Woman sues judge over Texas execution

HOUSTON, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- A Texas woman said her husband was wrongfully executed because a judge refused an after-hours appeal, the Austin (Texas) American-Statesman reported.

Convicted killer Michael Richard’s widow, Marsha Richard, filed suit Wednesday in federal court against appellate Judge Sharon Keller, saying Keller “exceeded her authority” and denied court access by refusing to consider an appeal after the court’s 5 p.m. closing time, as requested by lawyers, the paper said. Michael Richard was executed that night, about six weeks ago.

Judicial immunity protects judges from most lawsuits related to most decisions but such immunity may not apply to administrative decisions, legal scholars told the American-Statesman.

"So the question becomes, when she performed that act, was she performing it in her judicial capacity or in her administrative capacity as chief judge?" James Alfini, president and dean of the South Texas College of Law in Houston, told the newspaper.

Richard was executed Sept. 25 for the 1986 shooting of 53-year-old Marguerite Lucille Dixon, a nurse and mother of seven who was robbed, raped and shot in her home.