The extraordinary legal saga over whether death row inmate Robert Roberson should be put to death is not over. The state has already asked for an execution date to be set, but now, NBC 5’s Maria Guerrero reports there’s another attempt to have Roberson testify before lawmakers at the Texas State Capitol.
The extraordinary legal saga over death row inmate Robert Roberson continues this week.
Texas lawmakers are again ordering Roberson to testify in a fight for his life.
Supporters insist there is evidence, that if heard in a new trial, could exonerate the Palestine man in the murder of his toddler daughter.
Roberson’s legal team with ‘The Innocence Project’ and a group of lawmakers successfully managed to temporarily halt Roberson’s planned execution in October, initiating an unprecedented legal fight up to the Texas Supreme Court.
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The Texas House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee announced Tuesday it has issued a new subpoena directing Roberson to testify in person before the committee on Friday, Dec. 20.
Roberson would testify about what he claims happened leading up to the death of his two-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis, in 2002.
In 2003, a jury convicted Roberson in the girl’s death, caused prosecutors said, by ‘shaken baby syndrome.’
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Supporters have argued evolving science has largely debunked the controversial diagnosis, that is often ‘misdiagnosed.’
Multiple doctors have since testified the chronically ill child died, not of abuse, but of complications from severe pneumonia.
House Committee member Rep. Jeff Leach of Plano has helped lead the charge to spare Roberson’s life insisting a unique state law was enacted precisely for these kinds of ‘junk science’ convictions.
"The legislators are deeply concerned that Mr. Roberson has failed to receive relief under the “junk science” law they passed over a decade ago for innocent people like him," read a press release Tuesday.
Leach and El Paso Rep. Joe Moody said in a statement:
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. 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, including through writs.
Not everyone is backing the effort, particularly back home in East Texas.
Rep. Cody Harris of Tyler has been in touch with the baby’s family and is adamant in his belief.
“In my mind and in Nikki’s family’s mind, there’s no question that Mr. Roberson is guilty,” he said in an interview with NBC 5 in November.
The Texas Supreme Court previously issued a mixed ruling on this case, declaring a subpoena cannot interrupt a future execution.
However, the state’s high court upheld the committee’s subpoena power.
With no execution date sought by the District Attorney in this case, the committee could actually get its way.
The in-person hearing is set for Noon on Friday inside the state capitol building, pending accommodations to ensure safety.
‘The committee is now awaiting a response from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, which has custody of Robert. It looks forward to hearing from Robert in person at the Capitol on the 20th,’ stated the Moody-Leach statement.
Roberson's attorney Gretchen Sween issued a statement saying in part: ‘I profoundly hope that his ability to appear is not obstructed by those who, for whatever reason, do not want the lawmakers and the public to hear from him directly about his experience trying to communicate his innocence.”
