AUSTIN, Texas — A Travis County judge blocked the execution of a Texas death row inmate with less than two hours to spare.
Robert Roberson was scheduled to be executed Thursday evening, but Judge Jessica Mangrum ruled that Roberson would be allowed to testify about his case next week. The decision comes after a Texas House committee issued a subpoena for Roberson Wednesday night.
During the hearing, the Texas Attorney General's office said the subpoena was legitimate and lawful, meaning an agency could not ignore it.
State Rep. Joe Moody, who leads the Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence, highlighted the state's bipartisan efforts to "engage in fact-finding" during hours of testimony on Wednesday.
Moody said the committee then unanimously voted to issue the subpoena and made the Texas Department of Criminal Justice aware. However, the Attorney General's office argued that there were other signs of abuse.
"This is not a shaken baby case," Ed Marshall with the AG's office told the judge. "[Roberson] was not indicted for shaking a baby. He was indicted for blunt force trauma and murder of a 2-year-old. The evidence supports the fact that there were multiple blunt for trauma impacts to the child's head."
Texas lawmakers said they were in uncharted territory in trying to delay Roberson's execution who many believe is innocent. Roberson has maintained his innocence in the 2002 killing of his 2-year-old daughter.
The Texas House committee said the state's shaken baby syndrome diagnosis should lead to a review of the case due to the "Junk Science" law in Texas, which allows prisoners to challenge possible wrong convictions. However, the committee was concerned courts have ignored the 2013 law, which was created because of cases involving flawed scientific evidence, like cases that involved infant trauma.
State Rep. Brian Harrison said the state's premise has widely been discredited and wouldn't be applied today.
Harrison initially said their biggest hope was for Gov. Greg Abbott to issue a 30-day delay. Advocates dropped off more than 100,000 signatures to the governor's office pushing for the delay. Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court said a stay on Roberson's execution was imperative but that Abbott is the only person in position to do so.
Roberson is expected to appear before the committee in person in Travis County on Thursday, Oct. 31. The state is planning to appeal the temporary restraining order.