Sharon Keller
Sharon Keller (Republican Party) was the Presiding Judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. She assumed office on January 1, 2001. She left office on December 31, 2024.
Keller (Republican Party) ran for re-election as Presiding Judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. She lost in the Republican primary on March 5, 2024.
In Texas, the position of presiding judge is a specific seat on the court (similar to the Supreme Court of the United States) rather than a peer-selected leadership position. Keller was elected as presiding judge in 2000, succeeding Presiding Judge Michael McCormick.[1]
Keller was first elected to the court through a partisan election in 1994 and was the first woman to serve on the court.[1] To read more about judicial selection in Texas, click here.
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country. As part of this study, we assigned each justice a Confidence Score describing our confidence in the degree of partisanship exhibited by the justices' past partisan behavior, before they joined the court.[2] Keller received a confidence score of Mild Republican.[3] Click here to read more about this study.
Biography
Keller was born in Dallas, Texas. She received a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Rice University in 1975 and a J.D. from Southern Methodist University in 1978. After graduating from law school, Keller worked as a private attorney. She then worked for her family's business in the restaurant industry from 1981 to 1987. From 1987 to 1994, she was an assistant district attorney in Dallas County. In 1994, she was elected to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.[4]
As of August 2021, Keller was chair of the Texas Indigent Defense Commission, a life fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, and a member of the judicial advisory council for the Community Justice Assistance Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.[1]
Elections
2024
See also: Texas Supreme Court elections, 2024
General election
General election for Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge
David Schenck defeated Holly Taylor in the general election for Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | David Schenck (R)  | 58.1 | 6,330,389 |
 | Holly Taylor (D) | 41.9 | 4,558,856 | |
| Total votes: 10,889,245 | |||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge
Holly Taylor advanced from the Democratic primary for Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge on March 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Holly Taylor | 100.0 | 829,500 |
| Total votes: 829,500 | |||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge
David Schenck defeated incumbent Sharon Keller in the Republican primary for Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge on March 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | David Schenck | 62.6 | 1,174,795 |
 | Sharon Keller | 37.4 | 702,464 | |
| Total votes: 1,877,259 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Campaign finance
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Keller in this election.
2018
- See also: Texas Supreme Court elections, 2018
General election
General election for Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge
Incumbent Sharon Keller defeated Maria T. Jackson and William Bryan Strange in the general election for Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Sharon Keller (R) | 52.2 | 4,288,913 |
 | Maria T. Jackson (D) | 45.5 | 3,734,179 | |
| William Bryan Strange (L) | 2.3 | 187,384 | ||
| Total votes: 8,210,476 | |||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge
Maria T. Jackson advanced from the Democratic primary for Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge on March 6, 2018.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Maria T. Jackson |
| ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge
Incumbent Sharon Keller defeated David Bridges in the Republican primary for Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge on March 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Sharon Keller | 52.1 | 671,361 |
 | David Bridges | 47.9 | 616,096 | |
| Total votes: 1,287,457 | |||
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2012
- See also: Texas judicial elections, 2012
Keller was re-elected presiding judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. She was unopposed in the Republican primary on May 29, 2012. She defeated Democrat Keith Hampton and Libertarian Lance Stott in the November 6 general election, receiving 55.5% of the vote.[5]
2006
Keller was re-elected presiding judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. She received 52.8% of the vote in the Republican primary and won the general election with 56.7% of the vote, defeating Democrat J.R. Molina.[5]
2000
Keller was elected presiding judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. She received 33.6% of the vote in the Republican primary, 54.8% of the vote in the Republican primary runoff, and 56.1% of the vote in the general election, defeating Democrat Bill Vance.[5]
1994
Keller was elected to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. She received 37.1% of the vote in the Republican primary, 57.4% of the vote in the Republican primary runoff, and 54.5% of the vote in the general election, defeating Democrat Betty Marshall.[5]
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Sharon Keller did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Ballotpedia currently provides campaign finance data for all federal- and state-level candidates from 2020 and later. We are continuously working to expand our data to include prior elections. That information will be published here as we acquire it. If you would like to help us provide this data, please consider donating to Ballotpedia.
Analysis
Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship (2020)
Last updated: June 15, 2020
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country as of June 15, 2020.
The study presented Confidence Scores that represented our confidence in each justice's degree of partisan affiliation. This was not a measure of where a justice fell on an ideological spectrum, but rather a measure of how much confidence we had that a justice was or had been affiliated with a political party. The scores were based on seven factors, including but not limited to party registration.[6]
The five resulting categories of Confidence Scores were:
- Strong Democrat
- Mild Democrat
- Indeterminate[7]
- Mild Republican
- Strong Republican
This justice's Confidence Score, as well as the factors contributing to that score, is presented below. The information below was current as of June 2020.
