Go vote in the online poll at Grits for Breakfast. Look on the right side on the front page.

“Should Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge Sharon Keller be sanctioned for refusing to accept a 20-minute late death penalty appeal without consulting her colleagues?”

The Austin American Statesman Editorial board in “Justice in Texas? Not on her watch” (Sunday, Oct 14, 2007) says that:

it is abundantly clear that Keller and her court have been more concerned with process than justice. They have repeatedly ignored the fundamental right of a defendant to competent counsel. Reporting by the American-Statesman’s Chuck Lindell has highlighted the court’s indifference to glaringly inept defense attorneys in capital cases.

Keller’s coldblooded response in the Richard case may have been the last straw that prompted the ethical complaint, but the appeals court has been grating on legal sensibilities for years.

Finally, an important part of the legal community said it has had enough and moved to have Keller disciplined, and possibly removed from the bench. That is an important step in guarding the integrity of criminal justice in Texas.

The Austin Chronicle says that:

you likely know now what a cold, cold, cold and dark heart has CCA presiding Judge Sharon Keller. Sure, Keller has long been considered a cold fish by many – lawyers, journalists, and those with even the barest hint of a pulse, among others – but her latest show of distaste for, really, her job, is mind-blowing. According to the E-N, Keller basically, well, lied, by saying that the reason the court failed to hear Richard’s appeal was that it wasn’t at the court by 5pm, the deadline she arbitrarily set without consulting any of the court’s other judges, several of whom actually stayed late at work that evening in anticipation of a late-filed appeal.

and more:

Keller’s comments to the daily appear to violate the Code’s First Cannon, providing that a judge “should participate in establishing, maintaining and enforcing high standards of conduct, and should personally observe those standards so that the integrity and independence of the judiciary is preserved.”

As Mary Alice Robbins reports on Texas Lawyer Blog, criticism continues to grow in Texas about Judge Keller’s unethical decision to refuse to accept an appeal from a man about to be executed:

Houston solo Patrick McCann, president of the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association, says the HCCLA board of directors voted Thursday to file a complaint against Keller with the State Commission on Judicial Conduct. McCann declines to give the vote tally. But he says, “There was a very strong opinion that the board should speak out.”

Now, the story has been picked up by ABC news.

Texas Judge’s Decison To Close On Time Lead to Immediate Execution
From World News with Charles Gibson
Oct. 12, 2007—

Four words — “We close at 5” — enforced by Texas judge Sharon Keller led to the almost immediate execution of convicted murderer Michael Richard.

Three hours after Keller refused to keep her courthouse open past closing time to receive the condemned killer’s request to stay his execution, Richard was executed.

“If Sharon Keller had not slammed the door, Mr. Richard would still be alive,” said Jim C. Harrington, director of Texas Defender Service .

Richard’s attorney’s computer broke down, and when they called the courthouse asking for a little more time, just 20 minutes more, Judge Keller ordered the court clerk not to wait for the appeal that could have at least temporarily stopped his execution.

After the execution, prominent defense attorneys from across Texas signed an official complaint against Keller, asking the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct to disciplined or fire her.

“This execution proceeded because the highest criminal court couldn’t be bothered to stay an extra 20 minutes on the night of an execution,” said Andrea Keilen, executive director of Texas Defender Service.

It’s not just the attorneys complaining. In a rare development, other judges on the appeals court — three of whom stayed late in the courthouse waiting to rule on Richard’s motion — have criticized Keller’s decision.

Judge Cheryl Johnson, who was expecting to rule on the case, told the Austin American-Statesman she was dismayed by Keller’s decision. “And I was angry,” she told the paper. “If I’m in charge of the execution, I ought to have known about those things & I mean this is a death.”

Richard’s appeal was not a surprise because the U.S. Supreme Court has let it be known that it would soon decide if lethal injection is cruel and unusual punishment. Until the Supreme Court rules, the death penalty is practically on hold in the United States.

Keller refused several ABC News requests for comment, but the judge did defend her actions in a Texas newspaper.

“I think the question ought to be why didn’t they file something on time. They had all day,” she told the Houston Chronicle.

Or at least until 5 p.m. and not a minute more — even when life depended on it.

Copyright © 2007 ABC News Internet Ventures

If you are not a Harris County Criminal Lawyers’ Association member and would like to join in HCCLA’s complaint against Sharon Keller to be filed on Monday, please sign
this form (PDF) and fax it to 832.201.7770.

Anyone can sign on to the complaint, whether you are a lawyer or not, and whether you live in Houston or not.

According to this blog from Houston attorney Mark Bennett, a second complaint against Judge Sharon Keller will be filed on Monday.

Anyone who wants to sign this second complaint against Keller, lawyers or non-lawyers, should contact Mark Bennett or show up at the location below on Friday, Oct 12. They can also download the signature page and fax it to Mark at the number on the page.

The Harris County Criminal Lawyers’ Association is going to be filing a complaint against Judge Keller with the Commission on Judicial Conduct on Monday. Tomorrow from about 10:30 a.m. to about noon I will be in the ready room on the 7th floor of the Harris County Criminal Courthouse, 1201 Franklin Street at San Jacinto, with a copy of the complaint for you to sign.