17 October 2024 :

October 17, 2024 - Texas. Travis County judge grants last-minute temporary restraining order 90 minutes before Robert Roberson’s scheduled execution
A Travis County judge granted a Texas House committee’s last-minute temporary restraining order request against the state ahead of Thursday’s scheduled execution of Robert Roberson just over 90 minutes before he is scheduled to be executed.
The state is appealing the decision, according to Amanda Hernandez, a spokesperson with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
It’s unclear whether this means the execution is halted. CNN is reaching out for more information.
The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to step in and halt the execution of Roberson, who claims he was wrongfully convicted of killing his 2-year-old daughter more than two decades ago.
The court did not explain its reasoning and there were no noted dissents, though Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote a lengthy statement about the case.
Texas on Thursday was scheduled to execute Roberson, who claims he was wrongfully convicted of abusing his 2-year-old daughter until she died.
But the status of the execution process is now unclear after an extraordinary decision by a Texas House committee Wednesday night to subpoena Roberson to testify as it reconsiders the lawfulness of his conviction.
“This extraordinary and unprecedented maneuver reflects how seriously Texas legislators have evaluated the concerns in Mr. Roberson’s case,” Robin Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, told CNN of the decision. “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.”
Members of the state House committee went before a Travis County judge shortly before 5 p.m. ET on Thursday to request a temporary restraining order against the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in another last-minute attempt to halt the execution, according to a staff member on the committee.
Former Texas Supreme Court Justice Dale Wainwright represented the committee before the judge.
Roberson arrived at the Huntsville Unit where the execution is set to take place on Thursday afternoon, the criminal justice department confirmed to CNN.
Jennifer Roberson, his sister-in-law, is in Huntsville and feels “angry, heart-broken and furious” over the scheduled execution and repeated rejections of Roberson’s appeals.
“This is an injustice and his blood is on Abbott and Anderson County,” she told CNN. Anderson County is where Roberson was convicted. “This is not a legal execution, this is murder.”
She said Roberson spent time with his wife, who he married in recent years, at the prison Thursday morning before being transported to the Huntsville Unit Thursday afternoon.
His wife, a longtime friend and supporter, and former detective Brian Wharton will be among the witnesses during Thursday night’s scheduled execution, according to Roberson’s sister-in-law.
Roberson met with his spiritual advisor on Thursday afternoon.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/10/17/us/robert-roberson-texas-execution-lawfulness/index.html