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Still image of security camera footage shows Lincoln County District Judge Traci Soderstrom looking at her cellphone during a murder trial on June 12, 2023.Lincoln County District Court/The Oklahoman via AP
An Oklahoma judge oversaw a trial against a man accused of beating his girlfriend’s son to death.
Security footage viewed by The Oklahoman shows the judge looking at her phone during the trial.
A prosecutor said the judge “spent hours of the trial on her cell phone,” according to The Oklahoman.
A Lincoln County District judge is under investigation after security footage showed the lawyer scrolling through her phone during a seven-day murder trial. That reports the Associated Press.
Judge Traci Soderstrom, a new state judge elected in November, oversaw a brutal murder trial that began last month. The case involved 32-year-old Khristian Tyler Martzall, who was accused of beating to death the 2-year-old son of his then-girlfriend, Braxton Danker. according to The Oklahoman, which first reported on Soderstrom’s behavior in court.
According to the local newspaper, this was Soderstrom’s first case. She began the trial by instructing jurors to turn off all electronic devices — common courtroom protocol — so they could “focus on the evidence without interruption,” The Oklahoman reported.
Soon Soderstrom proceeded to check her phone.
Footage from a ceiling security camera pointed above the right bench showed Sodestrom repeatedly checking her device, The Oklahoman reported. According to the newspaper, the judge used her phone during jury selection, opening statements and testimony.
At one point, Soderstrom checked her cellphone during tearful testimony from the victim’s mother, Judith Danker. The footage also shows Soderstrom checking Facebook and, once, searching for and sending a GIF, The Oklahoman reported.
During the trial, the judge held her phone on her lap or sometimes put it in a drawer near her desk, which can be seen on the security footage, according to the report.
A Lincoln County District Court spokesperson was unavailable for comment over the weekend.
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District Attorney Adam Panter, who reviewed the footage after receiving a tip from a courthouse employee, told The Oklahoman that the judge “spent hours of the trial on her cell phone both texting and scrolling through social media.”
“It’s both shocking and disappointing,” Panter told the newspaper. “Jurors are not allowed to use mobile phones in the courtroom during trials, as we expect them to devote their full time and attention to the evidence presented. I expect and hope that the Court will uphold the same standard that is required of jurors, regardless of the type of case.”
Panther did not immediately return a request for comment sent over the weekend.
The Oklahoma Council on Judicial Complaints is investigating Soderstrom’s conduct, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office told the Associated Press.
Soderstrom moved the position of the ceiling security camera on Monday, according to The Oklahoman. Panther told the paper he was concerned the judge was doing this rather than trying to address her behavior.
Soderstrom was elected in November and sworn in on January 9. Soderstrom went low in 2003, according to The Oklahoman. The judge told Countywide & Sun last year that she had an extensive legal background, practicing everything from administrative law issues to criminal and juvenile justice.
Martzall was convicted of second-degree manslaughter at the end of the trial. Prosecutors were looking for first-degree murder.
Martzall was arrested and jailed since his arrest in 2018, Panther told The Lincoln County News. The jury recommended serving time for his sentence.
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