Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton gave Governor Greg Abbott his first major ally in a fight over Robert Roberson's pending execution when he argued on Wednesday night that a bipartisan group of state lawmakers had created a constitutional crisis with fictitious claims designed to save the death row inmate.
Paxton issued an extensive statement on social media complete with several documents that he says show that Roberson had a history of child abuse and killed his 2-year-old daughter by shaking her violently before she died. Paxton included the autopsy report, an analysis by the Dallas County Medical Examiner's office and a chart that purports to demonstrate how the inmate changed his story on the child's tragic demise over time.
"Now, a coalition of activists and State legislators is interfering with the justice system in an unprecedented way in an attempt to stall or prevent Roberson’s execution," the AG's office contended. "They have attempted to mislead the public by falsely claiming that Roberson was unfairly convicted through “junk science” concerning "shaken baby syndrome."
GOP State Rep. Cody Harris of Palestine endorsed Paxton's position in a Facebook post on Thursday. Harris became the first state lawmaker to speak against the push to save Robertson.
"This innocent, precious baby had her life stolen by a monster who should have protected her," Harris contended. "Evidence showed that he beat and violated her, leaving her helpless as her body gave way to his repeated abuse. Yet shockingly, some people have wrapped their arms around this convicted child murderer."
An attorney for Roberson expressed shock at Paxton's belated intervention almost a week after the Texas Supreme Court granted a reprieve based on massive amount of doubt that his supporters inside and outside the state House raised about the fairness of his capital murder trial in 2003.
"Tonight, a profoundly disturbing thing happened: The chief law enforcement office of the State of Texas, the OAG, issued a stunningly misleading statement designed to quash a bipartisan group of lawmakers in their truth-seeking mission, which has riveted the world," Roberson lawyer Gretchen Sween told the Dallas Morning News last night.
Paxton had appeared to be supportive of the governor when he endorsed a state prison system decision to prevent Roberson from attending a legislative committee hearing on his case on Monday in Austin. The Criminal Jurisprudence Committee had subpoenaed him to testify in move that set the framework for the eventual stay.
Abbott's office asserted that the House panel overstepped its legal bounds with the novel maneuvering that interfered directly with the authority that the governor has as the leader of the executive branch of state government here. But Abbott ignored the pivotal question of guilt or potential innocence and he's remained mum on his own primary social media page about the alleged crime itself.
Paxton said he felt compelled to rebut "lies" that he claimed State Reps. Jeff Leach and Joe Moody have spread about the Roberson case. Leach is an Allen Republican who serves on the committee that's seeking as a group to keep the inmate alive. An El Paso Democrat, Moody chairs the Criminal Jurisprudence Committee.
But the AG declined to point out that all five Republicans on the Moody panel have been vigorous defenders of the historic actions that it's taken up to now in the case. Two of the representatives on the committee - State Reps. Brian Harrison of Midlothian and Nate Schatzline of Fort Worth - were among 23 House Republicans who voted against Paxton's impeachment near the end of the regular session in 2023. Two others - GOP State Reps. David Cook of Mansfield and Drew Darby of San Angelo - voted to impeach the AG. Leach was a major player in the impeachment push as a member of the group of House members who served on the board of managers that hired outside lawyers to prosecute the case.
Abbott has threatened to punish the Republican lawmakers and judges who've defied him so far on the Roberson case. The governor would be eating substantial crow if he follows through with the threat in light of the fact that he'd campaigned for Leach in a primary fight this year with a conservative challenger who Paxton recruited in the impeachment's aftermath.
Paxton identified Moody and Leach without calling out his allies on the House panel by name. "A few legislators have grossly interfered with the justice system by disregarding the separation of powers outlined in the State Constitution," the AG's office contended. "They have created a Constitutional crisis on behalf of a man who beat his two-year-old daughter to death."
