A judge in Oklahoma in the US has resigned after she was caught sending text messages during the trial of a man who had been accused of murdering a two-year-old boy.
District Judge Traci Soderstrom stepped down from her office after several accusations came to light against her, including gross neglect of duty, oppression in office, lack of proper temperament and failure to supervise her office.
Soderstrom resigned just days before impeachment proceedings against her were scheduled to start.
In what was Soderstrom’s first murder trial, evidence from a security camera positioned behind her came to light that she was regularly sending and receiving text messages from her phone – despite telling jurors to turn theirs off to avoid distractions – and even scrolling through social media on occasions. An investigation by the Oklahoma Council on Judicial Complaints then found she exchanged more than 500 messages with her bailiff.
Not only that, but some messages mocked the prosecutor’s appearance, while others praised the performance of the defence.
Soderstrom had been elected to serve a four-year term in January 2023, but voluntarily suspended herself in October after the evidence came to light and she tried to convince the council to put in place a corrective action plan for her, rather than terminating her employment.
Following the investigation, Oklahoma Supreme Court Chief Justice John Kane IV wrote that Soderstrom displayed a “lack of temperament to serve as a judge.”
In her resignation letter, Soderstrom said she had “faltered” in her duties. In a proposed settlement, she agreed not to seek a judicial seat in Oklahoma again.
The trial in which this occurred ended with the accused being convicted of manslaughter and released on time served. The defence has been quoted in the media as saying they were unaware of the phone use during the trial. However, no appeal has been lodged.
