Texas Supreme Court Paves Way for Execution in ‘Shaken Baby’ Case

Texas lawmakers exceeded their power when they intervened last month to stop the execution of Robert Roberson by summoning him to testify, the court found.

Texas can go forward with the execution of Robert Roberson, who was convicted of killing his 2-year-old daughter in a case that relied on evidence of shaken baby syndrome, the Texas Supreme Court ruled on Friday.

Lawmakers of both parties in the Texas House, who believed Mr. Roberson deserved a new trial, had temporarily halted the execution last month by issuing a legislative subpoena for Mr. Roberson to testify before a House committee.

Such a last-minute legislative intervention in a scheduled execution had never before been attempted in Texas, and it raised novel questions about the separation of powers among branches of state government.

The Texas Supreme Court, in its 31-page decision, found that the legislative committee’s subpoena to block the execution had gone beyond the powers of the legislature.

“We conclude 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,” Justice Evan Young wrote in a decision for the nine-member court, whose members are all Republicans.

A new execution date can now be set. But doing so will take at least three months, and the court said that during that time, the lawmakers can still call Mr. Roberson to testify, and that the executive branch would have to accommodate such a request.

The committee’s subpoena, issued on Oct. 16, the day before Mr. Roberson was scheduled to be executed, forced a delay in carrying out the sentence. But lawmakers were then unable to reach an agreement with state prison authorities over whether Mr. Roberson would be allowed to testify in person or would do so by video link from the prison, and the matter was left for the court to decide.

The court “made clear that it expects the executive branch of government to accommodate us” in getting Mr. Roberson’s testimony, Representatives Joe Moody, a Democrat, and Jeff Leach, a Republican, said in a joint statement. “That has been our position all along, and we look forward to working with the executive branch to do just that.”

The court’s decision did not address questions about Mr. Roberson’s conviction that have been raised by his lawyers. They have maintained his innocence and have argued that his daughter, Nikki, died from a combination of pneumonia and prescribed medications, not because of any physical abuse. His lawyers have presented expert witnesses to argue that prosecutors mistakenly attributed aspects of Nikki’s condition to shaken baby syndrome.

Mr. Roberson’s case has attracted national attention, including from the novelist John Grisham and the television host Dr. Phil. A detective who helped investigate and prosecute Mr. Roberson, in part because he seemed to display no emotion after his daughter’s death, has said he has since learned that Mr. Roberson had a diagnosis of autism, and that he now believes Mr. Roberson did not commit the crime.

The delay before the execution can be scheduled “hopefully gives time for those with power to address a grave wrong,” said Mr. Roberson’s lawyer, Gretchen Sween. “We ask the state of Texas to refrain from setting a new execution date.”

The execution had been delayed once before, in 2016. But after challenges to his conviction were heard, the state’s top criminal court, the Court of Criminal Appeals, allowed the execution to go forward.

The state’s Board of Pardons and Paroles did not recommend clemency in the case. And Gov. Greg Abbott, who has the power to grant a one-time 30 day reprieve, declined to intervene to halt the execution.