AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas court’s pause of the execution of Robert Roberson just days before he was set to die is likely to raise new arguments and scrutiny over cases that rely on the medical science and evidence in a diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome.
Roberson would have been the first person in the nation executed in a case tied to shaken baby syndrome. He remains on death row for now, but the pause in his execution — the third since 2016 — not only buys him more time, but also possibly a new trial.
Thursday’s ruling by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals leaned into a decade-old state law that allows courts to review convictions based on science that has changed or been debunked, and a recent court ruling that overturned a conviction in another shaken baby case.
Roberson, 58, was convicted in 2003 in the death of his 2-year-old daughter Nikki Curtis. He had been scheduled to receive a lethal injection on Oct. 16. The ruling did not overturn his conviction or immediately reduce his sentence.
Shaken baby syndromeCritical to Roberson’s case was the trial evidence of shaken baby syndrome, which refers to a serious brain injury caused when a child’s head is hurt through shaking or some other violent impact, such as being slammed against a wall or thrown on the floor.
Shaken baby syndrome has come under scrutiny in recent years; some lawyers and medical experts say the diagnosis has wrongly sent people to prison. Prosecutors and medical societies say it remains valid.
Texas’ ‘junk science’ law and a similar caseIn 2013, Texas lawmakers passed a measure nicknamed the “junk science law” that allows courts to take a second look at a case if the science anchoring a conviction evolves or is debunked. But that law has not yet led to a new trial for a death-row inmate.
That law was the basis in part of a delay in execution for Roberson back in 2016, but he was not granted a new trial and he remained on death row.
Thursday’s ruling cited the court’s own decision last year to overturn the conviction of a Dallas man sent to prison for 35 years based on a similar shaken baby diagnosis. In that case, the court said the medical evidence and expert testimony might have been different if presented under 2024 scientific standards.
Rallying for RobersonRoberson’s case has drawn a wide variety of support from a coalition that included liberal and ultraconservative lawmakers, bestselling novelist John Grisham and even one of the original detectives on Roberson’s case. They all want him to secure a new trial. Those efforts have been opposed and criticized by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican.
What’s next for Roberson?Roberson’s legal team hailed the court-ordered review of his case as a major victory.
The case will go back to the county trial court in East Texas to decide if he deserves a new trial. If so, he could be cleared or convicted again.
Gretchen Sween, one of Roberson’s attorneys, said Thursday there’s no timeline for when the trial court will review his case but she’s “determined to push this as fast as possible.”
Roberson has maintained his innocence. His legal team argues his daughter died not from abuse but from complications related to pneumonia. Paxton, as well as some medical experts and other family members of Nikki, maintain the girl died because of child abuse and that Roberson had a history of hitting his daughter.
“Robert adored Nikki, whose death was a tragedy,” Sween said. “We are confident that an objective review of the science and medical evidence will show there was no crime.”
