Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge Sharon Keller’ s hearing on misconduct charges focused as much on what others did and said in 2007 when the state executed Michael Richard as it did on Keller’s actions.
During the four-day hearing that wound up Aug. 20 in a San Antonio courtroom, Keller and her attorneys blamed Texas Defender Service (TDS) attorneys who represented Richard for failing to file pleadings on Richard’s behalf in the hours preceding his execution on Sept. 25, 2007, and for the avalanche of negative publicity that followed. But TDS attorneys pointed the finger of blame for the events of that day back at Keller.
