Legislators in Texas are being criticized by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for postponing the execution of a father who was found guilty of killing his 2-year-old daughter and attempting to refute allegations that his sentence was based on “junk science.”
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Texas death row inmate Robert Roberson was subpoenaed to testify at a committee hearing on Friday.
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Lawmakers want to hear testimony from Roberson on Texas’ “junk science” law.
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Roberson was convicted of murdering his daughter after medical professionals say she experienced “shaken baby syndrome.”
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Roberson would be the first person in the US executed for a murder conviction tied to the diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome.
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Texas death row inmate Robert Roberson was subpoenaed to testify at a committee hearing on Friday.
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Lawmakers want to hear testimony from Roberson on Texas’ “junk science” law.
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Roberson was convicted of murdering his daughter after medical professionals say she experienced “shaken baby syndrome.”
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Roberson would be the first person in the US executed for a murder conviction tied to the diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome.
Robert Roberson, a death row inmate, has been subpoenaed by the Austin-Texas House committee to discuss his case and the possible “junk science” that his supporters claim was used to convict him.
The hearing is scheduled for Friday, December 20 at noon.
The day before Roberson’s October execution date, the same committee issued a subpoena. Roberson’s execution was initially postponed by the Texas Supreme Court in order to consider the committee’s plea.
Roberson, Robert
Roberson’s murder conviction linked to the shaken baby syndrome diagnosis would make him the first person executed in the United States.
Robert Roberson Subpoenaed
Robert Roberson, a death row inmate, is set to testify before a bipartisan Texas House committee once more.
What we know Roberson was subpoenaed by the House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence to attend a hearing in the Texas Capitol on Friday, December 20 at noon.
Reps. Jeff Leach (R-Plano) and Joe Moody (D-El Paso), the chairs of the committee, think Roberson’s testimony will help clarify the state’s “junk science” law.
Texas passed the junk science law in 2013. The civil rights organization Texas Defender Service reported that the law has not overturned the sentence of any person awaiting execution.
“[Roberson’s] perspective will be especially valuable as a person on the autism spectrum whose neurodivergence profoundly influenced both his case and his access to justice on appeal, including through writs,” Moody and Leach said in a statement.
What we don’t know: It’s uncertain if Roberson will show up in Austin.
Roberson would need permission from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to attend the committee hearing.
As long as a subpoena does not prevent an execution that is certain to occur, the Texas Supreme Court’s November ruling stated that the committee should be permitted to hear his evidence.
The attorney general’s office resisted attempts to get Roberson to the Capitol building, so he did not show up for a House committee meeting in October.
The State Supreme Court was informed by the Office of the Attorney General that doing so would raise logistical and security issues.
Robert Roberson Murder Conviction
The Supreme Court decided that legislators cannot use a legislative subpoena to halt executions. The ruling permits Roberson, who was found guilty of murder in a 2002 shaken baby case, to be put to death.
The Backstory: In 2002, Robertson, then 58, was found guilty of the murder of his 2-year-old daughter in Palestine, Texas.
He brought her to the ER because she had a high fever, and the doctors there concluded that she had shaken infant syndrome.
That diagnosis has been contested by Roberson’s lawyers, who have referred to it as “junk science.”
According to them, Nikki passed away naturally, most likely from unidentified pneumonia.
The chief investigator in the case and a group of senators have contended that the science underlying Roberson’s death sentence is flawed.
The day before Roberson’s scheduled execution on October 17, the committee subpoenaed the death row convict to testify at a hearing regarding his case. In order to consider the committee’s request, the Supreme Court postponed the execution that evening.
Subsequently, the Supreme Court decided that a subpoena could force a witness to testify if there was no imminent execution, but it could not stop a future execution.
Lawmakers have come under fire from some of the 2-year-old’s family members for postponing Roberson’s execution.
A death row inmate who was scheduled to appear before Texas lawmakers on Monday afternoon did not show up. In addition to novelist John Grisham and Dr. Phil, a former juror testified throughout the trial.
With hearings featuring evidence from Dr. Phil and author John Grisham, the case has attracted national attention.
What happens now?
What Comes Next: Robertson remains on death row, and there is currently no new date set for his execution.
A new death warrant would now need to be obtained by the Anderson County District Attorney, and an execution would take place no sooner than ninety days from that date.
Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, and the legal system have not stepped in to support Roberson.
Abbott might still offer a 30-day respite or clemency in this case.
Texas’ Junk Science Law
For further information, see Texas’ 2013 “junk science” bill.
If the evidence used against a person is no longer reliable, the law permits that person to seek redress.
In 2013, Texas passed the first junk science statute. Legal experts referred to it as a national model for states.
Similar “junk science” laws exist in California, Connecticut, Michigan, Nevada, and Wyoming; however, their effectiveness in reversing death penalty cases has not been investigated.
The law as it was passed in 2013 is available here:
By the numbers: According to a report by the civil rights organization Texas Defender Service, since the junk science statute was passed in 2013, no one who was facing death has had their sentence revoked.
Under the junk science statute, 74 applications have been submitted and decided upon in the past ten years. Those facing the death penalty filed one-third of the applications. They were all failures.
Although they accounted for fewer than half of all applications, approximately three-quarters of those that resulted in relief were for convictions including DNA evidence.
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The Texas Supreme Court, the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, the House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence, previous FOX coverage of the case, and the Associated Press are the sources of information used in this article.
The Texas Supreme Court, the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, the House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence, previous FOX coverage of the case, and the Associated Press are the sources of information used in this article.
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