A member of the Texas House tried to convince the judge in the Robert Roberson case

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals accused state Rep. Jeff Leach of privately trying to get a state Supreme Court judge to reconsider their vote in an earlier ruling and grant death row inmate Robert Roberson a new trial, a “clear violation’ of the law. according to the state Code of Ethics for Lawyers The court wrote this on Friday that Leach confirmed on Monday.

Leach, a Plano Republican who is a lawyer, texted a Court of Criminal Appeals judge: “One judge. That’s all it takes to simply say… there are too many questions and too many holes and too much uncertainty… and Robert Roberson deserves a new trial,” the court letter said.

The court’s general counsel did not name the judge who allegedly received the text messages in the letter he sent to Roberson’s attorney and the Anderson County district attorney about the exchange, but he stated that Leach was the text messages “supposedly”. Leach confirmed in a public statement Monday that he had sent the text messages and identified Judge Michelle Slaughter as the recipient.

Leach’s text messages reference statements by former Criminal Court Judge Elsa Alcala, who testified before the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee on Oct. 21 that if a judge who voted against Roberson’s appeal changes his mind afterward, the case can come live. again.

“Judge Alcala informed the committee that the CCA can do that so spontaneous (voluntarily) do so,” granting a new trial, Leach wrote in a text. “And that’s my hope and prayer.”

Roberson, 57, was convicted in 2003 of murdering his two-year-old daughter Nikki, after a trial that focused heavily on shaken baby syndrome. However, new evidence not presented at the original trial has led numerous leading supporters and experts to say he is innocent.

The House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee and Roberson’s attorney Gretchen Sween now argue that Nikki’s death was not caused by shaken baby syndrome, as prosecutors initially maintained, but by pneumonia and sepsis that Nikki had weeks before her death, as well as dangerous levels of coughing. medications that were in her body when she died. Skeptics of this claim have highlighted that a 2018 evidentiary hearing ended with Roberson’s conviction being affirmed.

According to the letter, Leach sent the texts Thursday, with the lawmaker alluding to his relationship with Slaughter and saying, “I’m sending this message to you alone. And you alone. As my friend and as a great judge in whom I have so much confidence I hope you’ll consider doing that.”

Leach, who according to the court transcript of the text messages appeared to be struggling with whether to contact Slaughter, believed he could write to the judge without difficulty because the court had made final decisions in all three appeals against Roberson. He prefaced his request for Slaughter’s reconsideration by writing: “Because I am not a party to active litigation before the CCA, nor am I an attorney representing any active party, and because I have made public comments, I am simply compelled to send you this message.”

However, Sian Schilhab, the ICC’s general counsel, wrote in his letter to lawyers in the case that Leach’s messages constitute a “clear violation” of the law. Texas Disciplinary Rule of Professional Conduct 3.05. The rule prohibits attorneys from communicating privately in an attempt to influence judges on a “pending matter” in court, which includes not only active lawsuits but also matters that one can reasonably predict will come before the court in the future.

Sween, Roberson’s attorney, confirmed to the Statesman that she had received the court’s letter but did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a statement Monday evening, Leach apologized to Slaughter and the court for his posts, calling them an honest mistake.

“Unlike some other leaders in our state, I am not afraid to admit when I make a mistake,” he wrote a message on social mediaand added, “I thought I was free. But it was clear I was wrong.”

The judge who received Leach’s messages gave no indication that she would be swayed by the lawmaker’s appeal, saying, “Jeff, this is still an ex parte communication. I cannot consider this message nor discuss current matters with you. for your understanding.”

Leach responded, “Okay, I understand. I didn’t know there were any pending cases in court. I thought all pending cases had been resolved. So that’s my fault.’

Attorney General Ken Paxton is joining the fray

Leach, along with his fellow lawmakers on the House committee, fought for a postponed execution and a new trial for Roberson, who was scheduled to be put to death on Oct. 17. However, the inmate’s life was spared after the committee subpoenaed Roberson to testify before the House panel on October 21, four days after his scheduled execution.

The Texas Supreme Court rejected Attorney General Ken Paxton’s request to dismiss the commission’s subpoena and execute Roberson as scheduled on Oct. 17, but it is still weighing another motion Paxton filed asking the court to execute Roberson from testifying in the Capitol.

Paxton posted and published on social media on Monday a press release about what his office called Leach’s “unethical” text messages. He also sent a letter to the Texas Supreme Court inform the judges of the exposed texts.

The troubled relationship between Leach and Paxton dates back to at least the summer of 2023, when the Plano Republican, who had considered the attorney general a friend and mentor, helped lead impeachment proceedings against Paxton after 20 allegations of possible misconduct, including bribery and abuse. from office. The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to impeach Paxton, but the attorney general was later acquitted in the Senate, largely along party lines.

“In those text messages, Leach attempted to exert undue influence on Robert Roberson’s death penalty proceedings by explicitly requesting that the judge change his or her vote in Roberson’s final round of post-conviction proceedings and thereby effect an alternative outcome for Roberson,” according to Paxton’s press release. said.

The House of Representatives committee continues to negotiate how Roberson will testify before the panel, Chairman Joe Moody, D-El Paso, said last week.

“I am fiercely committed to the rule of law and to strengthening our justice system,” Leach wrote in his statement Monday. “This is why I am so passionate about the #RobertRoberson case – because I believe so strongly that the system failed him. And that is why I sent that message to Judge Slaughter.”

Roberson’s family letters stir controversy

The publication of the text messages comes amid the controversy surrounding the subpoena and Roberson’s claim of innocence divide the Republicans in Texas. On Monday, Republican Rep. Cody Harris, whose district includes Palestine, the East Texas city where Roberson and Nikki lived, said released a letter that relatives of Nikki’s mother have sent to the House Committee on Criminal Justice. In it, the family says that the public discussion about Nikki’s case has been one-sided. “We feel compelled to speak out and defend the real victim in this case, whose life was taken at the hands of Robert Roberson,” reads the letter, signed by Nikki’s brother Matthew Bowman, who was four years old when she died. the girl’s aunt and grandmother. It contains a number of statements from the original medical examiner in the case, Dr. Jill Urban, and allegations from Roberson’s cellmate of sexual assault that were not deemed credible enough to be used at trial. Paxton’s office published many of them in one press release On Wednesday, committee members refuted this a 16 page answer.

More: How the case of death row inmate Robert Roberson is further fueling divisions within the Texas Republican Party

“Nikki’s death is the real tragedy in this case, and her loss has left a deep hole in our hearts,” the letter said. “We do not begrudge those who speak out on behalf of Mr. Roberson. We just wish these facts would also be included as part of the story.” Shortly afterwards, Roberson’s legal team made this public a statement from the brother of the convicted manThomas Roberson. He also made an emotional appeal on his brother’s life. About Nikki’s family, he wrote, “These people don’t know my brother and shouldn’t see the pain they cause by spreading stories about him and his case, things they couldn’t possibly know about – stories that aren’t true.”

Nikki was living with Robert Roberson because Child Protective Services removed her from her mother’s care, Thomas wrote in the statement, adding, “It was Robert who decided to act when he learned she might be his daughter.”

“I have never seen him hurt or say a mean word to a child – and that includes the two disabled children he had before Nikki who were raised by our family without any intervention from their mother,” Thomas continued.

“Nikki had a father who loved her, and (Robert Roberson) has a family who loves him,” he concluded. “I saw my brother with Nikki, and I know he did not harm his child in any way. I hope that one day the truth can come to light before it is too late.”