Judge Eddie T. Keller ~ June 6, 1941 - May 4, 2024

When Judge Eddie T. Keller died unexpectedly on May 4, 2024, he left behind volumes of memories and a treasure trove full of family, friends, and colleagues. A legend in legal circles, the former Assistant Presiding Judge Keller served in the courts on both the east and west slopes of El Dorado County and for years in the California Attorney General's Office.

Retired Judge Suzanne Kingsbury said Keller was a man of great integrity and intellect. She said, "He helped improve access to the court system and the delivery of justice."

Keller, or Eddie as he was best known, had a very interesting life, and a storied career, and left behind many fans of his work and his character.

Eddie was born and raised in Sacramento, Calif. He descended from a long line of early California settlers and was very proud of his heritage. He was preceded in death by his parents, Eddie Jay Keller and Lois Pearl Lack, his siblings Bruce, Jeanneane, and Walter, his wife Susan and his daughter Cheri.

Eddie attended Sacramento High School and graduated in 1958. It was in high school that Eddie decided to devote his life to public service. He wanted to help people. He always knew that he would go to college to provide him with the skills to fulfill his life’s mission. He first attended Sacramento City College in 1958. He followed in his grandfather’s footsteps and attended Cal Berkeley in 1960 and graduated in 1962 with a BA Degree in History. He then focused his studies on law at Hastings in San Francisco where he graduated in 1965 with an LLB Degree in Law. He then passed the California State Bar Exam and decided to go into the Peace Corps where he lived in Chile for two years with the Alvarado family. His primary assignment was to help organize and advise credit unions to establish a strong financial basis for Chile. He had kept close contact with his Chilean family and returned to the country with his children to meet this wonderful family.

He also worked on Bobby Kennedy's presidential campaign.

In 1968 he started his career with the Attorney General’s (AG) Office in Sacramento where he spent the next 21 years. One of the highlights of his career from his time at the AG’s office was a case called Keller v. California State Bar, which was heard at the US Supreme Court in 1990 and won in a unanimous decision. It determined that attorneys who are required to be members of a state bar association have a First Amendment right to refrain from subsidizing the organization’s political or ideological activities.

"He was not one to stand down for what he believed in," said longtime friend and colleague Raymond Brosterhous, retired California Department of Justice Deputy Attorney General. "He was too good to be true."

Brosterhous said the workplace influences a person and the toll it can take in their line of work. He said Eddie believed in what he was doing. One of Eddie's big cases was handling the State's case against Russell Little and Joe Remiro of the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA). The pair were charged with murdering Marcus Foster, Superintendent of the Oakland Public Schools in the 1970s.

Eddie's co-counsel included future California Governor George Deukmejian.

"That case really strengthened his prosecution outlook," said Brosterhous. "The whole SLA thing really bothered him."

"He was a team leader in the criminal division of the Attorney General's office," said Bosterhous. "I wasn't initially on his team but after conversing with him so many times, and seeking so much legal advice, I wanted to be on his team. So many people wanted to be on his team. He really looked at the larger questions."

"Eddut was the pioneering voice in what he called people's rights - rights of the people, and in particular the rights of the victims in criminal proceedings," added his longtime friend. "People had a right to due process for fundamental fairness, the right to speedy trials- he pushed the people's right of due process. He was seen as THE person in the AG office. THE person of principal - he was the lone star, the thought leader."

In 1970, Eddie married his first wife Susan Yost White who had two daughters, Cindy and Cheri. He and Susan then added two sons, Dynan and Justin. They raised their family in the Georgetown Divide where their girls could raise animals and their boys would enjoy playing baseball. Eddie was a 4H leader, a baseball umpire, served on the BOMUSD School Board, and was a part of the Rotary Club.

In 1989, Eddie was appointed to the El Dorado County Superior Court as a judge. Here he served for 20 years as a highly respected community leader. He was Kingsbury's assistant presiding judge for about ten years. He was also nicknamed “Killer Keller” as he quickly gained a reputation for being tough on crime. While being tough on those who deserved it, he was also lenient when the correct circumstances warranted it, issuing lengthy sentences on defendants in noteworthy cases.

In the community, he founded multiple groups including the Children’s and Family Network, Teen Court, and Job One.

Eddie was a longtime resident of the Georgetown area before relocating to Shingle Springs.

"As an attorney, I didn’t know Judge Keller at all because he was involved in the appellate portion of cases and that wasn’t my area of practice," shared Kingsbury. "I was familiar with one of the cases he was known for, Keller v. State Bar of California, where he challenged the practice of the State Bar using mandatory dues to fund political causes. I have never been a member of any political party and was often irritated at the use of our increasingly escalating bar dues for causes that I didn’t support or feel appropriate for a quasi-governmental agency to advocate."

"In his first weeks as Judge, he earned the nickname, “Killer Keller,” for the tough sentences he gave out to serious drug offenders and career criminals," recalls Laurie Edwards, a former police officer and retired senior deputy probation officer. "Someone had changed his name on the sign outside the courtroom from Judge Keller to Judge Killer. Talk around the law enforcement community was then, “Umm well maybe this guy isn’t so bad after all.”

"Early on, he was also known as “Kind Keller” for being humble and treating people with kindness, dignity, and respect in the Courtroom," said Edwards. "He was very patient and supportive of new probation officers and attorneys appearing before him, and “kind” for his willingness to give deserving defendants a second or third chance. He strongly believed in rehabilitation, especially when it involved juvenile offenders."