Sharon
Keller
Texas
- Partisan Confidence Score:
Mild Republican - Judicial Selection Method:
Elected - Key Factors:
- Was a registered Republican
- Donated less than $2,000 to Republican candidates
- Received donations from Republican-affiliated individuals or organizations
Partisan Profile
Details:
Keller ran as a Republican for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. She donated less than $1,750 to Republican candidates. She received $700 from the Llano Tea Party, $590 from the Texas Civil Justice League PAC, $550 from the Canyon Lake Republican Women PAC, and $500 from the Austin Republican Women PAC Fund. She was endorsed by the Texas Republican Party and the Tea Party.
Other Scores:
Bonica and Woodruff campaign finance scores (2012)
In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan ideology of state supreme court justices. They created a scoring system in which a score above 0 indicated a more conservative-leaning ideology, while scores below 0 were more liberal.
Keller received a campaign finance score of 1.17, indicating a conservative ideological leaning. This was more conservative than the average score of 0.91 that justices received in Texas.
The study was based on data from campaign contributions by the judges themselves, the partisan leaning of those who contributed to the judges' campaigns, or, in the absence of elections, the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study was not a definitive label of a justice, but an academic summary of various relevant factors.[8]
Noteworthy events
Texas Ethics Commission fine for failure to disclose finances
On March 30, 2009, The Dallas Morning News reported that Keller had "failed to abide by legal requirements that she disclose nearly $2 million in real estate holdings." Keller was required to file a statement of her finances in order to seek state aid in her defense against ethics charges related to the Michael Richard death penalty case.[9]
Keller filed a sworn statement with the Texas Ethics Commission in April 2008 indicating an income of over $275,000 and disclosing ownership in airline stock, a home in Austin, and a commercial property. The properties were valued at around $1 million by the county. According to The Dallas Morning News, the disclosure did not include "ownership interest in seven other residential and commercial properties in Dallas and Tarrant counties ... valued collectively by county appraisal districts at about $1.9 million."[9]
Keller's lawyer said that the omissions were unintentional errors, in part due to not being aware that her father had put certain properties under her name.[10] Keller filed an amended financial statement the next month.[11]
On April 28, 2010, the Texas Ethics Commission fined Keller $100,000 for failing to fully disclose her financial situation.[12] Keller’s lawyer said, "Judge Keller is very disappointed by the excessive penalty assessed against her by the Texas Ethics Commission. ... 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."[13]
Keller appealed the fine. In August 2013, the Texas Ethics Commission voted 7-0 to approve a settlement reducing the fine from $100,000 to $25,000.[14]
Michael Richard, a convicted murderer, was scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on September 25, 2007. Around 4:45 p.m., defense lawyers requested to file paperwork for an appeal with the court clerk's office after its closing time of 5 p.m. The appeal was spurred by the U.S. Supreme Court agreeing earlier that day to hear a case challenging lethal injection. Keller responded by saying that the clerk's office closed at 5 p.m. Richard was executed that night.[15]
Keller said, "I got a phone call shortly before 5 and was told the defendant had asked us to stay open. ...They did not tell us they had computer failure. And given the late request, and with no reason given, I just said, ‘We close at 5.’ I didn’t really think of it as a decision so much as a statement."[16]
According to the New York Times, "Another judge was waiting at the court for after-hours pleadings in the case but was never notified of the communications from the defense."[16]
The State Commission on Judicial Conduct filed formal charges against Keller in February 2009 stating that she had failed to follow the court's execution-day procedures and violated the state constitution and codes of judicial conduct.[17] The case was assigned to San Antonio District Judge David A. Berchelmann.[15]
After the ethics hearing, Berchelmann compiled a "findings of fact" report for the commission to use in deciding whether to drop the charges, issue a censure, or recommend removal from office.[18]
On July 16, 2010, the commission issued a public warning for “willful or persistent misconduct” that “casts public discredit on the judiciary.”[19]
In response, Keller's attorney said, "Judge Keller is disappointed and shocked that the commission has completely disregarded the findings of respected trial judge David Berchelmann … It is perhaps not surprising that the same Commission that made the charges finds them now to be valid despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Judge Keller looks forward to challenging this decision in the judicial system."[20]
On July 29, 2010, Keller filed a petition for writ of mandamus in the Texas Supreme Court, asking the court to vacate the warning and dismiss the charges against her.[21] The commission responded that her appeal to the supreme court was invalid.[22]
On August 16, 2010, the Texas Supreme Court declined to hear Keller's appeal.[23]
Warning revoked
In October 2010, a special review panel ruled that the State Commission on Judicial Conduct did not have the authority to issue a public warning against Keller. The only actions the commission could have taken, according to the panel, were public censure, recommendation of removal from office, or dismissal of the case. The panel revoked the warning and closed the case.[24]
Noteworthy cases
Ex parte Fierro
Keller wrote the November 1996 majority opinion in Ex parte Fierro, affirming the conviction of Cesar Fierro for the 1979 murder of Nicolas Castanon, an El Paso taxi driver. Fierro was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death in 1980.[25][26]
