Keeton retires from US court

US District Judge Robert E. Keeton , who presided over many high-profile cases, helped craft federal rules on civil and criminal procedures and served as the ``go-to guy" for fellow judges, has retired after 27 years on the bench.

In a letter to President Bush, Keeton, who at 86 was the oldest member of the federal court in Massachusetts, wrote that he was grateful for ``the rewarding and satisfying experience" of serving on the US District Court. Keeton's retirement was announced by the court Friday.

Keeton was the first judge to throw out the perjury conviction of Boston police Officer Kenneth Conley , ruling that the government failed to turn over evidence at his 1998 trial.

Conley, who had been found guilty of lying during an investigation into the 1995 beating of an officer by fellow officers, was vindicated last year after another judge and an appeals court echoed Keeton's findings.

Keeton also presided over the 1989 conspiracy, mail fraud, and tax evasion trial of presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche Jr., which ended with a mistrial , and a 1993 copyright suit brought by Lotus Development Corp.

His colleagues on the bench said Keeton was unfailingly gracious in giving his time to colleagues in search of advice on legal questions or complex issues.

``He was the go-to person on all legal issues in this court," said US District Judge William G. Young . ``You could call him at home or in his chambers, and he would stop what he was doing and would refer you to the appropriate law."

Chief US District Judge Mark L. Wolf said, ``I think he'll be remembered as a model of intellect, of courtesy, of really giving great respect to the law, to the lawyers, the legal process, and, most significantly, to the people that all of those serve in an effort to achieve this ambitious goal of having equal justice under the law."

Keeton, who was appointed to the bench in 1979 by President Carter, had previously gained prominence as a mastermind of Massachusetts' no-fault auto insurance law, a professor at Harvard Law School, and an author of books on insurance law, torts, and trial tactics.

Keeton was appointed by US Supreme Court Justice William H. Rehnquist to chair the committee that set federal rules for criminal and civil procedures from 1990 to 1993.

He became a ``senior" judge in 2003, meaning he no longer worked full time, but continued to draw cases.