HUNTSVILLE, TX – Unless the U.S. Supreme Court or Governor Greg Abbott intervene, tonight at 6 p.m., Robert Roberson will be put to death by lethal injection inside the execution chamber at the Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville.
Roberson would be the first person in the country executed over shaken baby syndrome. A group of Republican lawmakers and the lead detective who investigated his case say he’s innocent and was convicted on faulty scientific evidence. Roberson has long proclaimed his innocence. The district attorney whose office prosecuted the case says she has no doubt Roberson killed his daughter.
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A Texas House committee is also trying to delay the 57-year-old’s execution by taking the extraordinary step of issuing a subpoena for Roberson to testify at a hearing next week about his case.
For Texas inmates on Death Row, there’s a protocol for the day of scheduled execution.
Here’s how it plays out, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice:
BELONGINGS: In the morning, all the inmate’s personal belongings get inventoried and packed along with a form that spells out who should receive them or what should happen to them.
MONEY: The Death Row inmate designates where they’d like their money to go. Funds are kept in the state’s Trust Fund for prisoners. They fill out an Inmate Request for Withdrawal and on the back of that form, prison staff have to either write or type: “In the event of my execution, please distribute the balance of my Inmate Trust Fund account as directed by this Request for Withdrawal.” Two prison staffers have to sign the form as witnesses and get it to the Commissary and Trust Fund Department for processing by 10 a.m.
VISITATION: On the morning of their scheduled execution, inmates can visit with people who are on the inmate’s approved visitation list. Specific people who are not on that list—attorneys, spiritual advisors—can be approved by the Warden and allowed in for “Special Visits.” No media visits are allowed.
TRANSPORT: When appropriate, male inmates will be escorted to a holding cell at the Polunsky Unit in Livingston, TX. The Execution Transport Log for Male Inmates gets initiated, and the inmate is prepared for transport to the Huntsville Unit. Female Death Row inmates get taken to the Goree Unit before their scheduled execution date. They can see visitors there before they’re taken to the Huntsville Unit. Only the Wardens, Criminal Institutions Division (CID) Director, and people they designate are privy to any transportation arrangements between units.
ARRIVE AT HUNTSVILLE: When Death Row inmates arrive at Huntsville, they’re put into the execution holding area. Their restraints are removed and they get fingerprinted, strip-searched and placed in a holding cell with a clean set of prison clothing.
FINAL VISITS: No family or media visits are allowed once an inmate gets to the Huntsville Unit. They are allowed to see the prison chaplain between, their approved spiritual advisor between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. and their attorney between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m.—all visits need the Warden’s approval.
LAST MEAL: This is served at 5 p.m.
FINAL HOUR: If they want, the inmate can shower and change into new prison garments before 6 p.m.
6:00 PM: The CID Director confirms with the Office of the Attorney General and the Governor’s Office that there are no further stays of execution.
If there is a stay, that order will be followed.
If there is no stay of execution, the CID Director gives the order for the inmate to be escorted from the holding cell into the execution chamber and strapped onto the gurney.
A person who is medically trained finds a suitable vein on the inmate’s arm and preps it for an IV line. If they can’t find a good vein in the inmate’s arm, they have to find a suitable vein in another part of their body. Once the saline IV is hooked up and flowing. They also start a second IV line in case something goes wrong with the primary line. Once those saline lines are running, two things happen:
- If the inmate made the request ahead of time, the prison chaplain or the inmate’s spiritual advisor will be escorted into the execution chamber.
- Witnesses to the execution are escorted into the appropriate rooms.
If anyone—spiritual advisor or witnesses—behaves in a way the CID Director perceives as disruptive, they will be removed immediately.
The CID Director or someone they designate gives the order for the execution to begin.
The inmate gets a chance to make a brief, final statement.
The Huntsville Warden gives the go-ahead to the drug team.
The saline drip is stopped and a lethal dose of Pentobarbital is injected.
When the entire contents of the string have been injected, the IV line is flushed with an injection of normal saline solution.
The CID Director and Huntsville Unit Warden watch the procedure and watch the inmate to make sure the injection worked.
If the inmate shows any visible signs of life after “sufficient time for death to have occurred,” the CID Director orders the medical team to administer another five grams of Pentobarbital. They wait again for a “sufficient time” and then send in a doctor to examine the inmate and pronounce them dead with the official time of death.
The spiritual advisor is escorted from the execution chamber and witnesses are led out of their rooms.
The inmate’s body is taken right away from the execution chamber to a funeral home.
Stays of Execution
Three people must be officially notified of a stay of execution: The CID Director, the Death Row Unit Warden and the Huntsville Unit Warden. No one can accept a stay of execution from the inmate’s attorney. Once that official notification has been made the inmate gets notified.
