A judge in Oklahoma has been placed on administrative leave after an inquiry discovered more than 500 messages between her and a bailiff. She reportedly made fun of a district attorney's outfit, dubbed a witness a liar, and showed prejudice toward the defendant and against state prosecutors in a murder trial.
While the Court of the Judiciary decides whether to remove Soderstrom from the bench, she has been placed on administrative leave with pay.
Reportedly, Soderstrom was elected in November 2022 and began serving on the court in January this year.
Amid the Murder Trial
In a petition submitted on Tuesday, October 10, Oklahoma Supreme Court Chief Justice John Kane claimed that Lincoln County District Judge Traci Soderstrom should be dismissed from her job and prohibited from holding any judiciary position in the state.
NBC News reported that Soderstrom was accused of being caught on video using her phone and browsing social media throughout the trial. This fact was also used to make the case that she should be removed from office for gross neglect of duty, blatant partiality in office, and tyranny in office.
As per the lawsuit, Soderstrom and her bailiff spoke through more than 500 text messages during the June murder trial of a man suspected in the beating death of a kid.
"The totality of the text messages give the appearance Respondent believed the defendant was innocent and that she wanted a particular outcome in the case," the petition states.
According to The Guardian, defendant Khristian Martzall was found guilty of second-degree manslaughter and given a time-served sentence in connection with the 2018 death of Braxton Danker, the son of Martzall's girlfriend.
Judith Danker -- Martzall's girlfriend and the kid's mother -- pled guilty to facilitating child abuse. She was sentenced to 25 years in prison and was a major prosecution witness during the trial.
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The Text Messages
The Oklahoman, a newspaper based in Oklahoma City, has obtained surveillance footage showing Soderstrom texting for many minutes during jury selection, the opening remarks, and testimony.
In a report by NBC News, the petition indicates that Soderstrom once asked in a text message, "Can I please scream liar liar?" when the girlfriend testified against Martzall in court.
In another text, the bailiff allegedly responded to Soderstrom's text message saying District Attorney Adam Panter was sweating through his coat with the words, "He's gross and a horrible speaker."
The bailiff called the assistant district attorney an "arrogant a------." After the bailiff made a crude and insulting comment about the prosecuting attorney's genitalia, the judge responded with a "Ha Ha" icon.
The petition also claims that while discussing the Martzall case with the bailiff, Soderstrom brought up the possibility of instructing the jury to consider second-degree manslaughter. In the conversation, Soderstrom emphasized through text that the term for facilitating child abuse was far more severe than the one for second-degree manslaughter, which carries a sentence of two to four years.
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