AUSTIN, Texas — The Attorney General of Texas has once again moved to prevent a death row inmate from speaking before lawmakers who are questioning the validity of his conviction. This follows a successful last-minute halt to his execution in October.
Robert Roberson was found guilty in 2003 for the murder of his 2-year-old daughter. His execution was set to mark the first in the United States concerning a case related to shaken baby syndrome, a diagnosis that has been increasingly scrutinized by some medical experts.
A House committee in Texas had issued a subpoena for Roberson to provide testimony on Friday, necessitating his transfer from a prison located near Houston. In light of this, Attorney General Ken Paxton announced that his office has sought a court order to block the subpoena, asserting that the legal challenge prevents Roberson from testifying while it is underway. Representatives from the committee, led by Democratic Rep. Joe Moody, have not yet responded to requests for comment regarding this situation.
Paxton has expressed strong support for Roberson’s conviction and has criticized the actions of lawmakers aiming to postpone his execution. His office emphasized in court that the committee’s motivations for seeking Roberson’s testimony stem from a desire to rehear the details of his case, believing Roberson may be innocent and seeking to grant him another trial.
A new date for Roberson’s execution has yet to be established. At 58 years old, he was sentenced to death for the death of his daughter, Nikki Curtis. Prosecutors claimed that he violently shook her, while Roberson’s defense team contends that the symptoms she exhibited were inconsistent with abuse and instead suggest death caused by severe pneumonia.
Roberson has found support from both sides of the political aisle, as legislators and medical professionals argue that his conviction was based on flawed evidence linked to shaken baby syndrome, which describes a grave brain injury caused by forcefully shaking a child.
The committee in the Texas House insists that it must hear from Roberson regarding whether a law enacted in 2013—designed to enable prisoners to contest their convictions based on emerging scientific evidence—was overlooked in his situation.
An innovative approach was used by the House committee to delay Roberson’s execution by issuing a subpoena shortly before he was scheduled to be executed. Following extensive legal discussions across several courts, the Texas Supreme Court ultimately affirmed a stay on Roberson’s execution.
In its ruling in November, the Supreme Court determined that a legislative subpoena cannot halt an execution but stated that the committee has the right to issue another subpoena as long as it does not interfere with an impending execution.
Both the committee members and Roberson’s legal team are advocating for him to testify in person rather than via videoconferencing, as they argue that his autism diagnosis and related communication difficulties would make remote testimony challenging for him. Roberson is currently incarcerated at the Polunsky Unit in Livingston, which is situated over 200 miles (320 kilometers) from Austin.