Death penalty

In a dramatic turnaround, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Thursday ordered a halt to the execution of death row inmate Robert Roberson which was scheduled to take place in seven days.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has blocked the execution of Robert Roberson a week before it was scheduled to occur.

The Autism Society of Texas and the Autism Society of America have issued an open letter urging Texas officials to stop the scheduled October 16 execution of Robert Roberson, a man with autism who was sentenced to death in 2003 for the death of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki.

The Center for Integrity in Forensic Sciences is calling on Texas authorities to prevent what they say is the wrongful execution of Robert Roberson. Roberson is scheduled to die on October 16.

His attorneys have filed an emergency motion to stay the October 16 execution, arguing that the Court of Criminal Appeals must first resolve his innocence claims.

In Texas and many other states, lethal injection is used for executions. The new book Secrets of the Killing State by Corinna Barrett Lain pulls back the curtain of secrecy surrounding lethal injection. The author claims there is gross incompetence by woefully inept executioners and a state indifference to the fate of the condemned.

Victims and families of the people who died in the 2019 attack offered impact testimonies as trial ends. "I have no more room for hate in my heart," said Yvonne Gonzalez, who lost her parents.

The new year could be a year of increased use of the death penalty across the United States which contrasts with how 2024 was a year that saw big gains in the effort to reduce executions. On January 20, President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at reinstating and expanding the use of the federal death penalty.

Roberson was scheduled to be executed on Thursday but an unprecedented legal move, a subpoena from the Texas House, saved him from lethal injection. Legislators are investigating why the state’s junk science law has not been applied in Roberson’s case and others on death row.

Texas death row inmate Robert Roberson lost one of his final appeals on Friday. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals refused to stop his Oct. 17 execution.