Current:Home > NewsOklahoma Supreme Court chief justice recommends removing judge for texting during a murder trial-InfoLens
Oklahoma Supreme Court chief justice recommends removing judge for texting during a murder trial
View Date:2024-12-23 11:15:13
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The chief justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court is recommending the removal of a lower court judge who was caught on camera scrolling through social media and texting during a murder trial.
An investigation by the Oklahoma Supreme Court Council on Judicial Complaints found District Judge Traci Soderstrom exchanged more than 500 texts with her courtroom bailiff during the trial.
Texts included in a court filing showed the judge mocked prosecutors, laughed at the bailiff’s comment about a prosecutor’s genitals, praised the defense attorney and called the key prosecution witness a liar, according to the petition filed Tuesday by Chief Justice John Kane IV.
Soderstrom, who was sworn in on Jan. 9 after being elected in November, was suspended with pay pending the outcome of a hearing by the Court on the Judiciary, which will determine whether to remove her from the bench.
“The pattern of conduct demonstrates Respondent’s (Soderstrom’s) gross neglect of duty, gross partiality and oppression,” Kane wrote. “The conduct further demonstrates Respondent’s (Soderstrom’s) lack of temperament to serve as a judge.”
A phone call to a number listed for Soderstrom rang unanswered before disconnecting Wednesday.
Soderstrom’s texts included saying the prosecutor was “sweating through his coat” during questioning of potential jurors and asking “why does he have baby hands?” according to Kane’s petition. The texts described the defense attorney as “awesome” and asked “can I clap for her?” during the defense attorney’s opening arguments.
Soderstrom also texted a laughing emoji icon to the bailiff, who had “made a crass and demeaning reference to the prosecuting attorneys’ genitals,” Kane wrote.
Khristian Tyler Martzall was eventually convicted of second-degree manslaughter in the 2018 death of Braxton Danker, the son of Martzall’s girlfriend, and sentenced to time served.
Martzall’s girlfriend and mother of the child, Judith Danker, pleaded guilty to enabling child abuse, was sentenced to 25 years and was a key prosecution witness who was called a liar by Soderstrom during testimony.
“State just couldn’t accept that a mom could kill their kid so they went after the next person available,” Soderstrom texted, according to the filing from Kane.
Soderstrom’s texts also included comments questioning whether a juror was wearing a wig and if a witness has teeth and calling a police officer who testified, “pretty. I could look at him all day.”
When questioned by the Council on Judicial Complaints, Soderstrom said her texting “probably could have waited” rather than realizing the comments should never have been made. She said she thought, “oh, that’s funny. Move on.”
Security video published by The Oklahoman newspaper showed Soderstrom texting or messaging for minutes at a time during jury selection, opening statements and testimony in the trial.
Kane’s petition also said Soderstrom had previously criticized other attorneys and prosecutors, and berated a member of the courthouse staff.
Kane wrote that Soderstrom should be removed for reasons that include gross neglect of duty, gross partiality in office and oppression in office.
veryGood! (7379)
Related
- Kid Rock tells fellow Trump supporters 'most of our left-leaning friends are good people'
- Funeral and procession honors North Dakota sheriff’s deputy killed in crash involving senator’s son
- Remembering Norman Lear: The soundtrack of my life has been laughter
- Congo and rebel groups agree a 3-day cease-fire ahead of the presidential vote, US says
- Melissa Gilbert recalls 'painful' final moment with 'Little House' co-star Michael Landon
- Semi-trailer driver dies after rig crashes into 2 others at Indiana toll plaza
- AT&T Stadium employee accused of letting ticketless fans into Cowboys-Eagles game for cash
- Cyclone Jasper is expected to intensify before becoming the first of the season to hit Australia
- The boy was found in a ditch in Wisconsin in 1959. He was identified 65 years later.
- How rich is Harvard? It's bigger than the economies of 120 nations.
Ranking
- Judge moves to slash $38 million verdict in New Hampshire youth center abuse case
- How rich is Harvard? It's bigger than the economies of 120 nations.
- Inflation cools again ahead of the Federal Reserve's final interest rate decision in 2023
- Attacks on health care are on track to hit a record high in 2023. Can it be stopped?
- The Bachelorette's Desiree Hartsock Gives Birth, Welcomes Baby No. 3 With Chris Siegfried
- Why George Clooney Is at a Tactical Disadvantage With His and Amal Clooney's Kids
- FBI to exhume woman’s body from unsolved 1969 killing in Netflix’s ‘The Keepers’
- Horoscopes Today, December 12, 2023
Recommendation
-
Oil Industry Asks Trump to Repeal Major Climate Policies
-
How rich is Harvard? It's bigger than the economies of 120 nations.
-
German government reaches solution on budget crisis triggered by court ruling
-
Sri Lanka will get the second tranche of a much-need bailout package from the IMF
-
Olivia Culpo Celebrates Christian McCaffrey's NFL Comeback Alongside Mother-in-Law
-
Missiles from rebel territory in Yemen miss a ship near the key Bab el-Mandeb Strait
-
Andre Braugher, Emmy-winning actor who starred in ‘Homicide’ and ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine,’ dies at 61
-
Can you gift a stock? How to buy and give shares properly