Among the year's most intriguing legal fights has been the effort to keep an Anderson County man from being executed.
On October 17th, Robert Roberson was supposed to have been put to death for the 2002 shaking death of his daughter. It didn't happen.
"The Texas House stood up and spoke up," Texas Senator Jeff Leach said.
Leach is a member of the Texas House Committee that oversees criminal law. Roberson's case has been through all the courts including the U.S. Supreme Court, and all affirmed the conviction and death sentence. But the committee is convinced his conviction was based on the debunked shaken baby syndrome.
The committee believed Roberson was innocent and his daughter actually died from an ongoing lung illness. Out of options, the committee issued a subpoena for Roberson to testify days after the execution would have happened. It worked. The Texas Supreme Court stepped in.
"The Texas Supreme Court said, we are going to affirm the decision by the district judge, at least in part, that basically triggered a stay of the execution," Owsley said.
But then another fight erupted over how the testimony was to be taken. Roberson still has not testified. But others have. Dr. Phil McGraw, known as TV's Dr. Phil, is a psychologist who reviewed the entire case and talked with Roberson.
"I am 100% convinced that we're facing a miscarriage of justice here," Dr. Phil said.
He says the jury never was told about the girl's medical condition and that the only thing presented as an explanation was Shaken Baby Syndrome. Even one of the original jurors said she never would have voted to convict had she known about the lung disease.
Fast forward to Dec. 20th, when Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton blocked a Texas House subpoena that would have allowed Roberson to testify before a committee for a second time.
The committee has recessed indefinitely. The election happened, and come Jan. 1st there will be a new house committee with new members who may not be inclined to hear more about Roberson. The Supreme Court ultimately lifted its stay, but the House committee succeeded in pushing the case into the next year when three new justices will come onto the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
Only one has to vote in favor or Roberson to scuttle an execution.
Related
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Tell your Smart Speaker to "PLAY 1080 KRLD"
Sign Up to receive our KRLD Insider Newsletter for more news
Follow us on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube