Denies Using Sex Device in Court
BRISTOW, Okla. (AP) - A former county judge testified Tuesday that he kept a sexual device under his courtroom bench but called it a gag gift and denied ever using it, saying to have done so in open court "defies common sense.''
By KELLY KURT, Associated Press Writer
Last update: June 27, 2006 – 10:45 PM
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BRISTOW, Okla. (AP) - A former county judge testified Tuesday that he kept a sexual device under his courtroom bench but called it a gag gift and denied ever using it, saying to have done so in open court "defies common sense.''
Donald Thompson, who faces four felony counts of indecent exposure, took the stand in his own defense after his former court reporter testified she had seen him expose himself during trials at least 15 times between 2001 and 2003.
Thompson testified that a penis pump seized in the case was given to him as a joke by a longtime hunting and fishing buddy. He said he kept the pump under the bench and sometimes in his office, saying "it wasn't something I was hiding.''
He added that he may have absentmindedly squeezed the pump's handle during court cases but never used it to masturbate.
Thompson, 59, retired in 2004 after nearly 23 years as a judge.
He suggested during his testimony that local police and court personnel had plotted against him in bringing the allegations.
He also described his own fidgety behavior on the bench, saying that he would sometimes buff his shoes, roll cigarettes, use a computerized organizer and dip smokeless tobacco during proceedings.
But he denied ever exposing himself or using the pump.
"No, sir,'' he told his attorney. "To me it's inconceivable. It defies common sense.''
Shown a photo that former court reporter Lisa Foster said she took of a pump under the judge's bench, he said, "I have never seen this, in this position under my desk, that I can recall.''
Foster was the prosecution's last witness in the trial, which began last week. (PROFILE (COUNTRY:United States; ISOCOUNTRY3:USA; UNTOP:021; APGROUP:NorthAmerica
Posted by: Norbert Young | Wednesday, June 28, 2006 at 06:11 AM
Embattled former judge takes stand in his defense
By BOB SHERRILL
Herald Staff Writer
Former Creek County District Judge Donald Thompson took the witness stand Tuesday and denounced the four counts of indecent exposure against him, saying he was the subject of a conspiracy by the Sapulpa Police Department.
“To have used such a device (a penis pump) during open court defies common sense,” Thompson said.
He had remained mute and declined making any statements since he held a press conference in 2004, but on Tuesday. he had the chance to tell his side of the story.
“I never put that (penis pump) on my penis, not ever,” he said, “and I never shaved my private parts.”
Thompson was referring to the allegation made by his former court reporter, Lisa Foster, who testified Monday that she had witnessed Thompson shaving his scrotum.
Thompson also testified that he had never urinated in a trashcan, saying it was inconceivable that someone would say that.
The former judge said he thought a doctor may have given him a pump along with some literature and a videotape on operating a vacuum pump back in the mid 1990s.
Thompson testified he could not say if a picture of a pump allegedly taken by Foster in March 2001 was the pump that had been given to him.
“I’m not sure what happened to that pump. I thought it was thrown away,” he said.
Thompson added that he never used the pump in the photograph.
He said the second pump in question was given to him in 2001 by Pat Hale, of Sand Springs, as a gift on his 55th birthday.
“I probably should have thrown it away years ago, but I didn’t,” he said.
Investigators found the pump in question in January 2005 after current Creek County District Judge Douglas Golden informed prosecutors there was a locked filing cabinet belonging to Thompson in his chambers.
In direct testimony Thompson told the court the pump given to him was inoperative.
“It was broken….all the parts are not there,” he said.
Later in the day, Hale identified the pump in evidence as the one he had given to Thompson. Hale said he found the pump in a paper sack, and it did not work.
Thompson said the courtroom was just too wide open and too visible for him to have used penis pumps in open court.
Thompson blamed the Sapulpa Police Department and Police Chief Jim Wall for putting the case against him together, but he stopped short of accusing Foster of being a part of a move to oust him from the bench.
In cross examination, Thompson said there were two other Creek County judges after his position, and Foster had asked him if he intended to resign.
The comments came when special prosecutor Patricia High grilled Thompson over an alleged letter he had written to Foster and the details of when and how he had fired her.
