USA - Texas. Hearing set in judge's misconduct case.

Hearing set in judge's misconduct case. The Texas appeals court judge who declined to keep her office open late the night of an execution will appear before a state panel on misconduct charges in August. Sharon Keller, the top judge in Texas' highest criminal appeals court, will have a public hearing before a specially appointed judge Aug. 17, the Judicial Conduct Commission said today. Keller is accused of ignoring execution day procedures on the Court of Criminal Appeals and bringing "public discredit on the judiciary" by refusing to keep the court open past 5 p.m. Attorneys for Michael Wayne Richard say keeping the office open later may have helped in their appeal efforts hours before Richard was executed. Keller has said she did nothing to stop attorneys from using other established routes for after-hours appeals.