Disagreements flare over the potential innocence of death row inmate Robert Roberson and the subpoena that halted his execution.
Dr. Phil McGraw, in a blue suit sitting at the table, gives testimony to the state House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence during a hearing on the case of death row inmate Robert Roberson, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, in Austin. AUSTIN — An unprecedented effort by Texas legislators to save death row inmate Robert Roberson from execution last week has created a forceful clash between two branches of government.
The lawmakers warned that Roberson could become the first person in America to be executed based on “shaken baby syndrome” — a theory that assumed violently shaking an infant caused tell-tale symptoms that medical professionals now know to have other causes.A Texas law allows inmates to challenge convictions based on disproven or incomplete science, and lawmakers say under the spirit of that law, Roberson should have been given a new trial.
On Oct. 16, after hearing testimony about new evidence disputing Nikki’s cause of death, they voted 7-0 to subpoena Roberson to testify at the Capitol this week. Monday’s hearing featured testimonyFILE - Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks at a news conference in Dallas on June 22, 2017. As attorney general, Paxton is the state’s top legal officer who represents Texas in court. His agency also has law enforcement officers and provides help prosecuting crimes if requested by local officials.
In a statement last month, Paxton celebrated the anniversary of his acquittal, writing that he won “an unprecedented battle against the most corrupt forces in” Texas. He accused legislators of weaponizing the political system “to intimidate, bankrupt, silence and punish me for representing the voters instead of the entrenched political establishment.”
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