By NADIA LATHAN, Associated Press/Report for America

The Texas Supreme Court on Friday ruled that legislative subpoenas cannot be used to stop executions after Republican and Democratic lawmakers used the new maneuver. To stop Robert Roberson’s lethal injection at the last minute.

The resolution addressed a subpoena issued for Roberson last month by the Texas House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee, seen as a way to delay his execution.

But Republican Justice Evan Young, who issued the court’s opinion, wrote that the high court held that “under these circumstances, the committee’s authority to compel testimony does not include the authority to override due process that would lead to the scheduled execution.”

Roberson was scheduled to die by lethal injection on October 17, when lawmakers, as a last resort, issued a subpoena for him to testify at the Texas Capitol, just days after his planned execution.

A new execution date for Roberson has not been set, but progress is certain unless Gov. Greg Abbott grants a 30-day reprieve.

This triggered a legal dilemma between the state’s criminal and civil courts, ultimately leading to the Texas Supreme Court temporarily ruling in Roberson’s favor.

Roberson was sentenced to death in 2003 for the murder of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis. He won bipartisan support from lawmakers and medical experts who said he was convicted on faulty evidence related to “shaken baby syndrome,” which is serious brain damage that occurs when a child’s head is injured by a violent impact, such as being shaken or bumped. It is thrown against the wall or the ground.

Roberson will be the first person executed in the United States for killing a child in this way.

Rep. Joe Moody, who is leading efforts to stop Roberson’s execution, said it was “never our specific intent” to delay the execution by subpoena, adding that the court “rightly agreed” that the subpoena and lawsuit were valid.

Moody insisted that Roberson could still be called to testify because the court decision “strengthens our belief that the Committee can actually take Mr. Roberson’s deposition and makes clear that he expects the executive branch of government to provide us with convenience in doing so.”