How a Texas House of Representatives committee is challenging a planned execution

After hearing hours of testimony Wednesday that death row inmate Robert Roberson was convicted based on discredited science, the House Criminal Justice Committee forced the death row inmate to appear before the panel on Monday. The unanimous move sets up a confrontation between the state’s legislature and judiciary, as a judge has already ordered Roberson to be executed as scheduled Thursday evening.

More: A day after the execution, Texas rejects Robert Roberson’s plea for clemency in the shaken baby case

Roberson’s death sentence came in 2003 after he was convicted of murdering his 2-year-old daughter based solely on the theory of “shaken baby syndrome.” In the decades that followed, the syndrome was discredited by members of the medical and legal communities. The lead investigator in the case told the committee Wednesday that Roberson’s conviction was flawed and that he should be released from prison.