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January 21, 2010

Texas Judge Cleared for Rejecting Last-Minute Death Row Appeal
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In Texas, the presiding judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has
been cleared of wrongdoing in a closely watched case. Sharon Keller
faced five charges of judicial misconduct for refusing to hear a
last-minute appeal from a death row prisoner scheduled to be executed
that night. Keller reportedly denied an appeal from the lawyers for
Michael Wayne Richard at 5:20 pm on September 25th, 2007, saying, quote,
“We close at five.” Richard had been on death row for two decades. He
was killed later that night by lethal injection. On Wednesday, the
special judge appointed to hear the complaint sided with Keller and said
she deserves “no further reprimand beyond the public humiliation she has
surely suffered.”



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