On July 2nd, it was reported that Robert Roberson, a death row inmate in Texas, has been scheduled for execution in October. Roberson, who has maintained his innocence for years in the death of his 2-year-old daughter, has received criticism from justice advocates and his legal team for being convicted based on discredited scientific evidence.
According to an order obtained by the Innocence Project, Roberson’s execution date has been set for October 17th by the 3rd Judicial District Court in Anderson County.
Anderson County District Attorney Allyson Mitchell requested the order to set a date two weeks ago, as per the motion filed by her.
Despite the passing of many years, Roberson, who is 57 years old, has consistently maintained his innocence in the tragic death of his daughter, Nikki Curtis, who passed away in the early months of 2002.
On January 31 of that year, Roberson brought her to the emergency room in a comatose state after she fell out of her bed while sick with a high fever.
Authorities apprehended Roberson on charges of shaking Curtis and causing fatal head injuries.
In February 2003, he received a death sentence after being convicted on charges of capital murder.
Just one week before Roberson’s scheduled sentence in 2016, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals intervened to stop his execution due to concerns over the scientific validity of shaken baby syndrome, which formed the basis of his conviction. The court ordered a retrial for the case.
In 2023, the court of criminal appeals in the state made a ruling that the skepticism of the science presented was insufficient to overturn the defendant’s sentence.
In their legal filing contesting Mitchell’s petition to schedule an execution date, Roberson’s attorneys argue that new evidence uncovered in 2021 indicates that Curtis passed away due to “natural and accidental causes.” According to the evidence, she had severe pneumonia that went undiagnosed, leading to her ceasing to breathe, collapsing, and turning blue before being found unconscious by her father on the night before she died.
According to the opposition filing, the lawyers claim that she was given “dangerous medicines, normally not prescribed to children of her age,” just a few days before her death. This was done to treat her pneumonia symptoms which were undiagnosed at the time. However, this medication only worsened her breathing difficulties.
According to the lawyers who filed on June 18th, the reason for her untimely death was due to the unfortunate circumstances she had faced. The filing stated that she stopped breathing less than two days later and could not be revived as she had already suffered from brain death.
According to their argument, certain indications presented by the prosecution during the trial to support their allegations of shaken baby syndrome and head trauma were actually a result of her heart being revived after her brain had already ceased functioning.
According to the experts, when the heart was revived, oxygen rushed to the brain, but it was unable to enter because the brain was already dead. This resulted in the accumulation of subdural blood outside of the brain, which was wrongly interpreted as a sign of head trauma.
According to them, Roberson’s undiagnosed autism played a role in his incapability to effectively communicate the circumstances to doctors. When Curtis was taken to the hospital, doctors perceived Roberson as peculiar and emotionless towards his daughter’s condition.
According to his lawyers, a sick child passed away unexpectedly, leaving behind a grieving father who was unable to comprehend the medical mysteries that have perplexed professionals for years.
Science has since discredited every shaken baby syndrome case that was once deemed medical orthodoxy at the time of Roberson’s trial, as per the nonprofit Innocence Project legal organization.
A statement declared that all of the SBS principles lacked scientific basis and have been proven false even after Mr. Roberson’s trial.
According to the National Registry of Exonerations, a total of 33 individuals who were convicted in shaken baby syndrome cases have been exonerated since 1992.
According to Gretchen Sims Sween, one of Roberson’s attorneys, there is frequently a tendency to make hasty conclusions when a child passes away. This is in reference to the over 30 instances of exoneration.
“We cannot afford to witness an irreversible tragedy unfold. It is imperative that either the courts or Gov. Greg Abbott intervenes to prevent such an outcome.”
Roberson’s innocence is being supported not only by his attorneys and justice advocates but also by the lead detective in his case.
Brian Wharton, who once served as the assistant chief of the Palestine Police Department and led Roberson’s case, has expressed his concern over the possibility of injustice in Mr. Roberson’s case for more than two decades. “I have always believed that something went terribly wrong and that justice was not served,” he stated in a recent release.
My belief is that Nikki’s death was a result of accidental or natural causes, and there was no criminal activity involved.
“I firmly believe that Mr. Roberson is not guilty,” would be my conviction.
According to the Innocence Project, Roberson has ongoing litigation before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to reassess the evidence based on a separate case where the state recognized that the defendant should be retried because of advancements in the scientific understanding of shaken baby syndrome.