At first, Thompson gave the thought her firing was a mutual decision. He said later, “I terminated her.”
Concerning the pump sounds, Thompson said that he could not remember whether he ever squeezed the handle of the pump during court, but it was a possibility.
He said the handle could have been a tension reliever for him, and he also kept a rubber ball to relieve tension.
High then asked why he didn’t get rid of the pump. Thompson said it was something he had not hidden, and there were a number of people who knew of its existence.
Thompson said he had never given serious thought to getting rid of the device but realized now he should have thrown it into the trash bin.
In addition to Hale, the defense also called two Tulsa attorneys who testified that during a civil trial they had not seen anything unusual in Thompson’s courtroom.
The both testified they never heard any “sh-sh” sounds in the courtroom.
If convicted, Thompson could be sentenced to 10 years in prison on each indecent exposure count and could lose his pension of $7,490 a month.
Bob Sherrill 224-5185 Ext.201
[email protected]
Posted by: Norbert Young | Wednesday, June 28, 2006 at 05:35 PM
Testimony ends, jury to begin deliberations in Thompson trial
By BOB SHERRILL
Herald Staff Writer
BRISTOW –– Testimony in the district court trial of Donald Thompson ended Wednesday and a seven-woman, five-man jury could start deliberating the fate of the former Sapulpa judge as early as this afternoon.
Thompson is charged with four felony counts of indecent exposure stemming from complaints from two court reporters that testified they had observed Thompson using a penis pump while presiding at jury trials in 2003.
Comanche County District Judge C. Allen McCall, appointed to preside at the Thompson trial, said court proceeding would resume 12:45 this afternoon to give a juror time to attend a funeral.
It is estimated the reading of jury instructions and closing statements should take nearly four hours, and it is not certain if the jury will begin deliberations this afternoon or start fresh Friday morning.
In testimony Wednesday, there were conflicting stories concerning the sounds of the pump and statements by Lisa Foster and Theresa Clee who have testified exposed his penis during two murder trials and a civil libel trial in 2003.
First Assistant Creek County District Attorney Don Nelson said he would have arrested the judge on the spot if he had seen him applying a pump to his penis as alleged by special prosecutors.
Nelson said he never heard the “ch, ch” sound ever in the courtroom and that the allegations were “incredible.”
However, rebuttal witnesses Jerry Harris and his wife, Diana, both said they heard the sound on numerous occasions during the first-degree murder trial of Kurt Vomberg in May and June of 2003.
“I thought maybe it was an air freshener or bug spray,” Jerry Harris, who was a private investigator working for the Vomberg defense, said.
His wife, Diana, said she was in the back of the courtroom in the gallery during the Vomberg trial when she heard the sounds.
Both said they had heard the sounds on several days during the trial, and Harris said he believed the sound was coming from the judge’s bench.
Creekmore Wallace was defending Tammy Brooks on first-degree murder charges and was present in the courtroom when court reporter Lisa Foster alleges she witnessed Thompson shaving his scrotum.
In his testimony Wednesday, Wallace said, “I cannot fathom it.”
Wallace said during closing arguments when Foster said the exposure occurred, he was loudly objecting to the prosecutor’s use of photos of a murdered toddler in her closing arguments.
Ed Willingham, chief investigator for Creek County District Attorney Max Cook, said he had never heard any “ch, ch” sounds and he had never witnessed anything improper by the judge.
However, in cross-examination, Willingham said he had asked Foster why she had not told him of what she had seen and heard.
“I asked her why she didn’t talk to me about it,” Willingham said. “Foster told me she did not know who to trust.
Foster made a similar statement in her testimony earlier this week.
Smothermon asked Willingham if he thought Foster told the truth.
“I’ve never known Lisa to lie,” Willingham said.
Becky Jennings, court reporter and secretary for Creek County Special District Judge Richard Woolery, said there was no construction going on at the time of the trials, as one defense witness had claimed.
She said the contractors had clear instructions to curtail work while court was in session.
Defense attorney Clark Brewster accused Jennings as the person who had gone to the Sapulpa Police Department to take a statement from Foster.
She said flatly she had not been to the Sapulpa Police Department ever.
