A Texas judge denied a motion to vacate the death warrant for a man convicted of killing his two-year-old daughter.
Robert Roberson, 57, will die by lethal injection on October 17 for killing his daughter Nikki in their home in Palestine, east Texas, in 2002.
His lawyers argued that the now-retired judge who oversaw his previous conviction and issued his execution order in July did not follow legal procedure and had no jurisdiction over the case.
However, a judge denied his request on Tuesday and Roberson will be the first execution in the United States for shaken baby syndrome, the newspaper reported. Houston Chronicle.
“It is terrifying that Robert, an innocent, disabled man with the kindest heart, is scheduled to be executed under an invalid order issued by an apparently biased judge in just two days,” said Gretchen Sween, Roberson’s attorney.
A Texas judge had denied a motion to overturn Robert Roberson’s death sentence (pictured)
He was convicted of killing his daughter Nikki in their home in Palestine, east Texas, in 2002 from shaken baby syndrome.
“Governor Abbott can avoid an irreparable mistake by commuting Mr. Roberson’s death sentence or, at the very least, granting him a pardon so that the overwhelming evidence that no crime occurred can be heard.”
Prosecutors at Roberson’s original trial argued that Nikki’s 2002 death was consistent with shaken baby syndrome, pointing to the diagnostic “triad” of intracranial hemorrhage, swelling of the brain and bleeding behind the retinas.
But her lawyers have presented new evidence showing that doctors may have misdiagnosed the cause of the young woman’s death, while questioning whether shaken baby syndrome even exists.
Roberson has maintained his innocence in his daughter’s death during the more than two decades he has languished on death row, and on August 1, 2024, his attorneys requested that the Anderson County District Court reopen his case.
The filing states that new medical and scientific evidence shows that Nikki died of severe viral and bacterial pneumonia that progressed to sepsis and then septic shock.
They claim he was chronically ill and suffered a high fever in the days before his death.
When those symptoms continued for five days straight, Roberson and her mother took Nikki to a local emergency room, where a doctor prescribed Phenergan, a drug that now carries a Food and Drug Administration warning against prescribing it to children. Nikki’s age and condition. .
His lawyers argued that the now-retired judge who oversaw his previous conviction and issued his execution order in July did not follow legal procedure.
Roberson’s team has presented new evidence showing that doctors may have misdiagnosed the cause of Nikki’s (pictured) death.
Still, his condition continued to worsen with his temperature rising to around 104 degrees Fahrenheit, so another doctor prescribed him more Phenergan in a cough syrup with codeine, an opioid now restricted to children under 18 due to its risks of causing respiratory problems. difficulty and death.
Nikki’s toxicology report even showed lethal levels of Phenergan in her system at the time of her death, defense attorneys say.
However, medical staff at a Palestinian hospital believed Nikki’s injuries (including bruising to her face, a bump on the back of her head and bleeding outside her brain) were caused by abuse and alerted police to the scene. , according to the report. Dallas Morning News.
He was granted a stay of execution in 2016 when his lawyers claimed his conviction was based on “junk science” and “false, misleading and scientifically invalid” testimony.
An evidentiary hearing then began in 2018, but it was suspended after a district clerk found a box of evidence from 15 years ago, including Nikki’s CAT scan.
Judge Deborah Oakes Evans then made a recommendation to the Texas Court of Appeals as she considered whether Roberson would receive a new trial, the Palestine Herald reports.
Roberson has maintained his innocence in his daughter’s death during the more than two decades he has languished on death row.
He then retired in December 2022, but continued to preside over Roberson’s case after the state’s highest criminal court decided in 2023 that questions about the cause of his daughter’s death were not enough to overturn her death sentence.
Evans even issued his recent execution order and set the execution date without granting a hearing to the defense.
But Roberson’s attorney argued in court papers last week that Evans did not follow the legal procedure required for a retired judge to be eligible to accept assignments to preside over cases instead of elected judges and, therefore, anything she ruled. Since her retirement she has been invalid. .
Since then, more than 80 state lawmakers have written to the Board of Pardons and Paroles in support of the clemency petition, citing the “voluminous new evidence” and raising “grave concern” that Texas is preparing to execute Roberson. “for a crime that did not happen.” .’
Still, prosecutors have maintained that the evidence supporting Roberson’s conviction is “clear and convincing” and argue that the science around shaken baby syndrome has not changed as much as the defense claims.
The board can take up to two days before the execution to make its decision, but the final decision will ultimately rest with the governor.
