Judge checked Facebook and texted during murder trial, courtroom video shows

Home Daily News Judge checked Facebook and texted during… Judiciary By Debra Cassens Weiss July 24, 2023, 11:40 am CDT       “It is both shocking and disappointing to learn,” said Adam Panter, a district attorney in Oklahoma, in a statement. “Jurors are banned from using cellphones in the courtroom during trials because we expect them to give their full time and attention to the evidence being presented.” Image from Shutterstock. Courtroom surveillance video leaked to the Oklahoman shows a judge scrolling through Facebook and texting on her cellphone while presiding in a murder trial. Judge Traci Soderstrom of Lincoln County, Oklahoma, used her cellphone during the trial last month of Khristian Tyler Martzall, 32, who was accused in the death of his then-girlfriend’s 2-year-old son, the Oklahoman reports in coverage recounted by the Associated Press. Prosecutors alleged that Martzall either harmed the boy or allowed his girlfriend to do so, according to the Oklahoman. He was convicted of second-degree manslaughter and received the maximum sentence of four years in prison. Martzall has been imprisoned for more than five years and has completed his sentence, Soderstrom said. Soderstrom declined to comment when contacted by the Oklahoman because the verdict
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