KSLA News 12 Shreveport, Louisiana |Top Texas criminal judge appeals rebuke
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Associated Press - July 29, 2010 9:25 PM ET
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - The presiding judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals is appealing a judicial conduct panel's reprimand of her handling of an execution-day appeal.
The State Commission on Judicial Conduct had issued a "public warning," 1 of the least severe sanctions at its disposal, to Judge Sharon Keller. That's after Keller said "We close at 5" and closed the court as attorneys for a twice-convicted killer scrambled to file a last-minute appeal for Michael Wayne Richard. With no appeal filed, Richard was put to death that night for the 1986 rape and slaying of a Houston-area nurse.
The Austin American-Statesman reports that, in appealing the July 16 reprimand, Keller attorney Chip Babcock argued the panel violated the Texas Constitution, which she says forbids such a warning.
Babcock called upon the justices to order the commission to expunge the warning from all records and dismiss all charges against Keller.
Information from: Austin American-Statesman, http://www.statesman.com
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