State Rep. Burnam Says Judge Sharon Keller Showed a “Willful Disregard for Human Life”

In January 2008, Matt Pulle profiled Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Sharon Keller, the former Dallas County prosecutor and hamburger heiress who attracted national attention in September 2007 when she closed up shop and went home promptly at 5 p.m. even as condemned inmate Michael Richard’s attorneys were on their way with a last-minute appeal. Judging by the comments attached to Matt’s story and elsewhere, plenty of Texans weren’t displeased with “Killer” Keller’s actions.

Just don’t count Fort Worth Democratic State Rep. Lon Burnam among her fans: Yesterday, he filed H.R. No. 480, which calls for Keller’s impeachment, citing “gross neglect of duty and conducting her official duties with willful disregard for human life.” Burnam told the Associated Press yesterday why he filed the resolution: “It’s one thing for a banker to close shop at five o’clock sharp. But a public official who stands between a human being and the death chamber must be held to a higher standard.”