A lawsuit in federal court has been filed against Sharon Keller, Presiding Judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. The lawsuit alleges, "Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Sharon Keller without any authority to do so, or, in the alternative, in her administrative function, prevented a death penalty appeal (the Appeal) to be filed with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, thereby, causing the death of plaintiff s husband, Michael Richard, by lethal injection on September 25,2007."
Sign a judicial complaint against Keller here.
The lawsuit stems from Keller refusing to accept an appeal and telling the attorneys for a man about to be executed on Sept 25 "We close at 5", when they requested an extra 20 minutes to file an appeal. They were having computer problems, so they needed that extra 20 minutes. They had also had to rewrite the appeal, because earlier that day, the U.S. Supreme Court had granted writ of certiorari in Baze v. Rees to answer the question of whether or not the current method of lethal injection execution is Cruel and Unusual Punishment and, therefore, constitutionally prohibited by the 8th Amendment to the Constitution.
Richard's was the last execution in the U.S. since the current de facto moratorium after the Court accepted the Baze case.
Editorial Boards across Texas have been critical of Keller. The Houston Chronicle said, "since she will not face the voters until 2012, the miscarriage of justice perpetrated by Chief Justice Keller can only be remedied by a recommendation by the Judicial Conduct Commission to the Texas Supreme Court that she be removed from office".
Several complaints with the State Commission on Judicial Conduct have already been filed, including by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, several Texas-based lawyers, a few Texas legislators and so far, more than 1300 people have signed on to this complaint, which will be submitted on Nov 16. Protesters even showed up at Keller's home(see video here). An Austin attorney/singer/songwriter has recorded a song called "Sharon Killer", which can be heard on the website SharonKiller.com.
Here is a link to a scanned copy of the lawsuit filed against Sharon Keller by the widow of Michael Richard. Grits for Breakfast has a post on the Keller controversy here.
Sign the judicial complaint against Keller here.