Texas death row inmate Robert Roberson, whose shaken baby syndrome murder conviction is under review in the death of his 2-year-old daughter, has been ordered to appear before the Texas House of Representatives Criminal Justice Committee on Friday. referred to as “junk science” law.
The law, passed in 2013, gives people the opportunity to challenge their convictions if new scientific findings or developments would have influenced the outcome of their case. However, some lawmakers say they are concerned that state law may not adequately address these issues, and it is currently being investigated by the House committee.
“Robert would like to testify and is grateful for the opportunity to be heard,” said Gretchen Sween, Roberson’s attorney. “We will do everything we can to work together, and I sincerely hope that his ability to perform will not be hampered by those who, for whatever reason, do not want lawmakers and the public to hear directly from him he experienced while trying to communicate his own “innocence.”
Jennifer Martin (center) and Thomas Roberson (right), older brother of condemned prisoner Robert Roberson, join others in holding signs while protesting outside the prison where Roberson is being held, Oct. 17, 2024, at Texas State's Huntsville Division Penitentiary to be executed in Huntsville, Texas.
Michael Wyke/AP
Roberson was set to become the first person in the United States to be executed on a murder conviction with a diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome on October 17, before the court intervened and a House committee issued a subpoena for Roberson on October 21, to testify about the law, which halted the trial's execution. However, Roberson did not testify that day.
A new execution date has not yet been set, according to Roberson's legal representatives. In November, the Texas Supreme Court found that a subpoena could not prevent a scheduled execution.
Roberson was convicted of murdering his 2-year-old daughter Nikki in 2002, based in part on testimony from a pediatrician who described swelling and bleeding in her brain to support a diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome. He was convicted of murder in 2003 and sentenced to death.
Roberson's legal team argued that evidence not presented at trial suggested that Nikki was suffering from pneumonia and that doctors had prescribed her breathing-suppressing medication in the days before her death, leading to a case of severe viral and bacterial pneumonia , which developed into sepsis then septic shock.
Additionally, Roberson's team says his autism affects the way he expresses emotions; Investigators noted Roberson's insensitivity during his arrest.
Texas lawmakers meet with Robert Roberson at a prison in Livingston, Texas, on September 27, 2024.
Criminal Justice Reform Caucus via AP
Roberson's fight for clemency has been supported by a bipartisan group of more than 80 state lawmakers, as well as medical, scientific and criminal justice advocates who have questioned the legitimacy of using the diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome in his case based on recent scientific evidence . The then-lead investigator in Roberson's case, Brian Wharton, now also argues that a lack of evidence hindered the case.
However, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and other state officials have argued that “Roberson was lawfully sentenced to death” and that he had “exhausted all legally available avenues of appeal” – noting that the case was retried in court in 2021 In a days-long evidentiary hearing following the initial halt to his execution and earlier this year, Roberson's team asked that a district court reopen his case.
Paxton also argued that the jury did not convict Roberson based solely on the controversial diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome, even though Roberson's lawyers said prosecutors and witnesses referred to “shaken baby” throughout the jury trial.
