Forensic science

C.J. Ciaramella | 10.18.2024 2:15 PM

Last night, Texas death row inmate Robert Roberson narrowly avoided becoming the first person in the country to be executed based on evidence of what was formerly called "shaken baby syndrome," due to an unprecedented intervention by a bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers.

Efforts by Roberson's supporters to halt his imminent execution spilled over into a battle between the branches of the Texas government Thursday night after a state House committee issued a subpoena to Roberson to testify before it next Monday—a highly unusual move that had the practical effect of putting him under the aegis of the legislature's subpoena authority.

A state district court issued a temporary stay of execution based on that subpoena, but the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA), the state's highest court for criminal cases, lifted the stay after the Texas Attorney General's Office appealed it. However, Texas legislators filed an emergency motion with the Texas Supreme Court, which has jurisdiction over civil matters, asking it to issue an injunction against the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to halt Roberson's execution. The Texas Supreme Court granted the injunction, preserving Roberson's life for now.

This all occurred hours before and after Roberson's scheduled 6 p.m. execution by lethal injection.

"For over 20 years, Robert Roberson has spent 23.5 hours of every single day in a solitary confinement cell no bigger than the closets of most Texans, longing and striving to be heard," Democrat and Republican state Reps. Joe Moody and Jeff Leach, respectively, said in a joint statement on X after the Texas Supreme Court ruled in their favor.........

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