Shocking texts revealed after Judge was caught on her phone during murder trial of 2-year-old
The shocking texts sent by a judge as a mother sobbed about the murder of her child have been revealed.
Judge Traci Soderstrom was presiding over the pretrial, jury selection, and opening statements relating to the 2018 death of two-year-old Braxton Danker, who tragically died after suffering cardiac arrest.
The little boy was found with injuries all over his body, including broken bones and open wounds.
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The child's mother, Judi Danker, and her boyfriend, Khristian Martzall, were charged with first degree murder.
It was during the testimony of Danker that Judge Soderstrom was caught on a security camera scrolling on her phone.
A camera situated behind the Oklahoma District 23 judge showed her typing messages and at one point, even looking for GIFs.
And now, some of the texts that Judge Soderstrom allegedly sent on that day in court have been revealed in a court filing issued on Tuesday (10 October) by Chief Justice John Kane IV.
In fact, it has emerged that the judge sent a whopping 500 texts to her bailiff - some even ridiculing the prosecutors, the filing says.
According to the filing, when the toddler’s mom, Judith Danker, took the stand as a prosecution witness against Martzall, Soderstrom texted: “Can I please scream ‘liar, liar?”.
While another text, the complaint board’s findings claim, read: "State just couldn’t accept that a mom could kill their kid, so they went after the next person available."
Among Soderstrom’s countless messages, she also questioned whether a juror was wearing a wig and if a witness had teeth.
She also allegedly admired a police officer who testified as 'pretty', saying 'I could look at him all day'.
The judge also spoke about District Attorney Adam Panter, saying he was 'sweating through his coat' during questioning.
Meanwhile, others texts described the defense attorney as 'awesome', with Soderstrom asking if she could 'clap for her'.
At one point, the judge allegedly discussed sentencing with the bailiff, something that is certainly confidential.
She went on to say that a second-degree manslaughter charge would see Martzall get only two-to-four years behind bars, the filing claimed.
In the end, Martzall was convicted of second-degree manslaughter at the trial, subsequently being sentenced to four years in prison.
Ultimately, Danker was sentenced to 25 years in prison for enabling child abuse.
Kane wrote in the filing that the 'pattern of conduct' shown by Soderstrom showed her 'gross neglect of duty, gross partiality and oppression'.
Soderstrom agreed to a temporary suspension from her position, with her attorney, Tracy Schumacher, telling The Oklahoman that she 'takes these allegations very seriously'.
She is also planning a response to the allegations once the entire record from the Council on Judicial Complaints has been received, her attorney added.
UNILAD has reached out to Soderstrom's attorney for further comment.
Callum Jones