Texas lawmakers are calling on Robert Roberson to speak hours before his scheduled execution

Texas lawmakers held a daylong hearing Wednesday where they reviewed evidence and heard expert testimony in the case of Robert Roberson, the East Texas man who could be the first in the country to be prosecuted over the controversial “shaken baby” theory. Syndrome” is executed.

Roberson, 57, was convicted of murder in 2003 for reportedly shaking his 2-year-old daughter Nikki to death. He is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection in Huntsville on Thursday evening.

After the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles denied a pardon for Roberson earlier Wednesday, lawmakers voted unanimously to subpoena Roberson at the end of the daylong hearing. It is not immediately clear what impact this will have on his scheduled execution.

“We have looked closely at the evidence in this case,” Moody wrote on “We will get answers.”

In an email late Wednesday, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said The Dallas Morning News Department officials had not seen the subpoena but said they would consult with the attorney general’s office about the “appropriate next steps” if one is issued by the legislative committee.

‘Work that pays’: Texas lawmakers visit and pray with Robert Roberson as execution approaches

At the hearing, the Texas House of Representatives Criminal Justice Committee heard testimony from forensic experts, legal experts and people directly involved in Roberson’s case.

“Although our focus is on Robert Roberson, we are here because his case has shed light on our new scientific jurisprudence,” Moody said. “Every member of this committee was surprised at how it was applied in this particular case.”

The law, which went on the books in 2013 and is sometimes called the “junk science” law, allows a case to be reheard to consider scientific discoveries that have come to light since the initial trial.

Roberson’s lawyers and some of the experts who spoke at the hearing argue that his conviction was based on flawed and now outdated scientific evidence. They say new evidence suggests Nikki died as a result of severe pneumonia.

Shaken Baby Syndrome: What to Know as a Texas Man Faces Execution

Lawmakers said they held the hearing in part because they believed Roberson would receive relief under the “junk science” law and because they wanted to understand why he had not.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the state’s highest criminal court, has unevenly applied the powers granted to it by the “junk science” law, according to a report from the Texas Defender Service. The report presented at Wednesday’s hearing found that in no case had the appeals court used this law to grant relief to a person facing the death penalty.

“The law that the legislature passed and our governor signed is being ignored by our courts, and all we want to do here is hit the pause button on making sure it is enforced,” the lawmaker said Jeff Leach, R-Plano, said.

Brian Wharton, the former Palestine detective who led the investigation and whose testimony helped convict Roberson, also testified at Wednesday’s hearing. He said he now believes Roberson is innocent and hopes leaders will intervene to stop the execution.

“We built an appeals system because we understood we were doing something wrong,” Warton said. “It’s all pointless if no one admits we did anything wrong.”

Recent Posts