| 1 | 1 | | 81R8266 JSA-F |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Burnam H.R. No. 480 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | R E S O L U T I O N |
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| 6 | 6 | | WHEREAS, The House of Representatives of the Texas |
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| 7 | 7 | | Legislature has exclusive power to present articles of impeachment |
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| 8 | 8 | | against a state officer under Section 1, Article XV, Texas |
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| 9 | 9 | | Constitution, and Chapter 665, Government Code; now, therefore, be |
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| 10 | 10 | | it |
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| 11 | 11 | | RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 81st Texas |
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| 12 | 12 | | Legislature adopt the following procedures to consider the |
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| 13 | 13 | | impeachment of Judge Sharon Keller, Presiding Judge of the Texas |
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| 14 | 14 | | Court of Criminal Appeals, for gross neglect of duty and conducting |
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| 15 | 15 | | her official duties with willful disregard for human life: |
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| 16 | 16 | | SECTION 1. SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON IMPEACHMENT. The House |
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| 17 | 17 | | Special Committee on Impeachment composed of seven members of the |
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| 18 | 18 | | House of Representatives shall be appointed by the Speaker of the |
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| 19 | 19 | | House. The Speaker shall designate a committee member to serve as |
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| 20 | 20 | | chair of the committee and a committee member to serve as vice-chair |
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| 21 | 21 | | of the committee. |
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| 22 | 22 | | SECTION 2. INVESTIGATION; ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT. (a) |
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| 23 | 23 | | The committee shall conduct an investigation to consider whether to |
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| 24 | 24 | | recommend that under Section 1, Article XV, Texas Constitution, and |
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| 25 | 25 | | Chapter 665, Government Code, the House of Representatives adopt |
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| 26 | 26 | | and present to the Texas Senate articles of impeachment against |
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| 27 | 27 | | Judge Sharon Keller, Presiding Judge of the Texas Court of Criminal |
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| 28 | 28 | | Appeals, for gross neglect of duty and conducting her official |
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| 29 | 29 | | duties with willful disregard for human life in connection with her |
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| 30 | 30 | | actions on the evening of September 25, 2007, including her |
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| 31 | 31 | | apparent irresponsible refusal to abide by the prior practice of |
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| 32 | 32 | | the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in order to receive the appeal |
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| 33 | 33 | | of Michael Richard, which conduct may have resulted in Mr. |
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| 34 | 34 | | Richard's deprivation of life without due process of law as |
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| 35 | 35 | | guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of the United |
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| 36 | 36 | | States and Section 19, Article I, Texas Constitution, by means of a |
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| 37 | 37 | | potentially unlawful execution by lethal injection, and in the |
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| 38 | 38 | | embarrassment of the State of Texas in a manner that casts severe |
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| 39 | 39 | | doubt on the impartiality of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and |
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| 40 | 40 | | the entire criminal justice system of this state. |
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| 41 | 41 | | (b) The committee shall submit a report of its findings to |
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| 42 | 42 | | the Speaker of the House and the full House of Representatives as |
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| 43 | 43 | | soon as reasonably practicable, but not later than the 90th day |
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| 44 | 44 | | after the date the committee is appointed. If the committee |
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| 45 | 45 | | recommends impeachment of the judge, the report shall contain a |
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| 46 | 46 | | draft of articles of impeachment. |
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| 47 | 47 | | SECTION 3. POWERS; ADMINISTRATION. (a) The committee |
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| 48 | 48 | | shall meet at the call of the chair and may meet in executive |
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| 49 | 49 | | session if approved by a majority of the members of the committee. |
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| 50 | 50 | | (b) The committee has all the powers granted to a standing |
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| 51 | 51 | | committee under the Rules of the House of Representatives and under |
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| 52 | 52 | | Subchapter B, Chapter 301, Government Code, including the power to |
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| 53 | 53 | | issue process to procure testimony or other evidence. |
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| 54 | 54 | | (c) On the request of the committee, the House of |
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| 55 | 55 | | Representatives or the Texas Legislative Council shall provide the |
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| 56 | 56 | | staff necessary to assist the committee in carrying out its duties. |
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| 57 | 57 | | (d) The operating expenses of the committee shall be paid as |
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| 58 | 58 | | determined by the Committee on House Administration. |
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| 59 | 59 | | SECTION 4. EXPIRATION. This resolution expires and the |
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| 60 | 60 | | House Special Committee on Impeachment ceases to exist on January |
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| 61 | 61 | | 1, 2010. |
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