The AG also said he’d make a criminal referral against the lawmaker, who apologized for texting a Court of Criminal Appeals judge about a new trial for the death row inmate.
“His conduct demonstrates that he is unfit to serve in any capacity overseeing our judicial system and unfit to serve as a member of the Texas House,” Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement seeking Rep. Jeff Leach 's resignation Tuesday., R-Plano, on Tuesday, arguing that Leach cannot effectively serve in the Texas House after improperly pleading with a judge to reconsider a death row inmate’s case.
Slaughter, who voted with the court’s 5-4 majority to reject Roberson’s latest appeals, declined to engage with Leach’s request and reported the messages to the court., saying in a statement that he believed he was “in the clear” because he was not a party to Roberson’s criminal case nor to any pending matters before the Court of Criminal Appeals.
Roberson was convicted in 2003 for the death of his chronically ill 2-year-old-daughter, Nikki. He has maintained his innocence over two decades on death row, arguing that new scientific evidence the courts have failed to properly consider shows Nikki died of natural causes.
Texas Politics Texas Policy Texas Government Criminal Justice Death Penalty Politics Texas Death Row State Government Texas Court Of Criminal Appeals Ken Paxton Jeff Leach Courts
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