Some (posthumous) justice for Michael Wayne Richard?

The recent trial of Judge Sharon Keller in Texas has been a spark of hope in the dark world that is Texas’s Death Row.

Michael Wayne Richard, a death row inmate since 1987, was executed in November 2007 when Keller refused to keep the court open after 5pm to receive his appeal. The appeal hinged on a Supreme Court ruling earlier that same day about the constitutionality of current execution methods. His lawyers decided to file a last-minute appeal, which would almost certainly have delayed Mr Richards’s execution, at least for a short time. But they were told that the court would shut at 5pm. Keller later claimed that she was unaware of the technical problems which had delayed Richard’s lawyers by 20 minutes.

After Richard’s execution, which indeed took place that evening, the world’s media reported on the story and public outrage ensued. Another execution in Texas was successfully appealed using the same Supreme Court ruling that Richard’s lawyers had attempted to use. One of his lawyers, Professor Dow, runs the Texas Defenders Centre, which works on capital cases for those who cannot afford private legal representation.

The case against Keller commenced on August 17, 2009; the judge is accused of five counts of professional misconduct. As it is standard procedure to keep courthouses open after hours on execution days, Keller stands accused of “wilful or persistent conduct that cast public discredit on the judiciary".

The case is the first against such a high-ranking judge concerning misconduct. Her reputation for being ‘tough on crime’ was established in 1998 when she denied a retrial to a man with learning difficulties, despite DNA evidence pointing toward his innocence.

Keller is not the only judge uninterested in post-trial proofs of innocence: read our blog on how Supreme Court Justices Scalia and Thomas believe that the inncent have no constitutional right not to be executed.