Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Examiner's objections due today in Sharon Keller removal proceedings

Today is the deadline for any objections by the examiner to findings of fact by the Special Master in Judge Sharon Keller's case before the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct. I'll post a link when it becomes available.

UPDATE: Here are the formal objections (pdf) to the Special Master's findings, which were released at the end of the day. More tomorrow morning after I've had a chance to review the document. See also Judge Keller's response (pdf) to the Special Master.

ADDITIONAL THOUGHT: Judge Berchelmann's findings purporting to exculpate Sharon Keller were heavily covered by the media. Do you think the examiner's suggestion today that Judge Keller exhibited a "total failure in acceptance of any accountability" will receive equally wide play?

The examiners noted that Berchelmann failed to reach conclusions on the main issues he was asked to explore and instead focused on "what actions 'caused the death of Michael Richards,' which is irrelevant in this proceeding." Instead, they said, the case is really about "whether a judge should allow herself to disregard at will a long-standing established protocol of her court that is designed to safeguard proper handling of all time-sensitive communications on an execution day."

Whether the MSM notices or not, this is not over for Judge Keller, by a longshot.

MORE: From the Austin Statesman's Chuck Lindell. Good job, Chuck.

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