Sharon Keller, the presiding judge of Texas’ highest criminal courts, is in a legal battle fighting charges that she violated her judicial duties in a death penalty case two years ago.
Her defense team, headed by Chip Babcock, is likely to be very expensive. However, the state of Texas is only paying the prosecution, headed by Mike McKetta, one dollar.
“I would do it for a dollar, too,” Babcock said. “McKetta and I could duke it out for just a buck. That would be fun. The problem is that if the (Texas) Ethics Commission is correct … I can’t.”
Last December, the ethics commission slapped Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht with a $29,000 fine, ruling that a $167,200 discount he received on legal fees amounted to a political contribution that exceeded the $5,000 limit on donations from law firms and from individual lawyers.
“The government gets a pro bono law firm to help them, and then the government turns around and says, ‘Judge, you can’t get a pro bono law firm, and any lawyer you get has to charge you 100 percent of their standard rates,'” Babcock said.