A historic Texas death penalty case has gripped the country’s attention as advocates work to save the life of condemned man Robert Roberson.
Roberson was convicted of murdering his 2-year-old daughter in 2003 based on evidence of shaken baby syndrome – a diagnosis many experts are now calling into question.
On Monday, Roberson will testify at the Texas Capitol in Austin in what some are calling an unprecedented move after lawmakers subpoenaed him to prevent him from being executed last week.
Robert Roberson is from Anderson County. His daughter Nikki died in 2002 when Roberson took her to the hospital and told staff that she had fallen off her bed.
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Roberson was charged with murdering the girl and convicted and sentenced to death based on evidence that Nikki died from shaken baby syndrome.
Advocates at the Texas Defender Service said Roberson contacted them nine years ago and declared his innocence.
“It was apparent to us when we received the letter saying that his attorneys had abandoned him, that he was likely innocent and had been convicted based on a now-discredited scientific theory,” said Burke Butler, executive director of the Texas Defender Service.
Shaken baby syndrome is a medical diagnosis based on observed symptoms in a young child, like bleeding on the brain and eyes.
Roberson would be the first person in US history to be put to death over a murder conviction based on a shaken baby case.
In recent years, the diagnosis has become controversial in the medical community, and Roberson’s attorneys argued the court’s decision to convict him ignored Nikki’s medical history of severe pneumonia and other illnesses.
“There is no legal reason that he should still be incarcerated,” said Butler. “And what we’re seeing today should make us all deeply concerned with the legal system in Texas and the Texas death penalty.”
At the center of the debate over Roberson’s case is Texas’s Junk Science law, a 2013 statute that would allow appeals courts to overturn criminal convictions based on forensic evidence that has since come into question.
The Texas Defender Service said in the 11 years since the law passed, the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals has never used the statute to remove someone from death row.
“Mr. Roberson’s case is a prime example of that; he was wrongfully convicted based on junk science; there’s no dispute about that,” said Butler. “And he should be allowed to go home and be with his family.”
Roberson’s appeals to the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals, the Texas Supreme Court, and the US Supreme Court have failed.
He was set to be executed on Thursday night when, minutes before the execution, lawmakers successfully subpoenaed Roberson to appear at the Capitol and testify to the House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence.
Roberson would still be on death row, but the unprecedented legal move delayed his execution for at least 90 days.
A memo from Texas AG Ken Paxton’s office on Saturday said Roberson would appear virtually in front of the committee, which has caused concern among advocates.
Collin County State Rep. Jeff Leach shared a statement from Roberson’s attorney, who wrote, “Mr. Roberson has autism … requiring Robert to communicate over Zoom would unquestionably handicap him and thwart the whole point of the hearing.”
“What we want to see is that Mr. Roberson gets his day in court and that he gets to go home,” said Butler. “Because there is no question that he deserves relief.”
Roberson is set to appear in front of lawmakers virtually on Monday at noon. It’s unclear what legal options he has left to try and obtain a new trial or have his case thrown out because his prior appeals have failed, but advocates say they’re going to keep fighting on his behalf.
