Trio from GOP aim to keep posts on state court

AUSTIN — Three judges on Texas' highest criminal court are seeking re-election in November, including Presiding Judge Sharon Keller, who's been a lightning rod for controversy since her last test of voters in 2006.

Elected to Texas' Court of Criminal Appeals in 1994, she is the only incumbent on the court with major-party opposition, facing a Democrat and Libertarian.

In 2007, Keller, 59, of Austin, gained national attention for refusing to keep the court open past 5 p.m. to accept a last-minute appeal of a death row inmate who was executed hours later. Charges were filed by the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct, but it ruled that she did not violate any laws or warrant punishment “beyond the public humiliation she has surely suffered,” according to court records.

In 2010, Keller received the largest fine ever levied by the Texas Ethics Commission — $100,000 — for breaking finance disclosure law by failing to report $2.4 million in personal assets. Keller did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Andrew Wheat, research director for Texans for Public Justice, said he expects Keller to extend her term despite her “embarrassing activities” because many Texans vote straight-ticket Republican and “can't quite remember why Keller's name rings a distant bell.”

“(Voters) have a perception, however fair or not, that Democrats are going to be soft on rapists and murderers,” Wheat said.

The court, comprising a presiding judge and eight associate judges, is the last judicial stop for criminal matters in Texas, hearing all appeals in which the death penalty has been assessed.

The court's two other Republican incumbents, Barbara Parker Hervey and Elsa Alcala, face Libertarian candidates Mark W. Bennett and William Bryan Strange III, respectively.

Keller's opponents are Democrat Keith Hampton and Libertarian Lance Stott.

Hampton, a defense attorney in Austin, ran unsuccessfully for the court's Place 6 in 2010. He said he hopes Keller's missteps will boost him to become the first Democrat elected to statewide office since 1994.

“We have a judge on the court who has been found to be unethical by every agency in government that can make that determination,” Hampton said. “Her actions have given (the Texas judicial system) a black eye.”

Hampton, 51, Austin, drafted the original proposal of Senate Bill 112 in 2009, which established veterans courts in Texas, and he advocated for a law passed in 2007 that established state prisoners' right to petition a court to have DNA evidence tested. He counseled against former state Solicitor General and U.S. Senate candidate Ted Cruz and then won in 2007 in the U.S. Supreme Court case of Panetti vs. Quarterman, which spared from execution a schizophrenic murderer from Fredericksburg.

Hampton said GOP straight-ticket voters should “spend an extra few seconds” to vote for him instead of Keller.

“It's not a matter of Republican or Democrat, or left and right,” Hampton said. “It's a matter of right and wrong.”

Ana Yañez-Correa, executive director for the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, a watchdog group, said Keller is a leading advocate for mental health and indigent defense. “The Judge Keller that people portray is not the Judge Keller I know, respect and care about,” Correa said. “The Judge Keller I know is the judge that advocates for indigent defense and evidence-based sentencing.”

Fundraising largely favored Hampton's campaign, which has raised $51,746 since July, compared with Keller's $2,650 during the same period, according to state finance records.

“There is no Keller campaign,” Hampton said. “She is banking that people will simply punch the ‘R.' She doesn't want any attention on this race because that's the only way she'll be re-elected.”

Alcala raised $18,750 and Hervey received one donation of $250. The three Libertarian candidates reported receiving no campaign donations.

Alcala, 48, of Houston, was appointed by Gov. Rick Perry last May, previously serving on the state's First Court of Appeals and a district court in Harris County.

“I don't know if there is anyone in the state that can match my credentials” Alcala said.

Hervey, 59, of San Antonio, served 16 years as assistant criminal district attorney for Bexar County before being elected in 2000.

Libertarian Stott, 41, of Austin said the court needs more “balance.”

“(Keller) has said she is pro-prosecution, and I think that shows in her rulings,” he said.

Wheat, of Texans for Public Justice, said the Libertarian candidates are a long shot to defeat the GOP incumbents.

“It would pretty much be on the level with an immaculate conception,” Wheat said. “It comes along every 2,000 years, if that.”

kparker@express-news.net