Texas Supreme Court rules lawmakers cannot stop execution of death row inmate

By Darren Lyn

HOUSTON, United States (AA) - The Texas Supreme Court ruled on Friday that a legislative subpoena cannot be used to stop the execution of death row inmate Robert Roberson, according to news outlets.

Roberson, 57, was scheduled to die by lethal injection last month, but his execution was halted at the eleventh hour after state legislators issued a temporary subpoena to have him testify about his professed innocence at the state capitol days after his scheduled execution on Oct. 17.

The Supreme Court temporarily ruled in Roberson's favor to review the legalities of the subpoena, which postponed the execution.

Roberson was on death row for the 2003 killing of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki, after evidence was presented that she died of shaken baby syndrome at the hands of her father.

New medical evidence revealed that Nikki instead died of pneumonia-related causes, but the state parole board rejected Roberson's plea for clemency.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers then stepped in just hours before Roberson's lethal injection was to be carried out and filed the temporary subpoena which paused the execution.

Once Roberson's lethal injection is rescheduled and carried out, he will become the first person in the United States to be executed for a conviction of shaken baby syndrome.