With his execution looming last Thursday, the 57-year-old Texas death row inmate watched as his attorneys’ legal arguments were rejected in the courts and his pleas for clemency disregarded, as the state parole board declined to recommend he receive a lesser sentence or reprieve.

After hearing more than nine hours of testimony Monday on Robert Roberson’s case, the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee stood at ease – instead of adjourning – as lawmakers worked to get the death row inmate to appear in person in Austin.