Five months after Castanon was killed, 16-year-old Gerardo Olague testified that Castanon was driving him and Fierro to Juarez, Mexico, when Fierro shot Castanon. Fierro was arrested and confessed to the murder. Later, however, Fierro alleged that El Paso police told him that detectives in Juarez would torture his parents unless he confessed.[27]
Years after Fierro's conviction, a district court ruled that his case should be retried. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied a new trial to Fierro in a 5-4 decision on November 27, 1996.[27][25] Keller wrote in the court's opinion, "After reviewing the record, we find that the trial court's factual findings are adequately supported. As a result of the trial court's findings and the evidence in the record, we conclude that applicant's due process rights were violated by Medrano's perjured testimony. But, because we conclude that the error was harmless, we deny relief."[25]
Four judges wrote dissenting opinions. Judge Morris Overstreet wrote, "The majority incredibly concludes that the perjury which resulted in the erroneous admission of applicant's detailed, explicit, coerced, involuntary confession was immaterial, i.e. harmless. I can not agree with such an implausible conclusion."[25]
On December 18, 2019, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals vacated Fierro's death sentence based on instructions given to the jury in his 1980 trial. The court upheld the murder conviction and ruled that the sentencing should be retried.[26]
Court of Criminal Appeals judicial selection in Texas
- See also: Judicial selection in Texas
The nine judges of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals are selected in statewide partisan elections. The elected justices and judges serve six-year terms, after which they must run for re-election if they wish to remain on the court.[28]
Qualifications
To serve on any of the appellate courts, a judge must be:
- a U.S. citizen;
- a resident of Texas;
- licensed to practice law in the state;
- between the ages of 35 and 75;*[29][30] and
- a practicing lawyer and/or judge for at least 10 years.[28]
Presiding judge
The presiding judge of the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals is selected by voters at large. He or she serves in that capacity for a full six-year term.[28]
Vacancies
In the event of a midterm vacancy, the governor appoints a replacement who must be confirmed by the Texas Senate. The appointee serves until the next general election, in which he or she may compete to serve for the remainder of the unexpired term.[28]
The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
|
Candidate Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge |
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Texas Judicial Branch: Court of Criminal Appeals, "Presiding Judge Sharon Keller," accessed August 1, 2021
- ↑ We calculated confidence scores by collecting several data points such as party registration, donations, and previous political campaigns.
- ↑ The five possible confidence scores were: Strong Democrat, Mild Democrat, Indeterminate, Mild Republican, and Strong Republican.
- ↑ Court of Criminal Appeals, "Biographies of the Court of Criminal Appeals," archived February 27, 2001
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Office of the Secretary of State, "1992 - Current election history," accessed August 1, 2021
- ↑ The seven factors were party registration, donations made to partisan candidates, donations made to political parties, donations received from political parties or bodies with clear political affiliation, participation in political campaigns, the partisanship of the body responsible for appointing the justice, and state trifecta status when the justice joined the court.
- ↑ An Indeterminate score indicates that there is either not enough information about the justice’s partisan affiliations or that our research found conflicting partisan affiliations.
- ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Dallas Morning News, "Judge Keller's disclosures omit nearly $2 million in real estate, public records show," archived June 3, 2009
- ↑ The Dallas Morning News, "Keller's attorney says her omissions in disclosure form were unintentional," archived June 4, 2009
- ↑ The Dallas Morning News, "Judge Sharon Keller fined $100,000 for failing to disclose assets," April 30, 2010
- ↑ Scribd, "Final order," April 28, 2010
- ↑ Chron. "Judge Keller vows to appeal record ethics fine," August 3, 2010
- ↑ Chron., "Judge Keller settles record ethics fine," August 9, 2013
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 The New York Times, "Texas Judge Goes to Trial Over Execution," August 17, 2009
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 The New York Times, "Mixed Opinions of a Judge Accused of Misconduct," March 7, 2009
- ↑ Scribd, "State Commission On Judicial Conduct Notice of Formal Proceedings," February 18, 2009
- ↑ mySA, "Ethics hearing concludes for top judge," August 20, 2009
- ↑ The New York Times, "Texas Judge Reprimanded in Death Row Case", July 16, 2010
- ↑ Texas Tribune, "TribBlog: A "Public Warning" For Keller [Updated," July 16, 2010]
- ↑ Law.com, "Judge Sharon Keller Asks Texas High Court to Vacate Public Warning," August 2, 2010
- ↑ Texas Tribune, "TribBlog: Keller's Appeal Invalid, SCJC Says," August 6, 2010
- ↑ Deseret News, "Judge's reprimand in death penalty case stands," August 16, 2010
- ↑ The Wall Street Journal, "After Three-Year Saga, Sharon Keller's Name Cleared," October 12, 2010
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 25.3 Casetext, "Ex Parte Fierro," November 27, 1996
- ↑ 26.0 26.1 El Paso Times, "El Paso man on death row for 40 years for slaying of cab driver has sentence vacated," December 19, 2019
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 Chicago Tribune, "Gatekeeper court keeps gates shut," June 12, 2000
- ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 28.3 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedTXgeneral - ↑ Texas State Historical Association, "Judiciary," accessed September 12, 2014
- ↑ While no judge older than 74 may run for office, sitting judges who turn 75 are permitted to remain on the court until their terms expire.
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