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Yahoo! My Yahoo! Mail Yahoo! Search Search: Sign InNew User? Sign Up News Home - Help Navigation Primary Navigation Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Top Stories Most Popular Secondary Navigation Africa Europe Latin America Middle East North America Search Search: Judge stands by closing ahead of death-row appeal By PAUL J. WEBER,Associated Press Writer AP - Thursday, August 20 SAN ANTONIO - An embattled Texas judge stood by her decision to close her court before a death row inmate's last-minute appeal was ready, saying at her misconduct trial Wednesday that she would do the same thing again. ADVERTISEMENT Judge Sharon Keller, the presiding judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, didn't hesitate on the witness stand when asked if she would make the same choice today as she did in the hours leading up to Michael Wayne Richard's execution in 2007. "Yes, that is correct," Keller said. Testifying with her career on the line, Keller said there was no legitimate reason to keep her clerk's office open past 5 p.m. despite knowing an appeal was in the works. She said refusing to keep the office open late should not have prevented Richard's attorneys _ who were responding to a U.S. Supreme Court decision that morning _ from filing their appeal directly with a judge on the nine-member court. "You declined to allow any grace period?" asked Mike McKetta, the prosecuting lawyer for the state Commission on Judicial Conduct. "I declined to keep the clerk's office open past closing time," Keller responded. Misconduct charges that she denied Richard access to the court, Keller said, were wrong. "It is false in every way," Keller said. Keller stepped off the stand after two days of testimony _ her first time speaking publicly about the case since the night of Richard's execution. The ethics trial was expected to conclude Thursday. Four hours before Richard's execution, Keller received a phone call at 4:45 p.m. informing her that Richard's appeal was running late and that his attorneys wanted to keep the court open past 5 p.m. She said no twice in the conversation. Under court rules, after-hours pleadings can be filed directly to a court member. David Dow, Richard's attorney, testified earlier in the week that he felt he was out of options after being told the clerk wouldn't take the appeal after 5 p.m. Nicknamed "Sharon Killer" by critics and death-penalty opponents, Keller finished her testimony by blaming Richard's legal team for stoking the controversy surrounding the case by spreading a distorted narrative of the hours leading up to the execution. "I don't think we would be here today if that never happened," Keller said. Richard was executed for the 1986 rape and slaying of a Houston-area nurse and mother of seven. On the morning of his scheduled lethal injection, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review a separate case that challenged whether a three-drug combination Kentucky used in executions was constitutional. Texas uses a similar lethal cocktail. Lawyers for Richard, who was convicted twice and had numerous appeals denied, sought a reprieve based on the Supreme Court's decision. Keller said she knew about the move by the high court. Asked if she held a general view that last-minute pleadings in death-row cases are often less substantial, she agreed. "They do tend to be voluminous and meritless," Keller said. Keller was relayed the request to keep the court open from Ed Marty, the court's former general counsel. During a three-hour videotaped deposition played in court, Marty said he did not think Keller would have said no given the Supreme Court decision earlier in the day. "I thought it would be something other than no," Marty said. But on cross-examination, Marty said he didn't think Keller acted improperly. Keller is facing five counts of judicial misconduct that could lead to her removal from the bench. She is the highest-ranking judge in Texas ever put on trial by the state Commission on Judicial Conduct. Among those watching Keller testify was Richard's sister, Betty, who drove in from Houston with two family members. "She was just trying to put the blame on everyone else," Betty Richard said. "Who else was in charge? She was the top judge." At the end of the trial, a state district judge presiding over the hearing will submit a report to the state's judicial conduct commission. That panel will have the choice to dismiss the charges, issue a censure or recommend Keller's removal from the bench. Email Story IM Story Printable View Blog This Sign in to recommend this article » 0 users recommend Related Articles: World Karzai calls on Afghans to defy Taliban and voteReuters - Thursday, August 20 Two arrested over biggest gem robbery: policeAFP - Thursday, August 20 Death toll climbs in Russian dam accidentAFP - Thursday, August 20 Honduras sets deadline for Argentine diplomatsAFP - Thursday, August 20 Polls open for landmark Afghan electionsAFP - Thursday, August 20 Most Popular – World Viewed UK UFO sightings spiked when blockbusters released Canadian singer Celine Dion pregnant with second child Egypt warns pharaohs' tombs could disappear Sleep disorders linked to premature deaths: study It's nuts! Squirrel becomes a Web sensation View Complete List » Search: Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Top Stories Most Popular Copyright © 2009 Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte Ltd. (Co. Reg. No. 199700735D). All Rights Reserved. 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