Originally published at National Catholic Register
The Texas Supreme Court will allow the execution of a man convicted of the murder of his infant child, with the ruling coming after a legislative committee attempted last month to delay the capital sentence by subpoenaing the condemned man.
The Texas House of Representatives Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence last month had issued a subpoena for Robert Roberson to appear before the committee to testify regarding the state’s “junk science” law. Roberson was convicted in 2003 of the murder of his infant daughter, Nikki.
The Texas Supreme Court granted an emergency motion to halt his execution, which had originally been scheduled to take place Oct. 17. The latest state Supreme Court ruling does not concern Roberson’s innocence or guilt but rather the state Legislature’s power to delay executions.
The court ruled that the Legislature cannot delay Roberson’s execution in order to obtain his testimony.
“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,” Justice Evan A. Young wrote in the opinion.
“We do not repudiate legislative investigatory power, but any testimony relevant to a legislative task here could have been obtained long
