DALLAS (AP) _ A review finds the highest criminal court judge in Texas failed to disclose nearly $2 million in real estate holdings.
The Dallas Morning News reports Sharon Keller, presiding judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, claimed it would be “financially ruinous” to pay lawyers to fight misconduct charges.
Keller is seeking dismissal of charges by the state Commission on Judicial Conduct that she violated her duties in a death penalty case.
The commission says Keller cast “public discredit on the judiciary” for not keeping court offices open after 5 p.m. on the 2007 night Michael Wayne Richard was executed. He was condemned for the 1986 rape and slaying of a Houston-area woman.
Keller has denied wrongdoing in the Richard case.
When contacted by The Associated Press about the real estate holdings, Keller’s office referred comment to her attorney, Chip Babcock, who didn’t immediately return a call.
The newspaper reports a statement Keller filed with the Texas Ethics Commission did not abide by legal requirements that she disclose her ownership in seven properties in Dallas and Tarrant counties.
The Dallas Morning News says those properties are valued at roughly $1.9 million.