Legislature can't use subpoena to delay execution in shaken-baby case, Texas Supreme Court rules
Texas lawmakers can’t force courts to delay an execution by issuing a legislative subpoena for a death row inmate’s testimony after the scheduled execution date, the Texas Supreme Court has ruled. (Image from Shutterstock)
Texas lawmakers can’t force courts to delay an execution by issuing a legislative subpoena for a death row inmate’s testimony after the scheduled execution date, the Texas Supreme Court has ruled.
The state supreme court ruled Nov. 15 in the case of Robert Roberson after lawmakers with doubts about trial evidence issued the subpoena the day before the scheduled Oct. 17 execution.
The New York Times, Reuters, CNN, NBC News, the Texas Tribune and the Associated Press are among the publications with stories.
Roberson was convicted in 2003 for the shaken-baby death of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis. Prosecutors claimed that the toddler died from violent shaking. Roberson’s lawyers contend that the toddler died from undiagnosed pneumonia, according to CNN. The child also was taking medications that are now considered inappropriate for young children, the lawyers say, and the child had fallen from her bed.
Roberson could be the first person to be executed based on shaken-baby allegations, the articles report.
The Texas Supreme Court saw a separation-of-powers problem because the legislative subpoena “requires the other branches to yield in the face of a scheduled execution.”
A Texas House of Representatives committee issued the subpoena for testimony Oct. 21 and sued the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The lawsuit sought a declaration that Roberson could not be executed because of the subpoena. A trial judge entered a temporary restraining order preventing execution.
The committee sought the testimony while considering a 2013 law that allows sentences based on outdated science to be overturned. Some medical experts have raised questions about the shaken-baby diagnosis, according to the AP.
The Texas Supreme Court said it was addressing the separation-of-powers issue and not matters in the criminal case.
“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,” the Texas Supreme Court said.
The legislative committee “knew that Roberson was scheduled for that execution and could have availed itself of any number of past opportunities to obtain his testimony,” the state supreme court said. In addition, any number of people, including Roberson’s lawyers, would know the facts regarding public policy that were sought by lawmakers.
“The last-minute subpoena intruded on the duties of the judicial branch to adjudicate and impose penalties for offenses, as well as the duties of the executive branch to execute judicial sentences and determine the propriety of clemency,” the state supreme court said.
The Texas Supreme Court noted that the governor has the power to issue a reprieve delaying execution by 30 days. The opinion also said the state supreme court assumes that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice “can reasonably accommodate a new subpoena” for testimony before the execution.
“To the extent that an accommodation is not forthcoming, 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 witness’s testimony,” the state supreme court said.
See also:
Unsettling Science: Experts Are Still Debating Whether Shaken Baby Syndrome Exists
Shaken-baby murder conviction overturned after defendant offers evidence questioning diagnosis
