The Texas Capitol is bracing for a wild Monday as death row inmate Robert Roberson is set to testify

AUSTIN – State leaders are bracing for a potential maelstrom at the Texas Capitol on Monday as death row inmate Robert Roberson will appear in person before a House committee – the first time a convicted prisoner has testified before the state legislature.

The evening before Roberson was scheduled to be executed around 6 p.m. Thursday, the Texas House of Representatives Criminal Justice Committee voted 7-0 to issue a subpoena requiring Roberson to appear before the panel.

Committee members said they feared Texas would execute a potentially innocent man and wanted Roberson to testify about the effectiveness of a state law that allows inmates to challenge convictions based on discredited or flawed scientific evidence.

Monday’s hearing will be streamed online and open to the public. It poses logistical challenges as officials struggle to accommodate a high-security prisoner and media from across the country, curious onlookers and protesters are expected to attend the hearing.

The committee has reserved a hearing room in the underground extension of the Capitol. This room can accommodate 146 people – 98 seated spectators, 15 standing room, six wheelchairs, the committee members and staff.

The Capitol has seen numerous hearings, lively protests and packed hallways.

But there is no precedent for handling a death row inmate during a public meeting in a public building, and officials remained tight-lipped about security plans surrounding a man whose life-or-death case is already drawing attention from afar the Vatican has.

No information was available Friday about how prison officials plan to transport Roberson to Austin, how he will be secured at the Capitol and how law enforcement will maintain order throughout the building.

Calls to lawmakers, public safety officials and the prison system yielded short, vague answers with few details.

“The agency will work with lawmakers to comply with the subpoena,” Hannah Haney, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, said in response to a list of questions about how they plan to protect Roberson.

The Texas Department of Public Safety will be responsible for security at the Capitol, which could include an increased presence of officers on Capitol grounds and in the hallways near the committee room.

Officials at the facility said they could implement crowd control measures such as: Such as tighter security on the grounds, overflow rooms to accommodate members of the public and media, and cordoned off sections of Capitol hallways in case lines form.

A DPS spokesman declined to discuss security precautions.

“The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) is responsible for security at the Texas State Capitol to protect all officers, employees and visitors,” DPS spokesman Sheridan Nolen said in an email to The Dallas Morning News. “While we do not discuss operational specifics. DPS will continue to adjust our operations as necessary.”

Officials with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, which oversees the prison system, did not respond to questions about Roberson, including whether he would be shackled or handcuffed during his testimony and whether he would wear his prison jumpsuit or street clothes.

Calls and emails to the House committee were not returned Friday.

Roberson’s conviction for the 2003 murder of his 2-year-old daughter Nikki in their East Texas home sparked international interest and widespread political debate. Defense attorneys argue that his conviction and death sentence were based on claims that the girl died of “shaken baby syndrome,” which they say was a “junk science” theory that has since been debunked.

Legal challenges to the House committee’s subpoena delayed Roberson’s execution, which was halted around 9:40 p.m. Thursday when the Texas Supreme Court issued a stay of execution to give the court time to consider the legality of the subpoena.

Roberson, who was diagnosed with autism five years ago, has maintained his innocence as a growing bipartisan group of supporters in the Texas Legislature have called for a reconsideration of his case under the 11-year-old junk science law.

Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican with the power to grant a single 30-day stay of execution, has not commented on the case and ignored loud questions from reporters at an event in Corpus Christi late Thursday.

Roberson will be one of several witnesses to testify at Monday’s committee hearing, Rep. Jeff Leach, a Republican from Plano and one of the architects of the Roberson subpoena, told conservative radio host Mark Davis on Friday. Leach declined to name the witnesses or say when Roberson was expected to testify.

Roberson, Leach told Davis, “wants to be heard, and he should be heard.”

“I make no judgment as to his ultimate guilt or innocence,” Leach said. “However, I believe the system has failed him and he needs to be brought back to trial.”

Leach did not say why Roberson testified in person rather than via video from death row, telling Davis that the logistics of access, security and crowd control were “still being worked out.”

Officials with the State Preservation Board, which oversees events at the Capitol, said The Dallas Morning News As of Friday, the committee had not reserved overflow space for spectators or media, but that could be done Monday if needed. Overflow rooms with live broadcasts are often used for committee hearings that attract large crowds.

There could also be crowd control measures, such as cordoning off hallways for queuing and crowd counters for fire safety, historic preservation committee staff said.

Davis echoed criticism from other conservatives, asking on his show Friday whether the “dog-and-pony show” surrounding Roberson’s appearance was simply a planned media circus.

While Davis agreed that the hearing could shed light on new evidence in the case, he said the chaos that Roberson’s testimony would create at a hearing open to the public was not necessary.

“Dragging this guy… to Austin and parading him through the halls of the Capitol and sitting him down so he can have his 10 minutes so he can be heard looks like a dog and pony show designed for emotional appeal.” Impact,” Davis said.