Texas death row inmate's execution paused again over 'shaken baby syndrome' questions

Texas Court blocks the execution of Robert Roberson

The Texas court of criminal appeals has blocked the execution of death row inmate Robert Roberson for a third time. Roberson was set to die next week for the death of his two-year-old daughter Nikki. At the heart of the case and the stay of execution: shaken baby syndrome.

DALLAS - The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has paused what would be the country’s first execution for a murder conviction centered around shaken baby syndrome.

Robert Roberson, a 58-year-old from Palestine, Texas, was convicted for the death of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis, in 2002. He has maintained his innocence the entire 23 years he has spent on death row.

This is the third time lawyers have been able to delay his execution as many question the science behind shaken baby syndrome and whether Roberson was given a fair trial as an undiagnosed autistic person.

Robert Roberson Execution Paused

Robert Roberson's attorney on ruling, what's next

Gretchen Sween, the attorney for Texas death row inmate Robert Roberson, speaks after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals stayed his execution. Roberson would have been the first person executed in the US for a conviction based "shaken baby syndrome" diagnosis.

What's new:

On Thursday morning, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals paused Roberson’s Oct. 16 execution date.

The court granted the stay based on the state’s junk science law which allows a person to seek relief if the evidence used against them is no longer credible.

It pointed to a case last year that overturned the conviction of Andrew Wayne Roark in a shaken baby case.

What they're saying:

"We are relieved and grateful that members of the Court of Criminal Appeals appreciate the parallels between Andrew Roark’s case and Robert Roberson’s," Roberson’s attorney, Gretchen Sween, said in a statement. "The case is being sent back to the district court for further proceedings. The issue will be whether the decision granting relief to the now-exonerated Andrew Roark requires relief for Robert as well."

FOX 4 spoke to State Rep. Rhetta Bowers, one of the legislative advocates for Roberson. She was among the bipartisan group that visited him on Wednesday.

"We are thankful to see this day come. I was thankful for yesterday and I told him that we’re sitting here. It’s been a year and we’re still sitting here. We’re talking to you. And I hope that his story can be heard and the truth will come forward, that it is the fairest trial that he could have asked for, that he gets the real trial that he needed back then," she said.

Robert Roberson ‘Shaken Baby’ Case

New interview of death row inmate before scheduled execution

A bipartisan group of Texas state lawmakers visited death row inmate Robert Roberson days before his scheduled execution. We heard from Roberson in a new interview from jail.

The backstory:

Roberson has spent more than two decades on death row, convicted of killing his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki.

In 2003, prosecutors at Roberson’s trial argued he hit and violently shook his daughter, causing severe head trauma, but Roberson’s lawyers and some medical experts say his daughter died from complications related to pneumonia.

They also question the science behind shaken baby syndrome. The medical industry considers it a diagnosis, but recent studies challenge its validity.

Roberson’s current attorneys argued his undiagnosed autism at the time of trial helped convict him because his flat demeanor was seen as a sign of guilt.

"And when I hear Robert Roberson look me in the eye today and tell me they wouldn’t let me tell my side of the story at the trial, and he didn’t even know at that time that he had autism, and so he didn’t know he could argue with his lawyer. He didn’t know he could go to the judge and say I want to speak. He didn’t know any of that. His lawyer just said sit down and shut up. That’s wrong. That’s wrong," said Rep. Jeff Leach (R-Allen).

Last year, Roberson was on the verge of execution until bipartisan lawmakers issued a subpoena which resulted in the Texas Supreme Court pausing the execution. In July, a judge set next week’s execution date.

Dateline NBC Shows New Evidence

New evidence emerges in Robert Roberson case

With only eight days left until his execution, Robert Roberson's legal team says there's new evidence in his case.

Ahead of the scheduled execution, Dateline NBC released a podcast dedicated to the case, and in a conversation between Lester Holt and Nikki's maternal grandfather, Larry Bowman, brand-new details were released about the judge in Anderson County who presided over Roberson's 2003 trial.

"Larry Bowman told us a judge in Palestine called the hospital, informing staff that Robert was no longer allowed to make decisions about Nikki," Holt said.
"Matter of fact, Judge Bentley told ’em we were the parents," Bowman said.

"Did you have to make the decision to take her off support?" Holt asked.

"Yeah," Bowman responded. "Yeah, we did."

Robert Roberson Interview

Lawmakers race to halt execution of Robert Roberson

Amid bipartisan calls for a stay of execution and new evidence, Texas death row inmate Robert Roberson, convicted of killing his daughter, is scheduled to be executed on October 16.

What they're saying:

Roberson spoke about his daughter in a newly released interview with the Associated Press.

"I never shook her, hit her, or nothing, no sir, no sir."

"Like I said, it was bad enough losing my little girl and then when they accused me of it, I couldn't believe it."

"For many, many years, I thought about how would she be like today and stuff, you know, and what type of life we would have out there and stuff, you know."