Oklahoma Judge Having Fun During the Trial of a Murdered 2-year-old

Photo credit: Ekaterina Bolovtsova

It appears that an Oklahoma Judge named Traci Soderstrom thinks the trial of a 2-year-old boy who was beaten to death is funny. 

During the murder trial, this judge sat on the bench, playing on her phone and exchanging hundreds of text messages with her bailiff Angela Miller. 

Some of the texts she sent made fun of the jurors' hair and teeth, made fun of the prosecutor for sweating and having small hands, called the murdered child's mother a liar, declared the murder defendant innocent before the trial was over, lusted over a handsome man in the courtroom, and discussed the genitals of another. 

For a judge to show absolutely no care, concern, or respect for the murdered child during this trial is chilling. 

Here's a bullshit quote from an interview Judge Traci Soderstrom gave in 2022 while she was vying for her current position: 

“I also believe that it is important that every person that comes before the court is treated with respect, is treated fairly, is treated with dignity, and is treated with compassion. Obviously, the judge’s job is to judge but not be judgmental and disrespectful and mean-spirited about it.”

This embarrassment of a human being is also accused of failing to properly instruct the jury. The outcome of the trial was the defendant who was accused of beating the toddler to death (who the judge was rooting for) got time served; while the child's mother (who the judge called a liar) got 25 years in prison for enabling child abuse. While I'm not a lawyer, this outcome sounds fishy to me and maybe it could be declared a mistrial. 

This judge went so far as to order that the courtroom camera over her desk be blocked, so no one could see her texting on her phone during trials. So, rather than see how wrong her behavior is, she chose to find a way to hide it.

This callous, shameful woman has been a Lincoln County District judge since January 2023 and the chief justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court has called for her removal. I certainly hope they remove Bailiff Angela Miller as well.

It will be shocking if Oklahoma allows her to remain on the bench. 

 

 

Sources: 

https://www.wbaltv.com/article/oklahoma-judge-could-be-removed-from-office/45532146

https://www.soderstromforjudge.com/about

https://www.countywidenews.com/news/dist-23-judge-candidates

https://fox59.com/news/national-world/calls-for-oklahoma-judges-removal-after-500-texts-sent-during-murder-trial-investigation/

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/suspended-oklahoma-judge-faces-removal-bench-probe-texts-murder-trial-rcna120011

https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/12/us/oklahoma-judge-texting-trial