Texas court grants stay of execution to father in 'shaken baby' case

The Texas supreme court has blocked the execution of a man on death row in a late-night ruling on the day of the scheduled lethal injection.

- Victoria Bekiempis, Sam Levin

Robert Roberson, 57, was convicted of killing his two-year-old daughter more than two decades ago, but his supporters across the US and the lead detective on the case have insisted he is innocent and that the case rested on junk science.

A committee of more than 80 Texas legislators, including at least 30 Republicans, had asked the parole board and governor to stop the execution and had subpoenaed Roberson to testify next week in a last-ditch effort. A judge in Travis County, Texas, blocked the execution late on Thursday afternoon, less than two hours before it was due to take place at the Texas state penitentiary in Huntsville, so that Roberson could testify.

The Texas court of criminal appeals overturned that ruling late on Thursday evening, but the legislators appealed, and the state supreme court sided with them, issuing an injunction at about 10pm. Roberson spent hours in a cell by the prison's death chamber during his appeal, and his execution seemed imminent.