Faced with the imminent possibility that Texas would execute an innocent man, the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee last Wednesday subpoenaed the testimony of Robert Roberson, whose execution had been scheduled for the next day. The Texas Supreme Court stayed the execution on Thursday, recognizing that the subpoena raised questions about the separation of powers between the legislative and executive branches.
The subpoena motion was filed by two Republicans and approved by the entire committee, seeking to investigate why Roberson was unable to challenge his conviction based on new scientific evidence as allowed by Texas law. Roberson’s conviction relied on the now-discredited “shaken baby” hypothesis.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice did not allow Roberson to appear in person on Monday, as the committee had called for in the subpoena, but committee members are considering a “field trip” to obtain his testimony in prison. One of the jurors in the case testified at the hearing that she now believes Roberson is innocent based on evidence that was not presented at trial.
