A Texas House panel's novel bid to block an execution may have little or no chance for success in the absence of intervention from Governor Greg Abbott or the U.S. Supreme Court despite the fact that the inmate
who's set to die tonight appears to be innocent based on the discrediting of evidence in the case.
A pair of House Republicans - State Reps. Jeff Leach of Allen and Brian Harrison of Midlothian - are the masterminds behind an unprecedented scheme to derail the state's scheduled killing of Robert Roberson with a committee's attempt to question him as part of a probe to determine whether justice is being served or perverted.
Harrison made a motion to subpoena Roberson to appear before the Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence Committee on Monday for the sake of providing testimony in the case. The committee that Leach leads as the chairman voted unanimously to approve on Wednesday. The panel contains five Republicans and four Democrats.
The document states that the investigation will focus on "criminal procedure related to capital punishment and new science writs"
in Roberson's case. A small-time crook who'd served time in the past for was found guilty of capital murder for the death of a two-year-old daughter whose death was blamed on head injuries caused by severe abuse that was known as shaken baby syndrome.
Roberson's was convicted in Anderson County in 2003 - and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied his appeal four years later. The U.S. 5th Court of Appeals rejected subsequent two subsequent Roberson appeals in 2015. Roberson's fate appeared to be sealed on Wednesday when the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles refused to recommend that the sentence be reversed or the execution delayed.
Abbott could issue a 30-day reprieve but does not have the authority to pardon Roberson without a formal request from the BPP that's appointed by the governor. Abbott has given no indication that he will step in to halt the execution when Roberson is set to die by lethal injection.
Abbott could halt the execution tonight for the sake of ensuring that justice is being done and an innocent man won't be put to death by the state for a crime he did not commit. But Abbott might fear that conservatives would see such a move as a sign of weakness for a governor who's sought to present an image of himself in recent years as a hardline Donald Trump loyalist on the far right.
Abbott may be no more inclined to intervene despite the fact that GOP megadonor Doug Deason has been pushing for clemency for Roberson or an execution reprieve. Deason's father has contributed more than $1.2 million to Abbott in the past decade. Doug Deason - a major player at the Texas Public Policy Foundation - has given the governor $110,000 in that time frame including $50,000 in the past 16 months.
Roberson advocates are holding out hope for help from the governor nonetheless today.
“This extraordinary and unprecedented maneuver reflects how seriously Texas legislators have evaluated the concerns in Mr. Roberson’s case,” Robin Maher, the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said in an interview with CNN. “They are also sending an urgent, public message to Governor (Greg) Abbott that they, like so many others, do not believe Mr. Roberson should be executed.”
