The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - October 24, 2024

Episode Date: October 24, 2024

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Howdy, folks. Today is Thursday, October 24th, and you're listening to the Texans Daily Rundown. I'm the Texans Assistant Editor Rob Lausches, and here is the rundown of today's news in Texas politics. First up, the Texas Office of the Attorney General has released documents from the trial of death row inmate Robert Roberson that highlight aspects of his conviction that had not been presented to the public. Roberson was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death in 2003 in connection with the death of his two-year-old daughter Nikki Curtis in 2002. Over the course of his sentence, his legal representation has continually attempted to appeal his death sentence without success.

He was scheduled to be executed last week, but with some unprecedented legal maneuvering by a group of Texas House members, it has been put on hold for at least 90 days. The members say there are questions surrounding the evidence that was used to convict Roberson and that it warrants a redress of his case. Now, the OAG has released the original autopsy report and additional documents to, quote, correct falsehoods amplified by a coalition interfering with capital punishment proceedings. Dr. Jill Urban's autopsy report is included among the documents released by the OAG. The OAG release notes, quote, in 2016, when Roberson's case was being appealed, Dr. Urban unequivocally affirmed that she quite clearly defined multiple impact

sites to the head and ruled that the death was due to blunt force injuries. Also included is a graphic description of a police report claiming that Roberson admitted to a cellmate that he sexually assaulted and physically abused his daughter. Representative Joe Moody, chair of the House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence, has released a statement on the OAG documents release, characterizing it as, quote, a collection of exaggerations, misrepresentations, and full-on untruths completely divorced from fact and context. Next, Amarillo has been a hotbed of political activity this season as one proposition on the November ballot would declare it a sanctuary city for the unborn. Proposition A would outlaw

abortion and abortion-inducing drugs in the city and would also prohibit abortion trafficking or transporting a woman to a different state for the purposes of receiving an abortion through Amarillo. Similar to the Texas Heartbeat Act passed by the Texas legislature in 2021, the ordinance uses private enforcement. Groups like the Amarillo Reproductive Freedom Alliance and Amarillo Freedom PAC have been actively opposing the measure, but another group has raised legal concerns. The Potter Randall County Medical Society, a professional association of physicians

organized to nurture continued advancement of scientific knowledge and to maintain unity and harmony among all members of the profession, is opposing Proposition A. But some of its members are concerned that the political activity of the society has not complied with the law and also may cause the society to suffer reputational damage within the community. In other news, the first two days of early voting voted well for Texas Republicans, according to internal data models that project the GOP turnout to be 10% higher than in 2020. Through two days of early voting, which began on Monday, more than 1.9 million voters have cast ballots across the state either in person or by mail. That's 10.5% turnout so far.

On the first day of 2020's early vote, notably different contextually due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Governor Greg Abbott's one-week extension of in-person early voting, the GOP-modeled vote accounted for 37.5% to the Democrats' 47%. The modeling comes from Ross Hunt of Hunt Research, a GOP-affiliated data firm. Democrats have long emphasized to their constituency the benefits of voting early or by mail and banking those ballots before Election Day. While Republicans in 2020 discouraged their voters to vote early, particularly by mail, meanwhile, Republicans in 2020 discouraged their voters from voting early, particularly by mail, due to unease over the ballot-by-mail process. But after the first day of early voting this year, the percentage of the ballots that are

GOP-projected, based on voter history and modeling forecasts, jumped to 47%, while the Democratic estimate dropped to 34%. Independence made up about the same percentage this year as compared to the first day in 2020. Last but not least, Land Commissioner Don Buckingham sat down with the Texans' senior reporter Brad Johnson to discuss the future of the Alamo, Fronten Island, and the 2024 general election. Visit thetexan.news or wherever you get podcasts for the full interview. Thanks for listening. To support The Texan, please be sure to visit thetexan.news and subscribe to get full access to all of our articles, newsletters, and podcasts.