NYT: A Texas judge who refused to keep a courthouse open to receive a last-minute death penalty appeal did not engage in serious wrongdoing and should keep her job, according to a judge reviewing ethics complaints against her.
Sharon Keller, the presiding judge of the state’s Court of Criminal Appeals, was the center of controversy concerning the 2007 execution of Michael W. Richard, a convicted murderer.
On the day of Mr. Richard’s scheduled execution, the United States Supreme Court effectively suspended lethal injection, the method Texas used. Lawyers for Mr. Richard from the Texas Defender Service rushed to file a last-minute appeal in light of the new ruling.
“Judge Keller’s conduct was not exemplary of a public servant. She should have been more open and helpful about the way TDS [Texas Defenders Service] could present the lethal injection claim.” Keller “says, if she could do it all over again, she would not change any of her actions, this cannot be true. Any reasonable person, having gone through this ordeal, surely would realize that open communication, particularly during the hectic hours before an execution, would benefit the interests of justice” — Special Master’s Findings of Fact [PDF]
Related
KUT-Texas Tribune: Sharon Keller Walks
Texas Monthly: The Judgement of Sharon Keller
