By KERA News & Wire Services
Dallas, TX – A special court of review has dismissed a public reprimand of Texas' top criminal courts judge, who closed her court at 5 p.m., preventing the filing of a last-minute appeal before an execution.
The disciplinary case against Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge Sharon Keller came after she closed the court in 2007 as attorneys for twice-convicted killer Michael Wayne Richard tried to file a last-minute appeal. Richard was executed hours later.
The state Commission on Judicial Conduct had issued a "public warning" of Keller.
Keller appealed, claiming the commission exceeded its authority and violated the state constitution.
The special court of review agreed Monday to dismiss the ruling.
Perry chides US govt over Falcon Lake incident
Gov. Rick Perry says he's disheartened that the wife of a missing American who was reported shot on a Texas-Mexico border lake hasn't heard from the U.S. federal government.
Perry said he spoke with Tiffany Hartley again on Monday morning. He said "she's very frustrated and appropriately so." Her husband, David Hartley, has not been seen since the reported Sept. 30 attack on Falcon Lake.
Perry said Hartley hasn't heard from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton or anyone in President Barack Obama's administration.
A White House spokesman did not immediately respond to Perry's criticism when contacted by The Associated Press.
101-year-old Texas woman to take citizenship oath
Exactly 101 years after crossing the Rio Grande on a ferry, a 101-year-old Texas woman will become a naturalized U.S. citizen.
Eulalia Garcia-Maturey is scheduled to take the oath of allegiance Tuesday in Brownsville during a special naturalization ceremony administered by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The agency announced Monday that a U.S. magistrate judge will administer the oath in federal district court.
The government agency says Garcia-Maturey was born in Mexico on Feb. 12, 1909 and arrived in the U.S. with her parents on Oct. 12, 1909 at the Brownsville Port-of-Entry. She has lived in Brownsville ever since, raising two children.