How it’s working out for Texas death row inmates

HUNTSVILLE, TX – Unless the U.S. Supreme Court or Governor Greg Abbott intervenes, Robert Roberson will be put to death by lethal injection in the execution chamber of the Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville tonight at 6 p.m.

Roberson is believed to be the first person in the country to be executed for shaken baby syndrome. A group of Republican lawmakers and the lead detective who investigated his case say he is innocent and was convicted based on flawed 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.

A Texas House committee is also seeking to delay the 57-year-old’s execution by taking the extraordinary step of issuing a subpoena for Roberson to testify at a hearing on his case next week.

For Texas inmates on death row, there is a protocol for the day of the scheduled execution.

Here’s how it plays, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice:

POSSESSIONS: In the morning, all of the inmate’s personal belongings are inventoried and packed, along with a form indicating who should receive them or what should be done with them.

MONEY: The inmate on death row indicates where he or she wants to go with his money. The money is held in the state’s inmate trust fund. They fill out a Request for Inmate Withdrawal and on the back of that form, prison staff must write or type the following: “In the event of my execution, please distribute the balance of my Prisoner Trust Fund account as directed in this request to withdrawal. .” Two prison staff must sign the form as witnesses and send it to the Commissioner and Trust Fund Department for processing by 10am.

VISITATION: On the morning of their scheduled execution, inmates can visit with people on the inmate’s approved visiting list. Specific people not on that list – lawyers, spiritual advisors – may be approved by the director and admitted for “special visits.” No media visits are allowed.

TRANSPORT: If necessary, male inmates will be escorted to a cell in the Polunsky Unit in Livingston, Texas. The execution transport log for male inmates is initiated and the inmate is prepared for transport to the Huntsville Unit. Female death row inmates are brought to the Goree Unit before their scheduled execution date. They can receive visitors there before being taken to the Huntsville unit. Only the guards, the Director of the Criminal Institutions Division (CID) and the people they appoint are aware of any transport arrangements between units.

ARRIVAL IN HUNTSVILLE: When death row inmates arrive in Huntsville, they are taken to the execution chamber. Their shackles are removed and they are fingerprinted, searched and placed in a cell with clean prison clothes.

LAST VISITS: No family or media visits are allowed once an inmate reaches the Huntsville unit. They may see the prison chaplain between 3:00 PM and 5:00 PM, their approved spiritual advisor between 3:00 PM and 5:00 PM, and their attorney between 3:00 PM and 4:00 PM; permission from the director is required for all visits.

LAST MEAL: This is served at 5pm

LAST HOUR: If they wish, the inmate can shower and change into new prison clothes before 6 p.m

6:00 PM: The CID Director confirms with the Attorney General’s Office and the Governor’s Office that there is no further stay of execution.

If there is a residence permit, that order will be followed.

If there is no stay of execution, the CID director orders the prisoner to be escorted from the cell to the execution chamber and strapped to the stretcher.

A medically trained person finds a suitable vein on the inmate’s arm and prepares it for an IV line. If they cannot find a good vein in the inmate’s arm, they must look for a suitable vein in another part of their body. Once the saline IV is connected and flowing. They also start a second IV line in case something goes wrong with the primary line. Once those saltwater pipes are up and running, two things happen:

1. If the prisoner has submitted the request in advance, the prison chaplain or spiritual advisor will be escorted to the execution chamber.

2. Witnesses to the execution are escorted to the appropriate rooms.

If anyone – spiritual advisor or witnesses – behaves in a way that the CID director considers disruptive, they will be removed immediately.

The CID director or someone they designate orders the execution to begin.

The prisoner is given the opportunity to make a brief, closing statement.

The Huntsville Warden gives the green light to the drug squad.

The saline infusion 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.

The CID Director and the Huntsville Unit Warden monitor the procedure and watch the inmate to make sure the injection is working.

If the prisoner shows any visible signs of life after there has been ‘sufficient time for death to occur’, the CID director orders the medical team to administer another five grams of Pentobarbital. They wait again for “sufficient time” and then send a doctor to examine the prisoner and declare him dead with the official time of death.

The spiritual advisor is escorted from the execution chamber and witnesses are led from their rooms.

The prisoner’s body is immediately taken from the execution chamber to a funeral home.

Stay of execution

There must be three people officially notified of 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 prisoner’s lawyer. Once the official notice is given, the inmate will be notified.