The motion escalates a tense standoff between Paxton and a bipartisan Texas House committee, which had subpoenaed Roberson to testify at the Capitol on Friday.
, The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.filed a motion Thursday night to block death row inmate Robert Roberson from testifying at the Capitol on Friday in the latest escalation of a political battle between the executive branch and a Texas House committee over Roberson’s case.
In his motion, Paxton argued that the committee’s subpoena was “procedurally deficient and overly burdensome,” making it necessary for a court to protect the Texas Department of Criminal Justice from complying with the subpoena’s demand that the agency transport Roberson to Austin. Paxton argued that Roberson’s circumstances posed a uniquely disproportionate challenge for law enforcement, noting that his case has become “highly publicized.”
Lawmakers have said they believe the courts are not properly applying the state’s groundbreaking junk science law, which Roberson has tried unsuccessfully to use to overturn his conviction. Members of the committee said they wanted to hear directly from Roberson, who is autistic, about his efforts to seek justice under the law to interrogate its potential deficiencies.
When Roberson's execution was delayed in October, she said, TDCJ officials had “made it clear to me personally that it would be no trouble at all to bring Robert to the Capitol. Then the OAG intervened.”
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