Gretchen Sween, Roberson’s attorney, said the judge’s decision Wednesday should outrage Texans, calling her client “a demonstrably innocent man.”

Roberson, who was convicted of capital murder in the 2002 death of his 2-year-old daughter, was present at the hearing and sat next to his attorney.

Roberson’s lawyers had objected, arguing Roberson still has an appeal pending before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals that his legal team says contains “powerful new evidence of his innocence.”