The chief justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court is recommending the removal of a lower court judge who was caught on camera scrolling through social media and texting during a murder trial.
An investigation by the Oklahoma Supreme Court Council on Judicial Complaints found District Judge Traci Soderstrom exchanged more than 500 texts with her courtroom bailiff during the trial.
Texts included in a court filing showed the judge mocked prosecutors, laughed at the bailiff’s comment about a prosecutor's genitals, praised the defense attorney and called the key prosecution witness a liar, according to the petition filed Tuesday by Chief Justice John Kane IV.
Soderstrom, who was sworn in on Jan. 9 after being elected in November, was suspended with pay pending the outcome of a hearing by the Court on the Judiciary, which will determine whether to remove her from the bench.
“The pattern of conduct demonstrates Respondent’s (Soderstrom’s) gross neglect of duty, gross partiality and oppression,” Kane wrote. “The conduct further demonstrates Respondent’s (Soderstrom’s) lack of temperament to serve as a judge.”
A phone call to a number listed for Soderstrom rang unanswered before disconnecting Wednesday.
Soderstrom's texts included saying the prosecutor was “sweating through his coat” during questioning of potential jurors and asking “why does he have baby hands?” according to Kane's petition. The texts described the defense attorney as “awesome” and asked “can I clap for her?” during the defense attorney's opening arguments.
