This is the Cater Daily podcast for Wednesday, November 6, 2024. I'm Caleb Brown. In Texas, a man sits on death row over the death of his two-year-old daughter. The problem is that his conviction was tied to so-called shaken baby syndrome, an idea that has largely been discredited.

Republican State Representative Brian Harrison was among lawmakers who used a legislative subpoena to delay Robert Robertson's execution.

He says something has gone horribly wrong in this case and in the broader justice system.

We spoke earlier this week.

Let's start with some of the facts of this case, because

that's instructive, and we can broaden our discussion a little bit after that. Robert Robertson

was convicted of killing his two-year-old daughter in 2002, and we know that his conviction was tied very strongly to a diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome.

Now, the evidence regarding shaken baby syndrome since then has come to be viewed as less strong. In fact, significantly less strong than it was at the time.

He was to be put to death. And as of now, he's still on death row. He's still awaiting it. And that's where the Texas House of Representatives comes in.

That's right. And in particular, the committee that I serve on, the Texas House of Representatives Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence, if we hadn't started holding hearings on this case because we became so concerned

that our laws, or the laws, I would be real clear about this, it's the legislature that

writes laws in this country and in this state. And it's the legislature that needs to conduct

legislative oversight to determine how our laws are, or if our laws are being faithfully implemented

or not. And our committee became convinced that not only were our laws, and or if our laws are being faithfully implemented or not, and our committee became

convinced that not only were our laws, and in particular our junk science law, that it was not

not only not being followed, that it was perhaps being so egregiously violated by the courts

that it was likely going to result in the government taking the life of a potentially innocent

person. And so it was actually,

I was the one that actually made the motion to do something that's never been done in the history

of our country, which is to issue a subpoena to compel testimony for Mr. Roberson himself to come

and share his experience in the criminal justice system with our committee. We did that

hours before he was slated to be executed, which prompted a legal battle that is ongoing as we speak

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