Texas Moratorium Network |Lawmaker seeks impeachment of Judge Sharon "we close at 5" Keller

Lawmaker seeks impeachment of Judge Sharon "we close at 5" Keller

Posted by Texas Moratorium Network Feb 26

Members' Rating
(0 ratings)

http://sharonkiller.com

February 17th, 2009

She's the presiding judge of the state's highest criminal court, but now one state lawmaker wants Sharon Keller removed from the bench.

The bill, HR 480, calls for a special committee to consider impeaching Keller "for gross neglect of duty and conducting her official duties with willful disregard for human life."

"President Clinton was impeached for lying about his sex life -- this woman walked off the job and it resulted in the death of somebody," said State Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth.

It all stems from an incident in September of 2007 -- the same day the US Supreme Court set its docket to consider the constitutionality of lethal injection. Because of its decision, all US executions were put on hold.

Lawyers for death row inmate Michael Richard, who was set to be executed that night, drew up an appeal and tried to submit it before the court of criminal appeals closed at 5 p.m. With 10 minutes to go before closing time, the lawyers called the court to ask for another 20 minutes, due to computer problems. They were refused.

Richard was the last man executed before the start of a seven-month moratorium.

"She walked off the job at five o'clock in the afternoon rather than hear the appeal of a person on death row," said Burnam.

The decision led to protests and nearly a dozen judicial complaints against Keller. When KVUE called the court Tuesday, Keller had no comment. Meanwhile, Burnam says he's hopeful his legislation gets somewhere.

"I'm getting a lot of encouragement to proceed on this," said Burnam.