Execution, schmexecution: She was waitin' on the repair guy

COMMENTARY: JOHN KELSO


Tuesday, February 24, 2009

One thing you can say about Sharon Keller, presiding judge of the 
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals:
She sure understands the importance of quitting time.
Keller is facing ethics charges that could cost her her job. They 
were filed last week by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct for 
closing the office right on schedule when the attorneys for death row 
inmate Michael Richard were trying to file a stay of execution for 
Richard. He was scheduled to be executed that evening.
And even though that morning the U.S. Supreme Court had announced it 
would look into whether lethal injection is cruel and unusual 
punishment, Keller pointed out that the clerk's office didn't stay 
open past 5 p.m. Richard was executed at 8:20.
Hey, maybe "American Idol" was on that night, and Keller wanted to 
make sure none of the folks in the office missed it. And you know how 
backed up traffic gets on MoPac.
On the other hand, it was a Tuesday, and as far I know there is no 
such thing as Tuesday Night Football.
Anyway, on the morning in question, Sept. 25, 2007, the thinking was 
that courts across the country would wait until the Supreme Court 
decided on the lethal injection question before proceeding with more 
executions.
Keller, however, apparently had a pretty tight schedule. So that 
afternoon she left work early to meet a repairman at her house.
That might seem a bit callous under the circumstances, but we all 
know how hard it is to get some of these Mister Fixit types to come 
back later. Meanwhile, Richard's lawyers, who wanted to file that 
stay, were having computer problems. So, according to the ethics 
charges against Keller, around 4:45 — 15 minutes before quittin' time 
at the appeals court — Richard's lawyers asked the court clerk's 
office to stay open a few minutes late to accept the request.
Ed Marty, the appeals court's general counsel, got on the phone to 
relay the request to Keller. Marty says he told Keller that Richard's 
lawyers "wanted the court to stay open late." Keller says Marty asked 
only about keeping the clerk's office open past 5 p.m. And that she 
said, "No." The clerks, you see, went home on schedule every day at 
quittin' time.
No sense inconveniencing the help just 'cause some inmate's about to 
get offed, right?
A friend wondered why Richard's lawyers didn't call Gov. Rick Perry 
for help. Hey, if they had, instead of being executed at 8:20, 
Richard would have been executed at 6:01.
During all this, I wonder what kind of work Keller was having done at 
her house. I also wonder whether she called her doctor to get 
something to help her sleep.

John Kelso's column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Contact 
him at 445-3606 or jkelso@statesman.com.

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