Robert Roberson with daughter Nikki. Courtesy of the Roberson family.
In a November 15, 2024, ruling, the Texas Supreme Court cleared the way for the state to reschedule the execution of Robert Roberson, despite compelling evidence of his innocence and widespread support for a new trial. Mr. Roberson was scheduled to be executed October 17, but on October 16 the Texas House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence issued a subpoena for Mr. Roberson to testify on a day after his execution was to occur. A district court temporarily halted the execution so that Mr. Roberson could testify, and the state appealed.
In its opinion, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that the legislative committee’s subpoena overstepped its power. Justice Evan Young wrote that the Court “concluded 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.” The Court added that “categorically prioritizing a legislative subpoena over a scheduled execution…would become a potent legal tool that could be wielded not just to obtain necessary testimony but to forestall an execution.”
A new execution date may be set for Mr. Roberson no sooner than 90 days after the first execution warrant expired (October 17, 2024). Lawmakers are still attempting to call Mr. Roberson to testify in person before the committee, an effort the Court said should be possible. “If the committee still wishes to obtain [Mr. Roberson’s] testimony, we assume that the department can reasonably accommodate a new subpoena,” wrote Justice Young. The Court added that “so long as a subpoena issues in a way that does not inevitably block a scheduled execution, nothing in our holding prevents the committee from pursuing judicial relief in the ordinary way to compel a witnesses’ testimony.” In a joint statement released after the Court’s decision, Committee Chairman Moody and member Jeff Leach said that “the Supreme Court strongly reinforced our belief that our Committee can indeed obtain Mr. Roberson’s testimony and made clear that it expects the Executive Branch of government to accommodate us in doing so.” The legislators added that they “look forward to working with the Executive Branch to do just that.”
The Texas Supreme Court did not address the question of Mr. Roberson’s innocence in its decision. Gretchen Sween, Mr. Roberson’s attorney, urged the state to refrain from setting a new execution date because of “the overwhelming new evidence of innocence” that has emerged since his trial. Mr. Roberson has maintained his innocence in the 2002 death of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki.
Following new developments in scientific understanding, medical experts have now determined that Nikki died not from abuse but from a combination of pneumonia, an accidental fall, and inappropriate medications. No court has considered the full breadth of the new evidence at hand.
J. David Goodman, Texas Supreme Court Paves Way for Execution in ‘Shaken Baby’ Case, The New York Times, November 15, 2024; Ashley Killough, Ed Lavandera, and Dakin Andone, Texas Supreme Court clears way for new execution date for Robert Roberson in 2‑year-old daughter’s death, CNN, November 15, 2024.
