Texas Judge on Trial for Refusing to Hear Appeal Hours Before Death Row Prisoner's Execution
The presiding judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals is on trial for misconduct for refusing to hear a last-minute appeal from a death row prisoner scheduled to be executed that night. Judge Sharon Keller, dubbed "Sharon Killer" by her critics, reportedly denied an appeal from the lawyers for Michael Wayne Richard at 5:20 pm on September 25th, 2007, saying, "We close at five." Richard was killed later that night by lethal injection. Keller faces five charges of judicial misconduct and could be removed from the bench. Ref. Source 7
US reviews 27 death penalty convictions due to FBI errors:
The FBI has reviewed thousands of criminal cases and suspects that 27 death penalty convictions may have been secured by using faulty and exaggerated testimonies that may have wrongfully linked defendants to crimes. Ref. Source 1