(AP) — Former Creek County judge Donald D. Thompson was released on $75,000 bond Friday afternoon following his conviction on four felony counts of indecent exposure while presiding over trials in 2002 and 2003.
A jury deliberated for 5 1/2 hours Thursday before returning a guilty verdict. The jury recommended one year imprisonment and a $10,000 fine for each count. Special judge C. Allen McCall set a sentencing hearing for Aug. 14 in Bristow.
Thompson was held in Creek County jail overnight. Friends and family members were working on arranging his release Friday morning, but he was not been released until about 2 p.m.
During the next six weeks, representatives from the Oklahoma Department of Corrections will conduct a pre-sentence investigation. This investigation will be presented at the Aug. 14 hearing.
The review will determine if Thompson, 59, is a candidate for parole or some other form of punishment, defense attorney Clark Brewster said.
The pre-sentencing report will be one of the items that McCall will weigh in considering a sentence. The indecent exposure charges carry with them a minimum of 30 days and a maximum of 10 years imprisonment with a fine of up to $20,000 per count.
McCall can stick with the jury’s recommendations. He can also determine whether a sentence should be served consecutively or concurrently.
With the report “the judge will hopefully make an informed decision,” Brewster said.
Brewster said Thompson’s defense team might ask the trial judge for a new trial or seek to appeal the conviction to a higher court. The court reporter from the trial in Bristow was preparing a full transcript from the trial that Brewster said attorneys would review.
“It was one of those trials that was a real slugfest,” Brewster said. “We were very hopeful. It’s one of those things that you never know what will happen until the jury comes back.”
Although this trial is over, the former judge still faces a charge of misusing state property, for four lewd images found on a computer in Thompson’s office. The misdemeanor count was separated from the trial after a material witness eluded police on the eve of opening arguments.
Special prosecutor Patricia High said the state planned to continue pursuing that charge. Angela McClanahan, 37, the material witness who ducked out of the back of her Jenks home when police officers sought her on the eve of the trial, remains at large.
“He deserves to be held accountable for every crime he committed,” High said after the verdict. “I’m ready to go now.”
Thompson served as a judge for more than 23 years in Creek County. His trial stretched over three weeks and featured frequently graphic and lewd testimony. Three courthouse employees testified to seeing the judge’s penis exposed while he presided over trials.
Prosecutors also contended that Thompson used a device called a “penis pump” while presiding. Defense attorneys had dismissed the device, which was entered into evidence during the trial, as a gag gift.
The trial was held in Bristow, 20 miles away from the Sapulpa courtroom where Thompson served.
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