In race against Texas judge Sharon Keller, Republican highlighting infamous death row call

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Texas Tribune

In race against Texas judge Sharon Keller, Republican highlighting infamous death row call

Sharon Keller, the longtime presiding judge of Texas' Court of Criminal Appeals, has tried to move on from several past ethical controversies — including blocking the last-minute appeal of a 2007 execution. A primary challenger hopes voters will reconsider them.

BY EMMA PLATOFF NOV. 9, 2017 10 HOURS AGO

It’s been more than a decade since Sharon Keller became an international figure in the death penalty debate.

On the afternoon of Sept. 25, 2007, when attorneys for death row inmate Michael Richard asked if they could file an appeal at the court a few minutes past their deadline, Keller, the presiding judge of the state’s Court of Criminal Appeals since 2000, famously insisted “we close at five.” Richard was executed hours later.

The incident earned Keller questions from the state Commission on Judicial Conduct and widespread criticism from Texas legislators, ethics experts and the impassioned authors of sharonkiller.com, a website sparked by the incident.