Judge Faces Misconduct Trial for Refusing Last-Minute Death-Row Appeal
Aug 24th, 2009 • Posted in: News Texas judge who closed court and blocked appeal by inmate executed later that night stands by her decision
SAN ANTONIO
A legal-ethics case that has drawn worldwide attention wrapped up last week, and now Texas judge Sharon Keller awaits the decision of the state’s Commission on Judicial Misconduct over whether she acted improperly in refusing to keep her court open to accept a last-minute appeal from death row.
Keller was unrepentant during the closing day of her trial, saying she stood by her decision because attorneys had “all day” to file, reports USA Today.
Britain’s Sky News reports that Keller had been in charge when attorneys for death-row inmate Michael Richard tried to lodge an appeal, but were told by court officials, apparently on Keller’s instructions, that the court had closed promptly at five o’clock.
A secretary for a Texas public-defender organization testified that she had called at 20 minutes before five, asking for additional time to file because legal secretaries in the office of the appellant were experiencing computer problems, but she was rebuffed then and later, at 5:56, when the document was completed.
Michael Richard was executed at 8:23.
Keller said she was not told the reason for the delay. Had Keller been told about the computer problems, she said, she “would have started thinking in a different direction,” according to the Sky News report.
Attorneys for Keller say the accusations against her are without merit. “Judge Keller didn’t close the court to anybody,” said Chip Babcock, Keller’s attorney, according to a report from the Associated Press. “Michael Richard’s lawyers never knocked on the right doors and they gave up.”
Keller’s defense team also insists that there were nine other judges who could have accepted the filings and their numbers are listed in the phone book, according to the Houston Chronicle.
The panel hearing the case may take several weeks to render a decision, which could involve no action, a formal reprimand, or removal from office.
Sources: AP, Aug. 21 — Houston Chronicle, Aug. 20 — Sky News, Aug. 19 — USA Today, Aug. 19.
For more information, see: Related Newsline story, Aug. 17 — Related Newsline story, Aug. 17 — Related Newsline story, Mar. 30 — Related Newsline story, Mar. 9 — Related Newsline story, Dec. 15, 2008.
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