The Texas Supreme Court stops a man's execution in a shaken baby case after lawmakers filed a last-minute appeal

“He was shocked, to say the least,” said Texas Department of Corrections spokeswoman Amanda Hernandez, who spoke to Roberson after the court stayed his execution. “He praised God and thanked his supporters. And that’s pretty much what he had to say.”

She said Roberson will be returned to the Polunsky Unit, about 45 miles east, where the state's men's death row is located.

Roberson, 57, was convicted of murdering his daughter Nikki Curtis in the East Texas city of Palestine. His lawyers and some medical experts say his daughter died not from abuse but from complications related to pneumonia.

It's rare for the Texas Supreme Court – the state's highest civil court – to become involved in a criminal case.

But how the all-Republican court ultimately halted Roberson's execution in the final hours underscores the extraordinary maneuvering of a bipartisan coalition of House Democrats who have come to his defense.

After efforts by the courts and the Texas Parole Board to save Roberson's life were rejected, lawmakers on Wednesday tried a different approach: They issued a subpoena for Roberson to testify before a House committee next week, days later his planned death. Some of them admitted that the unusual plan to buy time had never been tried before.

They argued that executing Roberson before he could give subpoenaed testimony would violate the legislature's constitutional authority. Less than two hours before Roberson's execution, a judge in Austin sided with lawmakers and halted the execution, only to be reversed by an appeals panel. The Texas Supreme Court then agreed to his order, ending a night of uncertainty.

Roberson is scheduled to testify before the committee on Monday.

“This is an innocent man. And in this case there is too much doubt,” said Democratic Rep. John Bucy. “I agree that this is a unique decision today. We know this is not a done deal. He has a unique experience to share and we need to hear that testimony in committee on Monday.”

Gov. Greg Abbott had the authority to delay Roberson's punishment for 30 days. Abbott has stopped only one impending execution in nearly a decade as governor and has not commented publicly on the case.

Earlier Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to stop the execution, even though Justice Sonia Sotomayor urged Abbott to grant a 30-day stay in a 10-page statement on the case.

Roberson's lawyers had been waiting to see whether Abbott would grant Roberson the one-time reprieve. That would have been the only action Abbott could have taken in the case, since the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles rejected Roberson's request for clemency on Wednesday.

The board voted unanimously 6-0 not to commute Roberson's death sentence to life in prison or delay his execution. All board members are appointed by the governor. The parole board has recommended a pardon in a death row case only six times since the state resumed executions in 1982.

The only time Abbott stopped an impending execution was when he saved the life of Thomas Whitaker in 2018.

The House committee held a daylong meeting Wednesday on the Roberson case. Surprisingly, at the end of the hearing, the committee issued a subpoena for Roberson to testify next week.

During its meeting in Austin, the committee heard testimony about Roberson's case and whether a law created in 2013 that allows prison inmates to challenge their convictions based on new scientific evidence was ignored in Roberson's case.

Anderson County District Attorney Allyson Mitchell, whose office prosecuted Roberson, told the committee that a trial took place in 2022 where Roberson's lawyers presented their new evidence to a judge, who dismissed their claims.

“Based on the totality of the evidence, a murder has taken place here. Mr. Roberson took the life of his almost three-year-old daughter,” Mitchell said.

Most members of the House committee are part of a bipartisan group of more than 80 state lawmakers, including at least 30 Republicans, who had asked the parole board and Abbott to stop the execution.

Roberson's case has reignited the debate over shaken baby syndrome, known medically as abusive head trauma.

His lawyers, as well as Texas lawmakers, medical experts and others, including best-selling author John Grisham, say his conviction was based on flawed and now outdated scientific evidence. The diagnosis refers to a severe brain injury caused by a child's head being injured by shaking or other violent impact, such as being thrown against a wall or thrown onto the floor.

Roberson's supporters do not deny that head injuries and other injuries from child abuse are real. But they say doctors misdiagnosed Curtis' injuries as being related to shaken baby syndrome and that new evidence showed the girl died as a result of severe pneumonia.

Roberson's lawyers say his daughter fell out of bed at Roberson's home after being seriously ill for a week.

Roberson's lawyers also suggested that his autism, which had not been diagnosed at the time of his daughter's death, was used against him as authorities became suspicious of him because of his lack of emotion in the face of her death. Autism affects the way people communicate and interact with others.