"News of Keller's financial form omissions, revealed in March 2009 by The Dallas Morning News, came at a sensitive time for Keller.
A month earlier, the State Commission on Judicial Conduct charged Keller with violating her duty as a judge by refusing to allow an after-hours appeal for death row inmate Michael Richard on Sept. 25, 2007. Richard was executed later that night.
In addition to denying that her actions closed the court to Richard's legal team, Keller asked the judicial conduct commission to pay for her defense lawyers, arguing that she risked a "financially ruinous legal bill."
The commission, a 13-member agency that investigates allegations of wrongdoing against all Texas judges, refused."
REPORTER CHUCK LINDELL; THE STATESMAN: Wikipedia informs us that, "The Austin American-Statesman is the major daily newspaper for Austin, the capital city of Texas."
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BACKGROUND: Justice Sharon Keller has attained notoriety for allegations that she allowed convicted murderer and rapist Michael Richard to be executed on September 25, 2007 - notwithstanding his attempt to file a stay of execution - because the court clerk's office closes at 5. Keller is of particular interest blog because of the opinion she wrote for the majority in the Roy Criner case. Wikipedia informs us that: "Sharon Faye Keller (born in Dallas, Texas, 1953) is the Presiding Judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which is the highest court for all criminal matters in the State of Texas. Because of her position, she has been involved in many high-profile and controversial cases, and has thus received widespread news coverage......In 1998, Keller she wrote the majority opinion in a 5-3 (one judge abstaining) decision that denied a new trial to Roy Criner. Criner had been convicted of sexual assault in 1990, but newly-available DNA testing had shown that the semen found in the victim was not his......Judge Tom Price, who ran for the Chief Judge seat, in a primary election, said that Keller's Criner opinion had made the court a "national laughingstock." Judge Mansfield, who had sided with the majority in denying Criner a hearing, told the Chicago Tribune that, after watching the Frontline documentary, reviewing briefs and considering the case at some length, he voted "the wrong way" and would change his vote if he could. "Judges, like anyone else, can make mistakes ... I hope I get a chance to fix it." He stated that he hoped Criner's lawyers filed a new appeal as he felt Criner deserved a get a new trial......Following the (appeal court's) refusal to order a new trial, the cigarette butt found at the scene (and not adduced at trial) was subjected to DNA testing.The DNA on the cigarette was not a match for Criner, but it was a match for the semen found in Ogg. Ogg's DNA was also found on the cigarette, indicating that she shared a cigarette with the person who had sex with her (and who presumably killed her). These results convinced the district attorney, local sheriff and the trial judge that Criner was not guilty. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles recommended he be pardoned and, citing "credible new evidence [that] raises substantial doubt about [Criner's] guilt," then-Governor George W. Bush pardoned him in 2000.
The thorough, unabridged Wikipedia article on Keller can be found at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharon_Keller
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"Imposing its largest-ever civil penalty against a politician, the Texas Ethics Commission levied a $100,000 fine on Sharon Keller, the state's highest criminal judge, for failing to disclose at least $3.8 million in income and property on two annual financial statements," the Statesman story by reporter Chuck Lindell, published on April 30, 2010 begins, under the heading, "Judge Keller fined $100,000 for disclosure lapses."
"The decision adds another expensive and potentially drawn-out legal problem for Keller, who will appeal the fine," the story continues.
"She is also fighting unrelated charges that she improperly closed her court to an execution-day appeal in 2007. Those charges could result in her expulsion as presiding judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
According to the ethics commission ruling, Keller failed to list eight Dallas-area properties on financial disclosure statements required of all elected state officials in 2006 and 2007. Appraisal districts valued six of those properties at almost $2.9 million combined in 2007. One property was valued at $750,000 in 2008, and the other property wasn't appraised, the commission said.
Keller's statements also omitted at least $183,000 in outside income, her ownership interest in a Dallas business, 20 certificates of deposit, one money market fund and her participation on five corporate boards and leadership positions, the commission said in an order signed Wednesday but made public Friday.
Keller had revised both reports last year to include the omissions.
The commission gave Keller until Aug. 10 to pay the fine, imposed for violating six sections of the Texas Government Code that regulate what information officeholders must disclose to the public.
Keller, however, will challenge the ruling and the fine, which her lawyer termed "excessive," by filing a lawsuit in Travis County District Court within the next 30 business days — the established method of appealing ethics commission decisions.
"Judge Keller voluntarily amended her financial disclosures shortly after she was made aware of the matter, and her conduct was not intentional but rather the product of her father's acquisition and management of properties without any input from the judge," lawyer Ed Shack said Friday.
Keller's father is Jack Keller, a Dallas entrepreneur and property owner famous for the Keller's Drive-in burger joints in Dallas.
News of Keller's financial form omissions, revealed in March 2009 by The Dallas Morning News, came at a sensitive time for Keller.
A month earlier, the State Commission on Judicial Conduct charged Keller with violating her duty as a judge by refusing to allow an after-hours appeal for death row inmate Michael Richard on Sept. 25, 2007. Richard was executed later that night.
In addition to denying that her actions closed the court to Richard's legal team, Keller asked the judicial conduct commission to pay for her defense lawyers, arguing that she risked a "financially ruinous legal bill."
The commission, a 13-member agency that investigates allegations of wrongdoing against all Texas judges, refused.
A month after making the request, Keller amended her disclosure forms to add several million dollars in assets, providing ammunition for her critics, including Texans for Public Justice, a left-of-center watchdog group that filed the ethics commission complaint against the judge.
Craig McDonald, director of Texans for Public Justice, hailed the $100,000 fine.
"I think this fine is the ethics commission's way of saying that public servants will be held to the highest standards," he said Friday. "It sends the wrong signal when top state judges don't follow the law."
Previously, the ethics commission's highest fine was levied against Gerald Eversole, a Harris County commissioner who was docked $75,000 last year for converting campaign money to personal use. Eversole also was ordered to repay $41,357 to his campaign fund.
The next step in Keller's fight against charges in the Richard case will come during a June 18 hearing before the Commission on Judicial Conduct.
Keller's lawyers and prosecutors will make their final arguments before commissioners begin deliberating on her fate in private. Their options include exonerating Keller, issuing a reprimand or recommending that she be removed from office.
That decision is expected to take weeks or months."
The story can be found at:
http://www.statesman.com/news/local/judge-keller-fined-100-000-for-disclosure-lapses-654591.html?plckItemsPerPage=25&plckFindCommentKey=CommentKey:b76f5e93-9c9c-4add-9e44-d4f459389f45#pluck_comments_list
Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;