Texas is preparing to execute the nation’s first man linked to a case of “shaken baby syndrome” on Thursday. This diagnosis has been reevaluated in recent years, leading to similar convictions being overturned.
Robert Roberson, who is scheduled to die by lethal injection at the Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville at 6 p.m. local time, maintains his innocence after killing his 2-year-old daughter in 2002.
The execution could still be delayed if Gov. Greg Abbott grants the defense team’s request for a 30-day delay or the U.S. Supreme Court intervenes.
Robert Roberson speaks to Lester Holt NBC News
The Texas Board of Pardons and Parole on Wednesday unanimously rejected a recommendation to pardon Abbott, which has the power to commute the death penalty. The board did not immediately explain why it reached its decision, and Mr. Abbott has not announced any future actions.
Mr. Roberson's attempts to appeal his conviction, or at least seek a stay of his execution, have failed, with the Court of Criminal Appeals denying the request again on Wednesday.
A bipartisan coalition of state legislators rallied to support Roberson. The committee held a hearing Wednesday that included testimony from medical experts and the lead detective on the former case who later became an advocate for his release.
“This man is innocent beyond a shadow of a doubt,” former detective Brian Wharton told state lawmakers.
The committee also issued a subpoena to Mr. Roberson to testify at a hearing next week, an unprecedented step intended to thwart Thursday’s execution. But it was not immediately clear what impact the operation would have, and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.
In an interview from prison with NBC news anchor Lester Holt this month, Roberson, 57, asked Abbott for clemency because “I’m innocent.”
“Governor, look at the support I’m receiving. I’m just hoping and praying that you do the right thing,” he said.
Roberson adamantly maintained his innocence in Nikki’s death after doctors and law enforcement quickly determined that she died as a result of the violent shaking.
Prosecutors said Nikki was shaken to death because she had been diagnosed with the “triad” (brain swelling and hemorrhage, and retinal hemorrhage) that were once considered indisputable evidence of shaken baby syndrome. He insisted that there was no difference.
But since Roberson’s conviction in 2003, the scientific basis for triadism as the only diagnosis of abuse has come under intense scrutiny.
In 2009, the American Academy of Pediatrics changed the name of shaken baby syndrome to the broader term “abusive head injury,” which includes injuries caused by mechanisms other than shaking alone.
The current medical consensus is that other medical conditions, such as infections, accidental trauma, and pre-existing conditions, can also cause symptoms associated with shaken baby syndrome.
Hundreds of cases of possible head trauma caused by shaking or abuse in infants are reported to U.S. hospitals each year, according to the nonprofit advocacy group. There have been criminal cases involving such injuries, some of which have resulted in convictions, but others have been overturned upon review of medical testimony. Since 1992, at least 34 defendants have reportedly been acquitted on charges of shaken baby syndrome or abusive head trauma. The National Registry of Exonerations, which tracks sentences for wrongful convictions.
Robert Roberson and his daughter Nikki (undated photo). Provided by: Roberson family
Roberson said she woke up in her east Texas home in the early morning hours of January 31, 2002, to “strange cries” and realized her daughter, Nikki, had fallen out of bed. He comforted her and the family went back to sleep, according to court documents.
But a few hours later, Roberson said she woke up and noticed Nikki wasn’t breathing and her lips were blue. He took her to the emergency room, where doctors concluded that she was showing signs of brain death. She was pronounced dead the next day.
Roberson showed little emotion at the hospital, further raising law enforcement’s suspicions. Later that day, Detective Wharton of the Palestine Police Department arrested Roberson on suspicion of murder.
Wharton testified against Roberson at trial. Prosecutors believe Roberson intentionally shook Nikki, inflicting bruises and blunt force trauma, and noted that Roberson seemed almost emotionless when he took her to the hospital. did.
Roberson blamed his “seemingly absent-minded reactions” on his 2018 diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. Additionally, his defense attorneys were not allowed to have medical experts testify at his trial regarding his claim of “mentionary confusion” caused by autism spectrum disorder. Brain injury.
Robert Roberson.NBC News
The jury never heard how sick Nikki had been since the day she was born or that she had been to the hospital more than 40 times in her short life. Two days before her death, she registered a fever of 104.5 degrees at the clinic. She then returned home with medication that was deemed too dangerous for the child. The drug currently has a “black box warning” issued by the Food and Drug Administration.
Texas nearly executed Roberson in 2016, but halted the execution a few days ago so another evidentiary hearing could be held. Ultimately, his bid for a new trial was rejected last year.
Anderson County prosecutors continue to claim in court filings that Nikki was killed and that Roberson is responsible, saying his defense is using “junk science, disease process, and a previous habeas lawsuit against this court and others.” “It raises the same tired questions that courts have already litigated.” True innocence. They were all rejected. ”
Roberson’s attorney, Gretchen Sween, said the lawsuit was filed by dozens of prominent scientists and doctors, a bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers, parental rights groups and groups supporting people with autism. He said he has received a lot of support.
On Wednesday, a petition containing more than 116,000 signatures asking Abbott to halt the execution was delivered to his office.
