Litigation

TX Commission Rebukes Judge Keller

By Peter Hardin

Texas’ top criminal court judge will keep her job, although a disciplinary panel reprimanded her handling of a last-minute death row appeal.

The State Commission on Judicial Conduct gave Judge Sharon Keller a “public warning,” one of its less severe sanctions, and said she engaged in “willful or persistent conduct that casts public discredit on the judiciary,” according to an Associated Press article.

Judge Keller was accused of misconduct  (see Gavel Grab). The death row inmate involved in the case at issue was executed on Sept. 25, 2007, a short time after Judge Keller refused to keep her courthouse doors open, saying “We close at 5.” Lawyers for the inmate had asked Judge Keller’s court if they could submit his appeal after regular hours, and the judge said “no” two times when the issue was brought to her attention by a court staffer.

According to the AP, a judge on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals gets assigned to keep working until an execution occurs. Judge Keller’s response on the phone amounted to an intentional step to deny the inmate’s appeal without sending his legal filing to the assigned judge, the commission ruled.

The commission “sharply rebuked” Judge Keller and said her conduct “violated legal standards for her office and effectively closed off last-minute legal avenues for inmate Michael Wayne Richard,”  the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.

The judge’s lawyer, Chip Babcock, said the jurist was “shocked and disappointed” that the commission had “completely disregarded” the conclusion of a special master who presided earlier over Judge Keller?s ethics trial said she did not violate a written rule or law.

Babcock added, according to the Austin American-Statesman, “It is perhaps not surprising that the same commission that made the charges finds them now to be valid despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Judge Keller looks forward to challenging this decision in the judicial system.?

Full post as published by The Gavel on July 19, 2010 (boomark / email).