Robert Roberson, a death row inmate who could be the first person executed in the United States for a shaken baby death, failed to appear at a hearing before a Texas state House committee on Friday.
The condemned man’s absence was recorded a day after the Texas state attorney general’s office instructed the prison system to ignore the subpoena for Roberson to be sent to the state capital Austin for the hearing, though it was not immediately obvious why he was not permitted to attend.
When state lawmakers issued a similar subpoena for Roberson to testify in Austin in October, the AG’s office again opposed. This legal maneuver ultimately prevented Roberson’s execution on October 17 with just hours remaining.
Roberson has been called to testify in his case about a 2013 junk science rule that permits Texas prisoners to perhaps contest convictions based on advancements in forensic research. Roberson has adamantly maintained his innocence in the 2002 death of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki.
This time, Roberson is being held at a jail north of Houston, and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice was ordered to transfer him to the state Capitol in Austin.
Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office raised an objection, stating that the subpoena was issued in violation of the Texas Constitution, House Rules, and other relevant statutes, posing significant security dangers in addition to being procedurally flawed and so void.
Paxton had stated in October that bringing Roberson before lawmakers raised safety issues, pointing to the absence of a state facility in the Austin area that might temporarily detain him. He could testify online, the state had claimed.
The House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence responded by suggesting that Roberson may meet with its members while incarcerated. They claimed that because of his autism and lack of technological experience, they felt uneasy about the video option. But the meeting never took place.
After the attorney general’s office contested the first subpoena, lawmakers on a House committee chose to issue a second one. Just hours before Roberson was scheduled to be executed on October 17, his execution was postponed due to a flurry of lawsuits triggered by the original subpoena, an unusual legal tactic.
Regarding a 2013 “junk science” rule that permits Texas prisoners to possibly contest convictions based on advancements in forensic technology, the members of the House committee stated that they still want Roberson to be able to testify in his case.
“Robert’s testimony will shed important light on some of the problems with our ‘junk science writ’ process, a legal procedure Texas lawmakers expected to provide reconsideration in cases like this one,” said a statement from committee member and Republican state representative Jeff Leach and chair Joe Moody, both of whom are Democrats. “His 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.”
The Texas Supreme Court backed with state officials last month, ruling that lawmakers could not successfully stop an execution by using their subpoena power. They added that Roberson might still be forced to testify by the committee members.
No new date for execution has been assigned by the attorney general’s office.
In the meanwhile, Paxton and the lawmakers have sparred openly over Robinson’s case, with each publishing their own reports in recent weeks refuting the other’s allegations and accusing the other of “misrepresenting” facts that resulted in his conviction for his daughter’s death.
Law enforcement and medical professionals soon determined that Nikki’s death was caused by a violent shaking episode. As they believe it was in Nikki’s case, Roberson’s defense team argues that a new understanding of so-called shaken baby syndrome demonstrates that other medical issues can be causes in a child’s death.
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