Brewster later acknowledged the court reporter that took the Foster statement was not Jennings
Nelson’s secretary, Sue Lee, testified she specifically listened for a pumping sound during a 2003 trial after hearing rumors a sexual device had been found under the bench.
But she said she saw nothing to indicate the judge was using a pump.
Prosecutors previously played courtroom recordings for jurors in which a pumping sound can be heard in the background.
Foster identified the sound as the pump she had seen.
But defense witnesses Wednesday said the courtroom’s poor acoustics and sound system often drew complaints. Noise from construction and emergency vehicles also made it difficult to hear, they said, and sometimes stopped court proceedings.
Bob Sherrill 224-5185 Ext.201
[email protected]
Posted by: Norbert Young | Thursday, June 29, 2006 at 09:09 AM
Was he a republican, democrat or independent? He sounds pretty independent, to me.
Posted by: Kayakbiker | Thursday, June 29, 2006 at 02:58 PM
BRISTOW, Okla. (AP) — A former judge could be sentenced to four years in prison after being convicted of exposing himself by using a sex gadget while he presided over trials.
The jury on Thursday rejected Donald D. Thompson's contention that the device was a prank gift that he had never used, convicting the 23-year judicial veteran of four counts of indecent exposure.
The conviction will require Thompson to register as a sex offender and could jeopardize his $7,489.91-a-month pension. Jurors recommended one year in prison and a $10,000 fine on each count. Bond was set at $75,000, which Thompson's attorneys said would be posted Friday.
Thompson was accused of using the device during four jury trials in 2002 and 2003.
His former court reporter, Lisa Foster, testified that she saw Thompson expose himself at least 15 times. During one trial in 2002, she said, she heard the pump's "sh-sh" sound during the emotional testimony of the grandfather of a murdered toddler.
Foster told her story to authorities only after being subpoenaed, saying she feared she would lose her job. The investigation into Thompson's actions began after a police officer saw the pump in the judge's courtroom. Thompson fired Foster after the investigation began.
Thompson maintained his innocence, saying the white-handled device at the center of allegations against him was simply a prank gift that he never used.
"In 20-20 hindsight, I should have thrown it away," he testified.
In closing arguments Thursday, defense attorney Clark Brewster called the device "a joke."
Prosecutor Richard Smothermon said he would pursue a misdemeanor charge of misuse of state property against Thompson that was separated from the trial before opening statements.
"He was at the pinnacle of the justice system in Creek County, and now that justice system has held him to the same standard," Smothermon said.
Posted by: Norbert Young | Friday, June 30, 2006 at 07:10 AM
Im certain we havent heard the end to a sad, strange tale.
I learned we probably deserve what we get from our elected officals. After all this Judge Thompson was elected time and time again and ran unopposed other times by the citizens of Creek county.
I also learned people will look away from huge injustices to save their jobs, careers and political allies regardless of the consequences and harm done to other people.
In hindsight they probably ought to do away with the court in Sapulpa anyway. Its about 20 minutes from Tulsa and the court there, is in my opinion, less likely to be controlled by the "good ole boy" network.
The couthouse looks similar to the one in My Cousin Vinnie with the dark wood chambers, big stone building with cracked and well worn marble and tile floors. It also has a round center atrium that extends all three or four stories up and its always under repair.
It was probably built in the teens or twenties with new found oil money as this is an shallow oil field area.
Posted by: Norbert Young | Friday, June 30, 2006 at 07:31 AM
My god. What is this country coming to when a guy can't use his own penis pump and not be bothered. The republicans will stoop to anything. I suspect this is a ploy of senator brownbeck or sen conyners or even gob "Jeb" bush. Lets suopport the judge and his freedom to use the penis pump as long as he isn['t using it on anyone else.
Posted by: wally | Sunday, July 02, 2006 at 06:55 AM
would you be so kind as to get me the case number of this case
A former judge from Bristow, Oklahoma is on trial for allegedly having a somewhat unusual way to pass the time during those long, dreary trials. He is accused of amusing himself by, well, abusing himself. Donald Thompson, who faces four felony counts
thanks
Dave r
Posted by: Dave r | Monday, March 03, 2008 at 03:10 AM