The Texas Supreme Court on Thursday halted the execution of Robert Roberson, a Texas man convicted of killing his 2-year-old daughter, after a roller-coaster series of legal maneuvers initiated by an unusual intervention from a bipartisan group of Texas House members.
The decision by the state’s highest civil court related to a procedural question raised by the legislators’ issuing a subpoena for Mr. Roberson to testify before the Legislature on Monday and not the details of his case. But the effect was to run out the clock for the time being.
Because the execution could not be carried out before midnight, a new date would now have to be set.
“We’re deeply grateful to the Texas Supreme Court,” two of the legislators, Jeff Leach, a Dallas-area Republican, and Joe Moody, an El Paso Democrat, said in a joint statement. “We look forward to welcoming Robert to the Texas Capitol, and along with 31 million Texans, finally giving him — and the truth — a chance to be heard.”
The execution by lethal injection, which had been set to take place at a prison in Huntsville, would have been the first in a case attributed to shaken baby syndrome, a diagnosis that has raised questions in the scientific community, death penalty experts said.
Lawyers for Mr. Roberson had sought to prevent the execution by appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court and requesting a reprieve from Gov. Greg Abbott. But neither stepped in.
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