The Texas House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence heard testimony on Monday October 21, 2024 from novelist John Grisham, talk show host “Dr. Phil” McGraw, but not its expected star witness, Robert Roberson, whose subpoenaed testimony resulted in a dramatic last-minute stay of execution on October 17th from the Texas Supreme Court. Legislators said they could not reach an agreement with the Office of the Texas Attorney General to facilitate Mr. Roberson’s in-person testimony, and Committee Chair Joe Moody indicated that legislators did not believe Mr. Roberson’s testimony via video link would be appropriate given the communications challenges related to his autism spectrum disorder.  Mr. Roberson’s lawyer Gretchen Sween sent a letter to the House Committee explaining why Mr. Roberson’s appearance by video would not be effective and cited “material misrepresentations about record facts” by the Office of the Attorney General. Chair Moody noted that negotiations were continuing with his expectation that a “quick resolution” would allow Mr. Roberson to testify.

At the hearing, legislators heard from a number of witnesses who recounted the facts of the case and the conclusions of many experts that no crime caused the death of Mr. Roberson’s young daughter, Nikki. Dr. Phil testified for more than two hours, noting his prior work as a clinical psychologist and describing his support for the death penalty in general before expressing his absolute belief in Mr. Roberson’s innocence.  

Novelist John Grisham testified by video. Mr. Grisham noted his experience as a former criminal trial lawyer and a current board member at the New York-based Innocence Project. He described Mr. Roberson’s trial as “grossly unfair” and testified that the “junk science was terrible. We know it’s bad science.”

Both Mr. Grisham and Dr. Phil noted the prejudicial effect of having the jury hear about allegations of sexual abuse – allegations made by just one hospital staff member and never proven. Mr. Grisham said he believes Mr. Roberson should receive a new trial, “with as many lawyers as the prosecution, and as many experts as the prosecution” so he will have a fair proceeding. Mr. Grisham also described why “junk science is a huge factor” that causes wrongful convictions, and noted the many exonerations that have occurred after forensic science was revealed to be unreliable. 

Terre Compton, one of the jurors at Mr. Roberson’s trial, testified that the “only thing” jurors were told by prosecutors was that Nikki’s death was caused by “shaken baby syndrome”(SBS) – in contrast to recent statements from a Texas Attorney General pleading stating that “SBS just doesn’t play a role in this case.” Ms. Compton expressed being “very pissed off” at how officials now describe what happened at the trial; she added that she would have never voted to convict Mr. Roberson if any other explanation for Nikki’s death had been provided. Former Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Elsa Alcala, who has been critical of how Texas’ “junk science” law has been used, also testified at Monday’s hearing and offered suggestions about ways that the law could be changed. 

Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton objected to the hearing, arguing that House members overstepped their authority in calling it, and by subpoenaing Roberson to testify. 

The hearing continued for close to 9 hours, with additional testimony from Mr. Roberson’s longtime counsel, Gretchen Sween, attorney Donald Salzman, and autism expert Natalie Montfort. 

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Elizabeth Wolfe et al, CNN, How a stun­ning 11th-hour race to save a Texas death row inmate from exe­cu­tion in ​‘shak­en baby’ case unfold­ed, Oct. 18, 2024; Kayla Gua et al, Death row inmate Robert Roberson sched­uled to tes­ti­fy in unprece­dent­ed leg­isla­tive hear­ing, Oct. 21, 2024.

Pictured: Representative Jeff Leach asks a ques­tion dur­ing the hearing.