A controversial judge who made headlines for enjoying a lap dance in court has been found dead at home with her two-month-old baby by her side.
Judge Vivian Polanía first grabbed attention in 2020 when local media dubbed her the “hot judge” for her viral Instagram posts featuring exercise and CrossFit.
The 37-year-old, who had over 30 tattoos, hit the headlines again in 2022 after attending a Zoom meeting while lying “partially undressed” in bed, apparently smoking.
She also sparked outrage in 2023 for watching an erotic show at her courthouse.
The judge was discovered dead yesterday (17 Dec) at her home in Cúcuta, Colombia, near the Venezuelan border.
Relatives called the police after she failed to answer their calls.
Officers broke into the property and found Vivian’s body on the floor, with her baby son nearby.
The infant was unharmed and taken into care.
Authorities say her body showed no signs of violence and there was no apparent break-in.
The exact cause of death has not yet been released as officials investigate the circumstances.
Vivian was known as a no-nonsense judge who targeted criminal gangs in her city and along the border region.
She was also suspended several times over high-profile scandals, as reported by Need To Know.
In November 2022, she was temporarily suspended after attending an online meeting “with half-closed eyes, dishevelled hair, lying on a bed.”
She was “dressed in a black T-shirt and a grey jacket, partially undressed, smoking, and with noticeable difficulty in articulating her words,” according to the Norte de Santander Judicial Disciplinary Commission.
In September 2023, she was suspended for three months after a video emerged of her enjoying a lap dance at the Francisco de Paula Santander Palace of Justice in Cúcuta.
Earlier this year, in February, a prosecutor accused her of using “reckless and rude language with the purpose of humiliating him and expressing her contempt for the way he addressed her office” during a hearing.
The Judicial Disciplinary Committee ruled in her favour, stating her actions were aimed at “clarifying, in chronological order, the circumstances of time, manner, and place in which the events under investigation occurred”.
The investigation into her death is ongoing.
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