Texas Supreme Court rules against lawmakers who stopped execution with last-minute subpoena

The Texas Supreme Court on Friday ruled that a legislative subpoena cannot be used to stop an execution after Republican and Democratic lawmakers used the novel maneuver last month to pause Robert Roberson’s lethal injection at the last minute.

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.

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.

Roberson, who was sentenced to death in 2003 for killing his 2-year-old daughter, has gained bipartisan support from lawmakers and medical experts who say he was convicted on faulty evidence of a “shaken baby” diagnosis. If executed, Roberson will be the first person in the United States to die under shaken baby syndrome.