More on the CCA Closed Door

Clay Robison's column in the Houston Chronicle, "Lawmakers helping lawmakers," contains a section on Justice Keller's closed door.

Despite the outrage over Presiding Judge Sharon Keller's decision to slam the door (literally) at the Court of Criminal Appeals on a death row inmate's last-gasp attempt to avoid execution, longtime Keller observers shouldn't have been surprised.

Ever since the former prosecutor first took a seat on the court in 1995, she has showed strong support for the death penalty and on at least one occasion tried to deny DNA evidence in a noncapital case.

Within 10 months after taking office, she and fellow Republican Judge Steve Mansfield were instrumental in reversing an earlier decision by the court and reinstating a death sentence against a Houston man, who later was executed.

Keller also wrote the court's majority opinion concluding that a convicted rapist didn't deserve a new trial even though DNA testing showed he had not raped the victim.

That defendant eventually was released anyway and pardoned by then-Gov. George W. Bush.

Convicted murderer Michael Richard, however, was executed on Sept. 25, only a few hours after the U.S. Supreme Court had decided to consider the constitutionality of lethal injection, because Keller refused to allow his lawyers to file an appeal after 5 p.m.

Keller was re-elected to the all-Republican court last year and won't face the voters again until 2012. Although races for this court normally generate little public attention, the furor could give Democrats some ammunition.

It was interesting to note that Judges Cathy Cochran and Paul Womack, who will be on the ballot next year, were complaining publicly about Keller's unilateral decision.

I also want to highlight this extended commentary at BeldarBlog, thanks to a loyal reader.  Scott Greenfield has this at Simple Justice.