Texas Supreme Court rules against lawmakers' subpoena to halt Roberson execution

AUSTIN, Texas (KLTV) - The Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday that a legislative subpoena cannot be used to stop an execution.

Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers issued a subpoena last month, calling death-row inmate Robert Roberson to appear in court at the Texas Capitol after what was supposed to be his execution date. Roberson was scheduled to die by lethal injection on Oct. 17.

The subpoena spurred a legal conundrum between the state's criminal and civil courts, which ultimately led to the Texas Supreme Court temporarily ruling in Roberson's favor.

Roberson, who was sentenced to death in 2003 for killing his 2-year-old daughter, has gained bipartisan support from lawmakers and medical experts who say he was convicted on faulty evidence of a "shaken baby" diagnosis. If executed, Roberson will be the first person in the United States to die under shaken baby syndrome.

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