Those of us passionate about putting justice back into the justice system watched the maneuvering around Robert Roberson’s execution. We saw the Texas Pardons and Parole Board and Paxton willing to kill an innocent man who was condemned based on junk science. Roberson’s death penalty was based on using the fully debunked “shaken baby syndrome” as the reason for Nikki Curtis’ death. Complicating the case at the time of Roberson’s arrest and trial was his flat affect, now known as a symptom of his autism and not his indifference to his daughter’s passing.
But even the prosecutor and detective who handled the case originally repudiated their belief that Roberson was a killer. So did a bipartisan group of Texas legislators and the Innocence Project. And so does a Texas law passed in 2013 designed to protect people from being convicted based on junk science. All of these clear-minded people called for the execution be halted. When the blood-thirsty and ignorant members of the Pardons and Parole Board and Paxton pushed for the execution, the lawmakers, in a unique move, subpoenaed Roberson to testify before the Texas House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee today, Monday October 21. Decency at the Texas Supreme Court showed itself when the justices backed the lawmakers’ request thereby halting the execution.
Fascist-in-chief Abbott remained silent until today, spewing his cowardly play as Monday morning quarterback in the form of an amicus brief filed by James P. Sullivan, the governor's general counsel. In it, Abbott argued the legislators usurped the governor’s constitutional power to issue a 30-day clemency for the state-sponsored murder. Using the inelegant language, Abbott’s lawyer claimed the lege “stepped out of line,” according to a report from the Texas Tribune. Of course, in this way, we don’t know what the psychopath fuhrer would have done; but, those of us watching Abbott and his rise to power would bet that the blood of an innocent on his hands would not bother this monster not one whit.Meanwhile, Paxton, the corrupt Texas attorney general, thwarted the House committee. “But Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is representing the state’s prison system, said Roberson would only testify via video,” according to the Texas Tribune, also reporting that the committee’s chairman found that restriction unacceptable due to Roberson’s autism. The legal wrangling will continue for some time and Roberson can’t, according to law, be faced with another death warrant for 90 days.
Following this case will be important. If the blood thirsty fascists on the Pardons and Parole Board and blood-lust Abbott and Paxton continue to push this ultimate punishment, Texans will know beyond a shadow of a doubt that their interest isn’t justice — it’s power. Any clear-mined people following Abbott over the years would agree that he is mentally ill. Not only does that make Abbott in particular a hypocrite to his Catholic so-called faith but it also makes him dangerous.
