Judge Keller vows to appeal record ethics fine

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge Sharon Keller was accused of closing her court to a death row inmate's appeals in 2007 hours before he was executed.

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge Sharon Keller plans to appeal the record $100,000 fine levied against her Friday by the Texas Ethics Commission for failing to fully disclose her personal finances as required by law.

The fine against Keller surpassed the $75,000 penalty levied last year against Harris County Commissioner Jerry Eversole and the $29,000 fine given to Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht in 2008.

Keller also has been fighting to hold onto her bench against charges raised by the state Commission on Judicial Conduct that she brought discredit to the judiciary by closing the court to a death row inmate's appeals in 2007 just hours before he was executed. A special master found Keller did nothing legally wrong, but prosecutors are appealing that decision.

The ethics commission fined Keller for failing to report stock, honoraria and more than $2.4 million in real estate holdings on her 2007 and 2008 personal financial disclosure statements. Keller filed amended reports with the commission last year after news reports revealed her missing holdings.

In a statement filed with the amended reports, Keller said her father made investments for her and her son without her knowledge.

Keller to file appeal

Keller's lawyer, Ed Shack of Austin, said the judge will file an appeal to the commission's actions in Travis County District Court. Shack said Keller has 30 business days to file the appeal.

“Judge Keller is very disappointed by the excessive penalty assessed against her by the Texas Ethics Commission,” Shack said. “As the commission found, 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 her.”

Craig McDonald, of Texans for Public Justice, who filed the ethics complaint against Keller in March 2009, praised the commission's fine against the judge.

“It's substantial, and a fine of this size can deter other politicians from playing fast and loose with their financial disclosure reports,” McDonald said.

Criminal complaint filed

McDonald also had filed a criminal complaint against Keller. Travis County Attorney David Escamilla said he will review the ethics commission finding before deciding whether to take additional action. Escamilla said it is unlikely he will file misdemeanor charges against Keller if her omissions were not intentional.

Seana Willing, executive director of the judicial conduct commission, said it is unlikely her agency will review the ethics commission filing until after appeals are exhausted.

The ethics commission decided on the fine against Keller in a closed session April 21 and made it public Friday. Keller's reports for 2007 covered her financial activities in 2006, and the 2008 report covered her 2007 finances.

The commission said Keller in 2006 failed to report between 100 and 499 shares of stock, $61,500 in income, interests in eight properties valued that year at $2.4 million and two expenses totaling $3,760 that were accepted under the honorarium exception.

The commission said that in 2007 Keller failed to report the stock, nine sources of income totaling $121,500 and two honoraria valued at $6,010. She also failed to report the eight properties again, then valued at $2.8 million.

The $100,000 fine is unusual for a commission often criticized for issuing relatively small fines for campaign and officeholder reporting violations. The commission has given Keller until Aug. 10 to pay the fine.

Keller legally can use campaign funds to pay the fine, but there is no money in her campaign account and she cannot raise additional money until about June 2011 because she is a judge who does not face re-election until 2012. Keller could have her campaign take out a bank loan to pay the fine. Otherwise, she would have to pay the fine out of pocket.

National controversy

Keller created a national controversy on Sept. 25, 2007, when she told court clerks to close the door on appeals by Michael Wayne Richard just hours before he was executed. The U.S. Supreme Court had agreed to hear a case earlier in the day that could have affected Richard, and several other Texas death row inmates won stays of execution in the next several days.

The judicial conduct commission filed a complaint against Keller, but a special master said she broke no laws and should not be punished “beyond the public humiliation she has surely suffered.” Prosecutors in the case have appealed. A court hearing is scheduled for June 18.

Source: Houston Chronicle, April 30, 2010