Bubbaworld

On August 23, 2006 attorneys for Donald Dewayne Thompson filed an Appeal of Thompson’s conviction. His attorneys also filed a petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus seeking Thompson’s release pending appeal. On September 1st that petition was denied.

On September 11, the The Oklahoma Supreme Court removed Thompson’s name from the bar membership rolls for failing to pay his bar dues and failure to comply with continuing-education requirements. Thompson had been similarly suspended the previous year. The bar could impose further discipline, including disbarment upon Thompson for his criminal conviction.

On September 18, 2006 Donald D. Thompson was moved from the Lexington Assessment and Reception Center, where he had been housed since August 18 to an unidentified state facility, the Department of Corrections said. Thompson’s Department of Corrections records indicate that he is at the Joseph Harp Correctional Center, in Lexington, OK.

On September 19, 2006 Tom Spencer, the executive director of the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System’s judicial pensions announced that Donald D. Thompson has lost his $93,474.12 yearly state pension as a result of his indecent exposure convictions. Thompson’s attorney Clark Brewster stated he would appeal the Retirement Board action and was quoted in the media as stating:

How much more vengeance will they try to exact on this man who has made diligent contributions, and now they want to take it away, not from him, but from his family and those he supports. Hey, enough is enough. Anything more is pure unadulterated vengeance.

Thompson is still eligible to receive nearly $300 a month from a pension stemming from his years as a state representative between 1974 and 1980.

Special Prosecutor Richard Smothermon stated of the Retirement Board’s action:

That’s the right decision. A man who disgraced his profession does not deserve to benefit. We should not pay this convicted felon for crimes he committed while seated on the bench. The only thing Don Thompson deserves from the state is a warm place to stay and three meals a day.

On September 22, 2006 Richard Smothermon, the lead prosecutor in the indecent exposure case against Donald Thompson indicated that the misdemeanor charge of misusing state property against Thompson was being dropped because it would be a waste of state resources to prosecute Thompson any further.

The misdemeanor case resulted from the discovery of pornographic photos on Thompson’s office computer, images that authorities claim show Thompson engaged in sex acts with Angela McClanahan. McClanahan, the chief witness in the misdemeanor case, failed to show up in court to testify and fled when authorities were sent to arrest her on a contempt warrant. McClanahan was subsequently arrested and faces a contempt of court hearing on November 1st.

On November 1, 2006 Angela McClanahan, the runaway state’s witness against Donald Thompson, made an initial appearance in Creek County District Court to answer to a misdemeanor charge of contempt of court for refusing to appear at the Thompson trial. McClanahan requested a jury trial and a pre-trial conference was set for December 12, 2006.

In mid-November it was announced that The Masturbating Judge, Donald Thompson, sentenced to four one-year concurrent terms would be considered for parole in December, this in spite of his having served less than four months in prison.

Richard Smothermon, the special prosecutor assigned to handle Thompson’s case, said he sent an objection letter to the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board and plans to personally attend the Parole Board hearing to oppose Thompson’s early release.

In a public statement, Smothermon said:

“I think when we tell a jury that he’s going to prison for four years, we ought to mean it. This man had his chance at leniency … and he chose to pass that up. These are the ramifications of all of his decisions. To let him out now would be a mockery of the justice system.”

Richard Smothermon, the district attorney for Lincoln and Pottawatomie counties, and assistant district attorney Pattye High lobbied against early release for Thompson at the December, 2006 Parole Board hearing, saying he has shown no remorse for his actions and that his arrogance was unimaginable. Smothermon urged the board to not only deny parole at this time but also every time Thompson came up for consideration.

An investigator for the Pardon and Parole Board recommended that Thompson not be granted parole. The Pardon and Parole Board had the option of paroling Thomspon from his first one year sentence in order that he could begin serving the second one year sentence or paroling him from all four sentences. The Parole Board unanimously voted to deny parole for Thompson at its December 4th meeting. Thompson will next be considered for parole in December, 2007.

On December 12, 2006 a pre-trial conference was held for Angela McClanahan. Currently McClanahan is set for trial on February 12, 2007. McClanahan remains free on bond.

A hearing regarding the state retirement benefits of former Creek County District Judge Donald D. Thompson was continued on December 18th after a dispute over witnesses. Thompson is challenging a decision by the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System in which it was ruled that Thompson’s felony convictions preclude him from receiving his $7,789 per-month pension. Thompson does not want the retirement payments stopped until his appeals have run their course. He also wants money that has been withheld since his June, 2006 conviction to be reinstated. No new date for the continuation of the hearing was announced.