An Oklahoma judge caught sending hundreds of texts and scrolling social media during a murder trial last year agreed to resign on Friday, February 9, 2024. According to reports, the judge sent over 500 texts to her bailiff while presiding over the case.
Some of her texts allegedly include messages that made fun of prosecutors and the victim’s sobbing mom. Following the outrage, District Judge Traci Soderstrom decided to step down days before the case was to go on trial in a special court.
Security footage showed Soderstrom, a now-former judge for Lincoln and Pottawatomie counties, extensively on her phone during the 2023 trial. The defendant, Khristian Tyler Martzall, was on trial over the 2018 killing of his girlfriend’s 2-year-old son.
Subsequently, an investigation by the Oklahoma Supreme Court determined that Soderstrom texted her bailiff during the trial. A petition filed by Oklahoma Supreme Court Chief Justice M. John Kane IV claims that “they mocked the physical appearance of attorneys, jurors, and witnesses.”
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Also, it says Soderstrom and the bailiff “used offensive language to deride the State’s attorneys.” “There were some things that I did inappropriately,” Soderstrom said during a press event on Friday. “I texted during a trial.”
She added, “It doesn’t matter whether it was a traffic case or whether it was a divorce case or whether it was a first-degree murder case.” Soderstrom continued, “I texted during the trial, and that was inappropriate.” Furthermore, she noted she had been doing her job well.
“I promised to uphold the Constitution in a fair, even-handed and efficient manner,” Soderstrom wrote in her resignation letter. “I believe that I have done so. However, being human, I have also faltered.” In addition, Soderstrom said she quit because she believed she would not get a fair trial.
In his petition, Kane accused Soderstrom and her bailiff of “calling murder trial witnesses liars.” Also, he claims they admired the looks of a police officer who was testifying. In addition, the petition claims they disparaged the local defense bar and expressed bias in favor of the defendant.
Kane’s petition also claims they displayed gross partiality against the state. Among the texts referenced, the then-judge said a district attorney was “sweating through his coat.” According to the petition, she also described the defense attorney as “awesome” and called a prosecutor’s witness a liar.
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Consequently, the chief justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court recommended Soderstrom’s removal from the bench in October 2023. He cited accusations of gross neglect of duty, oppression, lack of proper temperament, and failure to supervise her office.
However, in her remarks on Friday, Soderstrom railed against the accusations and characterization of her texts. “The content and the insinuation of those things I am not agreeing to because it doesn’t matter,” she said. Furthermore, she disputed displaying any bias in the case.
“I didn’t make up my mind,” she said. “Even if I had, that wouldn’t have mattered because I was not the fact-finder.” Regardless, an order of dismissal in the case notes that Soderstrom voluntarily resigned. Also, she agrees not to seek any judicial position in the state again.
The push to oust Soderstrom, who took the bench in January 2023, came after her exchange with her bailiff became public. Soderstrom had served for six months before the murder trial.
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