CHANDLER, Okla. (AP) An Oklahoma judicial ethics panel is investigating a new state judge who can be seen on courtroom video scrolling through social media and texting on her cellphone throughout a murder trial, according to a local sheriffs office.
Security video published by The Oklahoman newspaper shows Lincoln County District Judge Traci Soderstrom texting or messaging for minutes at a time during jury selection, opening statements and testimony in the trial for a man charged in the beating death of his girlfriends son.
Sgt. Aaron Bennett of the county sheriffs office declined to provide the video to The Associated Press, saying it is part of an ongoing investigation by the Oklahoma Council on Judicial Complaints. Taylor Henderson, the councils director, said its work looking into accusations of misconduct by judges is secret by law and that she could not comment on whether it is investigating. Soderstrom declined to comment to The Oklahoman because the verdict in the murder case could still be appealed, saying judges are prohibited from discussing pending cases. She did not respond to a request for comment from the AP. In the video, Soderstrom, 50, can also be seen checking Facebook during the trial, which began last month in Chandler, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) northeast of Oklahoma City, according to The Oklahoman. At one point, Soderstrom searched for a GIF, an animated image.
","type":"video","meta":{"author":"The Oklahoman","author_url":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3yh5vp9HPyUPzDWy46K0sA","cache_age":86400,"description":"In footage obtained by The Oklahoman, Lincoln County District Judge Traci Soderstrom got out her phone to send text messages and scroll Facebook during a murder trial involving the fatal beating of a 2-year-old boy.\n\nOn trial was Khristian Tyler Martzall, then the boyfriend of the boy's mother, Judith Danker. She pled guilty to enabling child abuse under a plea deal in 2019 and testified against Martzall during the trial, which concluded with a second-degree manslaughter conviction for him.","options":{"_cc_load_policy":{"label":"Closed captions","value":false},"_end":{"label":"End on","placeholder":"ex.: 11, 1m10s","value":""},"_start":{"label":"Start from","placeholder":"ex.: 11, 1m10s","value":""},"click_to_play":{"label":"Hold load & play until clicked","value":false}},"provider_name":"YouTube","thumbnail_height":720,"thumbnail_url":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/2rfRY1bjxcA/maxresdefault.jpg","thumbnail_width":1280,"title":"During murder trial, Oklahoma judge repeatedly uses cell phone to text and scroll Facebook","type":"video","url":"https://action.news/watch?v=2rfRY1bjxcA","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"mobile","editionInfo":{"id":"us","name":"U.S.","link":"https://action.news","locale":"en_US"},"originalEdition":"us","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"64bdf472e4b0ad7b75f95914","entryPermalink":"https://action.news/entry/oklahoma-judge-phone-courtroom-murder-trial_n_64bdf472e4b0ad7b75f95914","entryTagsList":"oklahoma,judge,court,@ap_wire_import,@nosyndication,@us_huffpost_now,@wire","sectionSlug":"us-news","deptSlug":"politics-news","sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"us.us-news","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc111dcf87c2cd2f5d8bf","overrides":{"front_page_top_videos":{"desktop":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","mobileweb":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d"},"top_media":{"desktop":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","mobile":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"anthology":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"content":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"}},"playerUpdates":{"5668ae6ee4b0b5e26955d6a6":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","56aa41bae4b091744c0440d8":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81","5841b2b5cc52c716ec6e5a7f":"60b8e355cdd90620331ba185","58b5e2b8d85a10302feee895":"60b64316b171b7444beafdb2","58b74698f78ced31417819ae":"60b8e5bec5449357a7ad9b52","58b74ccecebcea57e2c3a3d1":"60b8e5eac5449357a7ad9ca5","58cff690d85a100b9992bc39":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","58cffb3fb6d9b972a49a3c9d":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","58cffdd74d96935d7d6ec180":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","58d03a84f78ced6518eb2fa7":"60b643c82e76be41f112735c","592edf20e0fa177b0c26f7fd":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","5b35266b158f855373e28256":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","5c116f29f79c4171d82b7c2a":"60b64440b171b7444beb040b","5c1170fc600c9a697bf0c6b9":"60b646102e76be41f1127ffc","5c47791afa1b317df8ae0c4f":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","5c477987a6b48b35f164773d":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","5c4779ee943c3c2a64f28371":"60b8e747cdd90620331bb861","5c477a26fcd67b26879bc7c2":"60b8e788c5449357a7ada67b","5d8921a78c3ae845f366c9b6":"60ae7be5f3a7c13a30417ff9","58b98b00ba82aa39a6534321":"60d0de7c9340d7032ad1146c","58b9d14cb6d9b96c9ec32af3":"60d0dec19340d7032ad115a0","58cff8eccebcea42931e0436":"60d0e005b627221e9d819d44","592edf5de0fa177b0c26f95b":"60d0e38fb627221e9d81adcf","58cff72fd85a100b9992c112":"60d0e447b627221e9d81b0da","56b4d34fe4b022697697c400":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","60b8e4c0c5449357a7ad957d":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b","clickToPlayPlayer":"d014396e-b366-4c17-aeac-3ce906fa3fd0","videoPagePlayer":"f010447b-d244-4111-a314-7b4542ae4145","verticalPlayer":"e58cb05a-0bc8-4210-9108-fea82726c065","stickyPlayerControl":"52ea1755-d601-4ad1-bccc-d8cce3f0e5da","stickyPlayerON":"8055e9e5-3bda-4933-8d45-9ad814fb6e22"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"https://img.connatix.com/7c3cca31-b531-4f46-989a-27b6b689c3b0/1_th.jpg?crop=480:270,smart&width=480&height=270&format=jpeg&quality=60&fit=crop","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":1},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":1},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"64bdf472e4b0ad7b75f95914","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"mobile","page_edition":"en-us"},"tags":[{"name":"Oklahoma","slug":"oklahoma","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/oklahoma","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/oklahoma","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/oklahoma"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"U.S. News","slug":"us-news"},"topic":{"title":"Oklahoma","slug":"oklahoma","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/oklahoma"},{"name":"judge","slug":"judge","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/judge","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/judge","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/judge"},"url":"https://action.news/topic/judge"},{"name":"court","slug":"court","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/court","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/court","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/court"},"url":"https://action.news/topic/court"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["\r\n\r\n","\r\n\r\n","\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false}">
_(720p).jpg)
 OFFICIAL HD MUSIC VIDEO.jpg)
.jpg)
