I was going to just say that he had been having a stellar 2014 season, averaging 6.7 yards a carry which was second in the NFL at the time. Then I looked at his Wikipedia page and learned that his life took a tremendous turn for the worse in the years that followed.
- Decatur High School had some issues yesterday getting students to the football game.
- Robert Roberson, who was scheduled for execution at 6:00 p.m. last night in a "shaken baby syndrome" case, is still alive. For now. Here's what went down. Stay with me here.
- Late in the afternoon, a district judge in Austin, after a Zoom hearing, stopped the execution by granting an injunction sought by state lawmakers who had subpoenaed Roberson to testify before it on Monday. Note: We've got to important legal concepts here: (1) This is a civil, not criminal, proceeding, and (2) this is a temporary injunction.
- Moments later: In the criminal case, which still had some proverbial life left, the United States Supreme Court chose not to stop the execution. A dissenting opinion urged Gov. Abbott to step in.
- Gov. Abbott does not step in.
- But the execution can't occur at 6:00 p.m. It's still on hold because of the temporary injunction out of Austin earlier in the day in the civil case.
- That civil proceeding is then "appealed" to the Texas Court of Ciminal Appeals. There is a fight over who has jurisdiction over the civil temporary injunction out of Austin. Should it go to the CCA which has jurisdiction over criminal cases? Should it go to the Texas Supreme Court which has jurisdiction over civil cases? (And some scholars online point out the the newly created 15th Court of Appeals might be the right forum.)
- 8:30 p.m.: The Court of Criminal Appeals, in a vote to 5-4 but without an opinion, says it has jurisdiction to review the Austin district court's temporary injunction, vacates it, and says (paraphrasing), "Let's kill him."
- The Texas legislature lawyers then take the case (PDF of petition) to the Texas Supreme Court saying that it's truly the court with jurisdiction over the temporary injunction.
- 9:40 p.m.: The Texas Supreme Court stops the execution. There is no written opinion but a concurring opinion (PDF) for three of the judges who try to explain what is going on. Honestly, I'm not 100% sure what's going on now myself.
- So where does all this stand? Right now, the district court in Austin still has the case and will decide whether to issue a permanent injunction to stop the execution until the defendant testifies before the committee. Does your head hurt? It should.
- This part seems really important that no one is talking about: The defendant is scheduled to testify on Monday. If that occurs, then all of this will be moot and the execution could occur immediately after he testifies, right? At least I think I'm right.
- That is, unless the legislative committee then issues another subpoena for him to come back again?
- The biggest news of the day was this. Will it stop the war and the bombings by Israel? Nope.
- Politics:
- Kamala Harris had a very good moment when she retorted to Trump supporters which tried to interrupt one of her rallies yesterday. Video.
- Melania finally showed up with Trump at a campaign event as she joined him at the Al Smith Dinner Catholic charity banquet. Later, he dropped an S bomb while he was speaking to the group.
- Trump wasn't the only one working blue. Earlier in the dinner, the featured speaker had quite the joke. Video
- Fox News Bret Baier apologized for running the wrong clip in his interview of Kamala Harris where Trump called Americans the "enemy from within" and threatened to unleash the military on them.
- Legal nerdy stuff. Twitter has updated its Terms of Service to say all disputes will be heard in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas (where he'll end up in Judge Reed O'Connor's court) or in Tarrant County state courts.
- O'Connor currently has $50,000 invested in Tesla despite presiding over one of Elon Musk's high profile lawuit.
- Time which has passed since the Wise County Sheriff's Office, despite having a full male DNA profile, has failed to solve the murder of Lauren Whitener in her home at Lake Bridgeport: 5 years and 105 days.
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