Thompson's conviction won't permanently damage Oklahoma judiciary

Thursday, August 17th 2006, 1:03 pm

By: News On 6

BRISTOW, Okla. (AP) _ The case of a former Oklahoma judge sentenced to four years in prison for indecent exposure while presiding over trials won't do permanent harm to the state's judiciary, according to the judge who presided over Donald Thompson's trial.

Special Judge C. Allen McCall sentenced the 59-year-old Thompson yesterday to four consecutive one-year prison sentences and fined him $40,000.

About an hour later, Thompson was in handcuffs and on his way from a Creek County courthouse to a state prison in Lexington.

Thompson was convicted on June 29th on four felony courts of indecent exposure for incidents that took place in his court room in Creek County.

McCall says the case is the most bizarre he's ever been involved in and that he's not sure if the best Hollywood screenwriter could have made such a story up.

Defense attorney Clark Brewster promises to appeal the verdict to the state Court of Criminal Appeals.

Brewster compares the trial to a 100-meter race in which Thompson had a couple of bowling balls tied to him.