The Texas Supreme Court on Friday ruled that the execution of Robert Roberson can move forward once again. Roberson is thus poised to become the first person to die after a conviction under shaken baby syndrome, which his supporters say has been debunked since the 2002 death of his 2-year-old daughter. Roberson was scheduled to die by lethal injection on Oct. 17 when lawmakers, in a last-ditch effort, issued a subpoena to have him testify at the Texas Capitol days after his planned execution, per the AP. This spurred a legal conundrum between the state's criminal and civil courts, which ultimately led to the Texas Supreme Court temporarily ruling in Roberson's favor.
But on Friday, the high court ruled that "under these circumstances the committee's authority to compel testimony does not include the power to override the scheduled legal process leading to an execution," wrote Justice Evan Young, issuing the opinion of the court. A new execution date for Roberson has not been set, but it is certain to move forward unless Gov. Greg Abbott grants a 30-day reprieve. Roberson, who was sentenced to death in 2003 for killing his daughter, has gained bipartisan support from lawmakers and medical experts who say he was convicted on faulty evidence of a shaken baby diagnosis. (More Texas Supreme Court stories.)
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