House Hearing On Death Row Inmate Set To Resume Tuesday As Legislators Push For In-Person Testimony

After a nine-hour committee hearing about death row inmate Robert Roberson on Monday, lawmakers are expected to resume the hearing Tuesday. Over the course of Monday, legislators tried to get Roberson to testify in person at the Texas Capitol amid concerns of the Attorney General’s office.

The state House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee vowed to hear from Roberson himself arguing that he is not used to technology such as Zoom calls and that his autism condition could make things more difficult at a distance. 

“Robert is a person with autism who has significant communication challenges, which was a core issue that impacted him at every stage of our judicial of our justice system,” said state Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso.

“We’re in the process of working out in-person testimony, collaboratively, perhaps by the committee going to Robert instead of him coming to us, which is something we’re fleshing out right now,” Moody said at the conclusion of the meeting.

According to the Dallas Morning News, it is still unclear whether Roberson will give testimony this Tuesday or other day. 

On Monday, legislators heard testimony from Roberson’s attorneys, one of the jurors that helped convict him and even TV personality Dr. Phil.

Roberson, 57, was convicted for killing his 2-years-old daughter Nikki. At the time, the case was centered around the “shaken baby syndrome” a diagnosis related to brain injuries caused by violent shaking. Prosecutors argued Roberson fatally shaked Nikki. 

However, lawmakers, Roberson’s attorneys and medical experts argued that the diagnosis was based on faulty science and that new evidence suggests that Nikki died from complications related to a severe pneumonia. They argued the case didn’t present the possibility of natural death or other death causes.

For example, Terre Compton, a member of the jury that convicted Roberson said that in the trial, there was no discussion whether Nikki was beaten, hit, abused or severely sick. She said that if she knew of other circumstances surrounding his daughter’s death, she would have voted “not guilty.”

Lawmakers were expecting Gov. Greg Abbott to grant a pardon to Roberson. After the Texas board of Pardon and Paroles rejected issuing a pardon recommendation, the possibility of Abbott giving a pardon was discharged. Lawmakers voted to subpoena Roberson to testify on Monday –four days after his execution date–, this decision was appealed but at the end the Texas Supreme Court ultimately ruled to halt Roberson’s execution to comply with the subpoena. With these moves, lawmakers and attorneys expect to get a pardon or a new trial for Roberson that takes into account new evidence.