Texas lawmakers show bipartisan support to try to stop a man’s execution

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers petitioned Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and the state’s Board of Pardons and Paroles on Tuesday to stop the scheduled execution next month of a man convicted of killing his 2-year-old daughter in 2002, arguing the case was built on faulty scientific evidence.

The petition from 84 lawmakers from the 150-member Republican-controlled state House — as well as medical experts, death penalty attorneys, a former detective on the case, and bestselling novelist John Grisham — is a rare sign of widespread bipartisan support in Texas against a planned execution.

Robert Roberson is scheduled to die by lethal injection Oct. 17. Prosecutors said his daughter, Nikki Curtis, died from injuries caused by being violently shaken, also known as shaken baby syndrome.

“There is a strong majority, a bipartisan majority, of the Texas House that have serious doubts about Robert Roberson’s execution,” Rep. Joe Moody, a Democrat, said at a press conference at the state Capitol. “This is one of those issues that is life and death, and our political ideology doesn’t come into play here.”

Under Texas law, the governor can grant a one-time, 30-day reprieve from execution. Full clemency requires a recommendation from the majority of the Board of Pardons and Paroles, which the governor appoints.

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