Robert Roberson: Texas House committee hears testimony in death row inmate's case

AUSTIN, Texas - Death row inmate Robert Roberson was a no show at a hearing on Monday. Roberson was subpoenaed by the House Jurisprudence Committee as a way to stop his execution that was set for last week.

Members of the House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence emerged from a Capitol Extension meeting room Monday afternoon with one notable person missing. Appearing before the committee in person, the attorney general's office argued, was a security risk. That argument was dismissed by committee chairman Joe Moody.

"If the committee wanted to take a heavy-handed approach, there are dramatic ways that we could enforce that subpoena. But we didn't issue the subpoena to create a constitutional crisis. And we aren't interested in escalating a division between branches of government," said Joe Moody, Democrat from El Paso.

A legal briefing to the state Supreme Court was filed over the weekend by the governor's office. It claimed the house committee had exceeded its constitutional authority by stopping Roberson’s execution with a civil subpoena, and the governor only has the power to grant clemency.

As the hearing got underway in a hallway, a prayer was said by a group of seminary students opposed to the death penalty.

"Well, we believe that the spirit moves everywhere. And what we're really hoping is that the Holy Spirit can move the hearts of our government in the way that it moves the hearts of the legislators who called this hearing to hear the truth," said Sascha Anderson, who led the hallway prayer.

Robert Roberson was sentenced to death after being convicted for the murder of his young daughter Nikki. Defense attorneys say the shaken baby conviction was based on flawed and outdated science. About 10 years ago, state lawmakers passed a law requiring appeals courts to address that argument. 

On Monday, State Rep. Drew Darby voiced concern that the law he helped pass is not being followed properly.

"And so, it's up to this legislative committee to look at the tenets of what's going on here. Has the court of appeals taken a position that is inconsistent with the statutory language that we have set out for them to follow? Are they ignoring that and saying, well, yes, it's changed, but it does not determine who, the guilt or innocence. That's a level beyond which I originally envisioned in 2013 and 2015," said Darby (R) San Angelo.

Plano Republican Jeff Leach said the hearing was not a partisan fight, or about constitutional powers. Leach said it’s about justice.

"Today, this hearing, the purpose of this hearing, our purpose for coming together and issuing a subpoena to Mr. Roberson and to convene last week and today and in what is likely a subsequent hearing is to ask questions and to find the truth. To figure out where the system went wrong, where it failed Nicky, where it failed. Mr. Robertson. And to try to fix it, not only in his case, but to make sure that it never happens again," said Leach. 

MORE STORIES:

• Robert Roberson set to testify before Texas House committee after execution was halted
• Robert Roberson: Texas Supreme Court delays death row inmate's execution
• Texas Supreme Court halts Robert Roberson's execution in 'shaken baby syndrome' case

The committee heard testimony from two notable celebrities: Dr. Phil McGraw and crime author John Grissom. 

Dr. Phil did a prison interview with Roberson a few years ago and noted how Roberson struggled with Autism. Dr. Phil also told the committee," you can't convict someone on something that’s been debunked by the medical community."  

"I don't think a crime was committed. I think this was a case where, tragically, the child was chronically and acutely ill. I think there were some problems with medication, and I think that contributed, but certainly don't think that this child was aggressed against," said Dr. Phil.

Grissom, who is a lawyer, told the committee how one of his books, "The Innocent Man," and the Oklahoma case, that influenced the book, led to his belief now that there are a lot of innocent people in prison. A friend asked Grissom to look at Roberson’s case, which had him declare the trial was "grossly unfair." 

"As a lawyer it always bothers me when I study cases like this, and I realize how unfair the trial was because I have been in that courtroom many times and I know what it takes to have a fair trial," said Grisham.

But the most powerful testimony this afternoon came from Terry Compton, a former juror in Roberson’s trial in 2003. Compton told the committee, if they had the new information that’s now available about shaken baby deaths during the trial, there would have been a different outcome. 

"Everything that was presented to us was all about shaken baby syndrome, that is what our decision was based on, nothing else was ever mentioned or presented to us to consider. If it had been told to us, I would have had a different opinion and I would have found him not guilty," said Compton.

Compton testified in front of state representatives about her change of heart, stating she was not aware of the 2-year-old's medical history prior to her death.

"There was no other explanation that was given to us of anything else that could have happened to her. The prosecution even got a teddy bear or baby doll and got it up and shook it to demonstrate to us what shaken baby syndrome was," said Compton.

According to Compton, jurors were told the child was sick. Roberson took her to the pediatrician where she was given medicine. Days later, she was taken to the emergency room with a high fever.

"They had given her some Finegan with cough syrup in it, codeine. And he had taken her back home again and then the next thing we were told was when she had rolled off the bed, she, I guess, was OK, and he put her back in bed with him and when he woke up again she was unresponsive and that is when he took her to the emergency room," says Compton.

"Do you have any recollection of multiple impact sites where Nikki had been beaten on multiple parts of her head?" asked State Representative Brian Harrison.

"No sir, the only thing that maybe had been mentioned was she might have had a small bruise from where she fell out of bed," Compton answered.

It remains unclear when and if a new execution date for Roberson will be set.