Court to consider state's request for new execution date for Texas inmate Robert Roberson

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ANDERSON COUNTY, Texas - A district judge will hear arguments surrounding a new execution date for Texas death row inmate Robert Roberson.

According to Roberson's attorneys, Judge Austin Reeve Jackson set a hearing for 10 a.m. Wednesday to set a new execution date.

The move comes after the State of Texas requested a new execution date.

Roberson's attorneys are seeking a new trial and say setting a new execution date is premature while a petition is out to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Roberson's attorneys asked for the hearing last month before a new execution warrant was issued.

Robert Roberson's team claims to have new evidence

A court hearing is scheduled for today in East Texas for the death row inmate convicted of killing his two-year-old daughter. His legal team says there is new evidence int he case.

What they're saying:

"With a habeas petition pending in the CCA and a mountain of evidence proving Robert Roberson’s innocence that has yet to be considered, the request for an execution date in this case makes little legal or moral sense," Roberson's attorney Gretchen Sween said. "We look forward to presenting our arguments to the court opposing the request, made by the AG’s Office, which only recently and inexplicably acted to take over representing the State in this matter which has been handled by the elected District Attorney of Anderson County since 2016."

Roberson was convicted of capital murder after his 2-year-old daughter was said to have died of shaken baby syndrome in 2002.

Lawyers for the death row inmate now say the determination was based on "junk science" and that his daughter, Nikki, likely died of natural causes.

Roberson was scheduled to be executed on Oct. 17, 2024, but the execution was put on hold after a last-minute request from lawmakers.

Robert Roberson Murder Conviction

The backstory:

Roberson, 58, was convicted of killing his 2-year-old daughter in Palestine, Texas in 2002. 

He took her to the emergency room with a high fever, where medical staff determined her condition was consistent with shaken baby syndrome.

Roberson's attorneys have challenged that diagnosis, calling it "junk science." 

They say Nikki died from natural causes, likely undiagnosed pneumonia.

Robert Roberson's Delayed Execution

A coalition of lawmakers and the lead detective on the case have argued the science supporting Roberson's death sentence doesn't hold up.

The Texas House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence issued a subpoena on the day before Roberson's scheduled execution on Oct. 17 for the death row inmate to testify at a hearing about his case. The Supreme Court paused the execution that night to review the committee's request.

An opinion from the Texas Supreme Court in November said that the committee should be allowed to hear his testimony, as long as a subpoena does not block an inevitable execution.

Roberson did not appear at subsequent House committee meetings after the attorney general's office opposed the efforts to bring him to the Capitol building.

The Office of the Attorney General told the State Supreme Court that doing so would present security and logistical concerns.

Some relatives of the 2-year-old have criticized lawmakers for delaying Roberson's execution.