Thursday, October 17, 2024

Texas set to execute man in the face of enormous opposition due to conviction by shaken-baby syndrome

As Texas prison officials ready the death chamber to execute Robert Roberson tonight, a thundering chorus of people who believe the state is about to kill an innocent man hope last-minute measures will buy him more time, reported The Texas Tribune.

Roberson was convicted of killing his 2-year-old daughter, who was diagnosed with shaken baby syndrome. But experts, lawmakers and the lead detective in the girl’s case say the science supporting Roberson’s death sentence no longer holds up — and the state’s “junk science” law should have already halted his execution.

In an stunning move, a Texas House committee voted unanimously Wednesday to subpoena Roberson ahead of his Thursday execution, a step that sought to give the man a final lifeline after a series of court rejections left him on track to become the first person in the country executed for allegedly shaking a baby to death.

That move “sets up a bit of a separation of powers issue that I think would result in him not being executed tomorrow night,” Benjamin Wolff, director of the Texas Office of Capital and Forensic Writs, said on Wednesday, adding that he had not seen this maneuver attempted before, so it was not clear what could happen. “It’s an unprecedented subpoena and an unprecedented case.”

But Roberson set to be executed around 6p.m. Thursday, it’s unclear if that gambit will work.

The Texas House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee approved the subpoena hours after the state’s highest criminal court again declined to stop the execution, and after the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole denied Roberson’s request for clemency. Gov. Greg Abbott cannot defy the board’s recommendation, but he can issue a 30-day reprieve. Abbott has remained silent. Roberson’s lawyers have also asked the U.S. Supreme Court to step in.

The committee’s subpoena — which was offered by state Reps. Brian Harrison, R-Midlothian, and Jeff Leach, R-Plano — calls for Roberson to "provide all relevant testimony and information concerning the committee's inquiry."

Gretchen Sween, Roberson's attorney, said that she had "no knowledge" of a subpoena being used before in an effort to pump the brakes on an execution.

"It shows how strongly the lawmakers who have learned about this case feel about the injustice," she said.

The parole board’s six members voted unanimously earlier Wednesday to deny Roberson's clemency application. The decision came amid a forceful bipartisan campaign to spare Roberson’s life, and as lawmakers raised concerns that the courts were not properly implementing a groundbreaking 2013 “junk science” law that was intended to provide justice to people convicted based on scientific evidence that has since changed or been debunked.

“It is not shocking that the criminal justice system failed Mr. Roberson so badly. What’s shocking is that, so far, the system has been unable to correct itself," Sween said in a statement after the board's vote. “We pray that Governor Abbott does everything in his power to prevent the tragic, irreversible mistake of executing an innocent man.”

Brian Wharton, the lead detective in Roberson’s case who sided with the prosecution at trial, has called for his exoneration, as has bestselling author John Grisham. A large majority of the Texas House has asked the courts to take a second look at his case. Doug Deason, a GOP megadonor and Abbott ally, also publicly said he believes in Roberson’s innocence, according to the Houston Chronicle.

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