"He and the late Judge Patrick J. Riley established treatment programs in juvenile hall to include anger management, substance abuse, and family reunification," added Edwards. "The two judges also established the HEARTS (Health Education, Addiction Recovery Toward Self-Responsibility) 90-day program for jail inmates with substance abuse issues. Judge Keller was a supportive and dear friend whom I will miss tremendously. I am honored to have him as a friend for all these years. His contributions significantly improved the safety and quality of our community."

"Around late 1995 or early 1996, after I became a candidate for an open judicial seat that was going to become vacant due to the impending retirement of Judge Terrence Finney, all of the pending felony cases being handled by Judge Finney by the Public Defender were temporarily reassigned to Placerville," said Kingsbury. "I was required to drive down to Placerville three days a week so that they could be heard. Highway 50 was closed during that time due to a massive mudslide, so I had to slog from my home in South Lake Tahoe, over Luther Pass on Highway 88, and then over Mormon Emigrant Trail to Placerville. The only upside to this turn of events is that I was allowed to decide whether I wanted my cases to be heard by Judge Keller or Judge Riley. After consulting with my colleagues in the defense bar, the recommendation was to go with Judge Riley, as they felt that he was often more open to defense arguments for a lower sentence than Judge Keller. I don’t know if that was true, as Judge Riley was no slouch in the “stiff sentence” department. Once I learned more about Judge Keller as a person and as a judge, I regretted not appearing before him as an attorney during my years of practice."

After Kingsbury was elected to fill Finney's seat in 1996, she said it was Judge Keller, who bent over backwards to make her feel welcome. The two met once a month, two-thirds of the time in Placerville, the rest in South Lake Tahoe.

"I remember that during one of the meetings I arrived and must have had an upset look on my face when I went into the jury room where the meeting was held," recalled Kingsbury. "Right before driving down from Tahoe a copy of an appellate brief had come in the mail for a wildly contentious civil trial I presided over, and I’d made the mistake of reading it before driving down as it was the first of my cases to be appealed. The brief was full of highly charged language arguing all of the reasons why the jury’s verdict should be overturned, and in essence why it was all the fault of boneheaded rulings made by yours truly. This case had been up to the California Supreme Court related to certain pretrial rulings made by other judges who preceded me in handling the case. The trial was very lengthy and broke for some time so that I could attend the mandatory Judicial College held at UC Berkeley. The attorneys hated each other and I spent a great deal of time during the proceedings riding herd on them and their antics."

"As I entered the meeting, Judge Keller said, 'What’s wrong?'" she continued. "I replied that I had read the appellate brief for the first appeal in one of my cases. Most of them knew of the case because of its notoriety. I said that I was feeling like I wasn’t cut out for the job. The judges responded, 'Never, never read the appellate brief until the respondent’s brief comes!' Judge Keller added, 'You will find that the appellate briefs describe how the attorneys think you screwed up, and suggest that you are an awful judge, then the respondent’s brief comes and describes how you made correct and insightful rulings, and are a marvelous judge.' Sure enough, the respondent’s brief came in shortly thereafter and praised my handling of the case. Ultimately the case was upheld on appeal and I breathed a sigh of relief. Judge Keller later elaborated to me that he found the personal attacks on judges and opposing counsel in briefing and in the courtroom inappropriate and disrespectful of the rule of law and of the judicial branch as a whole."

Kingsbury said when she was elected presiding judge of the court, Judge Keller was her assistant presiding judge from then until he retired.

"He was such a help to me in terms of tackling seemingly insurmountable problems and sharing the heavy lifting," shared Kingsbury. "He was my sounding board and was able to give me insight into West Slope politics which I didn’t completely understand at that point (perhaps I still don’t!). We spent a lot of time together going to meetings, conferences, and community events. He was able to confide in me about the suffering that his wife Sue was experiencing with her health and the difficulties of being a full-time judge and a full-time caretaker. I am not sure how he did it, publicly he always maintained his professionalism, good cheer, and his often wicked sense of humor. But privately, between us, he was able to share his tears and his frustration over not being able to help ease Sue’s pain."

His wife Susan passed away in 2006.

Eddie married Davis Morrow in 2010. She has 2 children, Don and Denise from a previous marriage. Eddie’s extended family includes Cindy’s husband David Carroll and Justin’s wife Julie Metesser. Eddie also has 7 grandchildren Whitney (Michael), Logan (Briana), Taylor, Nicole (Steven), Cassandra (Michael), Kaylie, and Lucas, as well as 10 great-grandchildren.

Above all, Eddie loved God, his country, his family, and his dear friends, who will miss him severely.

"Eddie was the most sensible, ethical, and compassionate person I’ve had the privilege to know," said Kingsbury. "Without a doubt, El Dorado County became a better place by virtue of his involvement in the community. He has helped improve the lives of many of the people who appeared before him. Attorneys who practiced in his court became better practitioners. I loved him and will miss him. Our court has lost a legend."

Services will be held on June 7 at the Foothill United Methodist Church at 10:30 a.m., 3301 Green Valley Rd, Rescue, Calif. Donations in Eddie’s name can be made to The American Cancer Society, the ASPCA, or The American Battlefield Trust.