In Texas, pressure is growing on Sharon Keller, the presiding judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, because she said "We close at 5" and refused to accept an appeal from a man about to be executed. Michael Richard was killed on the night of Sept 25 after the U.S. Supreme Court could not stay his execution because the state-level court had not issued a final decision on the case. Keller acted alone without consulting any of the other 8 judges on the court, including the one judge who had been assigned the duty of handling late appeals for that execution.
The New York Times is reporting today that
on Wednesday, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, with 13,000 members nationwide, said it had just sent a complaint against Judge Keller to the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct, the first judicial complaint the group had ever filed, said its president, Carmen D. Hernandez, of Washington.
"Whatever else happens in the United States of America, the courts are to remain open to litigants," Ms. Hernandez said.
Also, so far, almost 900 people from all walks of life have signed on to a complaint from members of the public that is being organized by Texas Moratorium Network. The sister of Michael Richard, Patricia Miller, is one of the people who have signed the TMN complaint. Patricia Miller will speak on Saturday, Oct 27, at the 8th Annual March to Stop Executions in Houston.
Anyone can sign the complaint online by clicking here.
Texas Moratorium Network is also responsible for persuading several elected officials to file complaints against Keller, including State Representatives Lon Burnam, Harold Dutton, Dora Olivo and Jessica Farrar. We expect more legislators to speak out soon.