AUSTIN, Texas (KLTV) – As Texas lawmakers grapple with the controversial execution of Robert Roberson, representatives in East Texas have taken sides against the defendant.

Roberson, 57, has been awaiting further developments in his case since his execution was stayed last week. Roberson has been on death row since 2003 after being convicted of manslaughter in the 2002 death of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis. During the trial, prosecutors alleged that Roberson shook and beat Curtis, causing injuries that led to her death. However, the defendant’s lawyers strongly believe in his innocence.

Those supporters, including dozens of bipartisan Texas lawmakers, best-selling author and attorney John Grisham and TV’s Dr. Phil, say Curtis was seriously ill before her death, suffering from pneumonia that led to septic shock. They believe no crime was committed. 11th-hour efforts to exonerate Roberson, including a subpoena from a district judge, resulted in a stay of execution at the Texas Supreme Court just hours before his term was to expire at 11: 59 pm on October 17; a movement promoted by Governor Greg Abbott to have been a violation of the state constitution’s separation of powers clause, saying the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee “went out of bounds.”

On Wednesday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued a statement in support of Roberson’s original conviction and condemning the efforts of Roberson’s attorneys. The letter includes graphic details from Curtis’ autopsy reportwitness statements in the capital murder trial and claims by a cellmate of Roberson’s that Roberson sexually abused Curtis. On Thursday, eight Republican representatives, including two from East Texas, signed a letter supporting Paxton and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

The letter, including the signatures of Cody Harris (R-Palestine) and Cole Hefner (R-Mt. Pleasant), joins Paxton and Abbott in condemning the jurisprudence committee’s actions as an attempt to “usurp the governor’s clemency power.” It said last week’s proceedings were “messy” and “one-sided”, claiming the two-day hearing before the committee overlooked “substantial evidence of Roberson’s guilt”. Read the full statement below:

In direct contrast to these views, a caucus from the jurisprudence committee they released a statement of their own on Thursday to rebut Paxton’s statement on Wednesday.

The letter, signed by House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee members Joe Moody (Chair), Jeff Leach (Chair), Rhetta Bowers (Vice Chair) and Lacey Hull (Vice Chair), says Paxton’s statement is “misleading and largely simply untrue”. According to the letter, Paxton’s statement suffers from a lack of attribution and does not acknowledge new evidence discovered since the 2003 trial.

One of the most controversial points in Roberson’s appeal proceedings was that of “shaken baby syndrome,” a condition that lawyers call “junk science” and the claim has been disproved by modern medicine. Paxton, Abbott and others, who oppose Roberson’s leniency, argue that it was not a “shaken child conviction” and deny that the case rests on that diagnosis. The committee’s letter disagrees:

“The defense and prosecution focused almost exclusively on shaken baby syndrome, from jury selection to evidence to arguments at all stages of the trial. It did not become the “shaken baby case” until during the § 11.073 proceedings, when it became clear that the science no longer supported shaken baby syndrome as understood in Nikki’s trial.”

Roberson’s defense also issued a statement in response to Paxton earlier this week, citing sources including former lead detective Brian Wharton defending their actions.

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