Lincoln County (Okla.) District Judge Traci Soderstrom (YouTube screengrab via The Oklahoman)
A judge overseeing a murder trial of a man accused of beating a toddler to death is facing an ethics investigation for allegedly using her cellphone to check Facebook while witnesses — including the defendant himself — were on the stand.
Lincoln County, Oklahoma, District Judge Traci Soderstrom, 50, is seen thumbing through her phone for stretches of minutes at a time on overhead courtroom security footage first published by the The Oklahoman newspaper, the Associated Press reported. The video was reportedly leaked to the newspaper, according to Oklahoma City ABC affiliate KOCO.
At one point, the AP reported, Soderstrom searched for a GIF, an animated image.
At the time, Soderstrom was overseeing the trial of Khristian Tyler Martzall, who was accused of murdering 2-year-old Braxton Danker, the son of Martzall’s girlfriend Judith Cheyann Danker, in 2018. One video published by The Oklahoman shows Soderstrom repeatedly — and for minutes at a time — look down at her phone, scrolling and responding to text messages over the course of around 50 minutes as Martzall was on the stand.
The video also shows Soderstrom setting her phone down in a drawer and taking notes.
In 2018, Martzall, then 27, and Danker, then 19, were charged with murdering Braxton by beating him to death. According to Tulsa CBS affiliate KOTV, Braxton died from severe head trauma.
According to a report from Insider, citing The Oklahoman, the Martzell trial was Soderstrom’s first, after having been elected to the bench for a four-year term in November 2022. At the start of the trial, Soderstrom told jurors to turn off all electronic devices so that they could “concentrate on the evidence without interruption,” Insider reported.
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The Oklahoma Council on Judicial Complaints is investigating, the AP said, citing the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office. The council would not independently confirm the investigation.
“It is both shocking and disappointing,” District Attorney Adam Panter told The Oklahoman, according to Insider. “Jurors are banned from using cellphones in the courtroom during trials because we expect them to give their full time and attention to the evidence being presented. I would expect and hope the Court would hold itself to the same standard required of the jurors, regardless of the type of case.”
Panter said that Soderstrom “spent hours of the trial on her cellphone both texting and scrolling through social media.”
A jury convicted Martzall of second-degree manslaughter in June, a significantly lesser charge than the murder count he originally faced, according to the Lincoln County News. The jury recommended a sentence of time served for Martzell, who has been in custody since his arrest in 2018.
Danker took a plea deal in 2019 and was sentenced to 25 years in prison on a charge of enabling or permitting child abuse. According to The Oklahoman, Danker testified against Martzall at his trial. Soderstrom is believed to have checked Facebook during Danker’s tearful testimony, Insider reported.
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