Commission Targets Head Judge On Top Texas Appeals Court
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Commission Targets Head Judge On Top Texas Appeals Court
The Texas Commission on Judicial contact is charging the presiding judge of the state’s top criminal appeals court with violating her duty for cutting of appeals for a condemned inmate.
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AUSTIN (February 19, 2009)—The Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct Thursday charged the presiding judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals with "willful or persistent conduct that casts public discredit on the judiciary" for cutting of last-minute appeals for a condemned inmate on the night of the inmate’s execution.

The commission’s actions against Presiding Judge Sharon Keller Thursday could result in her removal from office

Convicted killer Michael Richard was put to death the evening of Sept. 25, 2007, after Sharon Keller, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals presiding judge, ordered a clerk to close the court's office promptly at 5 p.m.

Richard’s lawyers requested that the office stay open to permit a late appeal.

According to the commission's findings, Keller had left the court that afternoon to meet a repairman at her home and did not return to the office.

An appeals court attorney called her at home shortly before 5 p.m. to ask if the office could stay open and she said "no" and asked "why?"

When told of the impending appeal, Keller again said "no," the commission said.

Richard was executed that night for the 1986 rape and murder of a Houston-area woman, Marguerite Lucille Dixon.

Earlier that day, the U.S. Supreme Court had agreed to review the constitutionality of lethal injection in a Kentucky case.

Keller's office says she had no comment.

She has 15 days to respond to the charges brought by the judicial conduct commission.

Keller is also the target of an impeachment effort.

Texas State Rep. Lon Burnam filed a resolution earlier this week seeking to start the process against Keller for what he calls "neglect of duty."

If the Texas House finds grounds for impeachment, it would be up to the Senate to conduct an impeachment trial.

Burnam is a Fort Worth Democrat.

Keller is a Republican who has served on the court since 1994 and her relentless tough-on-crime approach earned her the nickname "Killer Keller."

Latest Comments

Posted by: Not Sympathetic Location: Waco on Feb 20, 2009 at 09:33 AM

"Richard was executed that night for the 1986 rape and murder...." 1986-2009 = 22 years - he did not need any more appeals, and should have been executed much sooner.
Posted by: Wayne Location: Gatesville on Feb 19, 2009 at 04:02 PM

They had 11 years to file appeals, why should an office have to stay open late because of their procrastination. This sounds partisan to me.
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