(ProsperNews.net) – An Oklahoma judge is under investigation for sending text messages during a trial suggesting the mother of a murder victim could be the real killer. Lincoln County District Judge Traci Soderstrom sent 500 texts to a bailiff, including messages where she referred to a testifying witness as a “liar.”
Soderstrom was overseeing the trial of Khristian Martzall, who was accused of murdering the 2-year-old son of his partner Judith Danker. When the child’s mother was in the witness box, Soderstrom wrote to the bailiff, saying, “Can I please scream liar, liar?” She also suggested the mother was the guilty party in the case, saying, “State just couldn’t accept that a mom could kill their kid, so they went after the next person available.”
Soderstrom made remarks about a police officer, who she described as “pretty” and said, “I could look at him all day.” She mocked a witness’s teeth and questioned whether a juror was wearing a wig.
The chief justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court recommended the removal of Soderstrom while a decision is made about her future. The judge was elected in November 2022 and sworn into her role in January.
A Reuters investigation in 2020 found widespread misconduct among the American judiciary – most of which goes unpunished. Offenses range from sentencing beyond what the law requires, inappropriate relationships, smearing and condemning victims of crimes, and heavy drinking. For example, Judge Les Hayes in Alabama sentenced a woman to 496 days in jail for failing to pay traffic tickets – a sentence higher than Alabama law allows for negligent homicide.
Several judges have caused trouble, including involving themselves in violent scuffles through heavy drinking, while others have been censured for unleashing verbal tirades onto crime victims.
The media investigation found that nine out of ten judges reprimanded for misconduct can return to the bench. In one case, a heavy drinking judge was required to take a breathalyzer test every morning.
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