Palestine man on death row to virtually testify before Texas House

AUSTIN – Robert Roberson was served with an unprecedented subpoena to testify before the Texas House of Representatives on 12 p.m. Monday. According to our news partner KETK, the Texas Supreme Court stepped in Thursday night with an order to halt the planned execution of Roberson, a Palestine man, who was sentenced to death for the killing of his 2-year-old daughter Nikki Curtis in 2003. Due to the Texas Supreme Court’s intervention, Robertson will be able to comply with a subpoena issued on Wednesday by the Texas House of Representatives Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence.

A letter from the office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice will make Roberson available to testify virtually over Zoom due to safety concerns.

Gretchen Sween, an attorney for Roberson, issued a statement to the Quorum Report saying that Roberson’s autism would defeat the purpose of the hearing if he’s not allowed to participate in person.

“Requiring Robert to communicate over Zoom would unquestionably handicap him and thwart the whole point of the hearing… which is allowing the committee to hear from him, to see him, to ‘witness’ him and to assess his credibility,” said Sween. “He wants to come to the Texas Capitol to finally be heard in person even if he has to wear his shackles and chains to do so.”

The unprecedented summons from the bipartisan committee was made following a campaign pushing for mercy in Roberson’s case in light of new questions surrounding shaken baby syndrome science used to convict Roberson in the first place.

According to the Texas Capitol’s website, the hearing will start at 12 p.m. on Monday . To watch the hearing live, visit the Texas House of Representatives online.