AUSTIN, Texas: A Texas man whose execution was stayed after a last-minute maneuver by lawmakers who believe Robert Roberson did not kill his 2-year-old daughter was expected to testify before a state House panel on Monday, four days after that his death was scheduled. by lethal injection.
Roberson was expected to become the first person executed in the United States for a murder conviction related to a diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome. His claims of innocence are backed by a group of Republican and Democratic lawmakers who say he was convicted based on outdated scientific data.
Once Roberson testifies before lawmakers, prosecutors could request a new execution date at any time, according to Gretchen Sween, one of his attorneys.
Lawmakers have sought to have Roberson transported from death row to appear in person, raising the possibility of an extraordinary scene at the Texas Capitol, but the state attorney general’s office told the committee he would appear virtually.
Rebuffed by the courts and the Texas parole board in their efforts to spare Roberson’s life, lawmakers last Thursday subpoenaed Roberson to testify in an unusual tactic to buy him more time. Lawmakers on the House committee have expressed frustration with Texas’ junk science law, which they say has not worked as expected, including in Roberson’s case.
The 2013 law allows a person convicted of a crime to seek redress if the evidence used against them is no longer credible. At the time, it was hailed by the Legislature as an exceptionally future-proof solution to wrongful convictions based on flawed science. But Roberson’s supporters say his case points to flaws in the justice system where the law has been weakened by deliberate misinterpretation by the state’s highest criminal court.
In the last 10 years, 74 applications have been filed and resolved under the junk science law. A third of the applications were submitted by people sentenced to death. All of them were unsuccessful.
Anderson County District Attorney Allyson Mitchell, whose office prosecuted Roberson, previously told the committee that a court hearing was held in 2022 in which Roberson’s attorneys presented their new evidence to a judge, who rejected their claims. .
Roberson was sentenced to death for the murder of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis, in 2002. Prosecutors argued that the baby’s death was caused by severe head trauma from being shaken violently from side to side. Roberson’s attorneys say the bruises on Curtis’ body were likely due to complications from severe pneumonia and not child abuse.
Nearly 90 cross-party lawmakers, medical experts and best-selling author John Grisham had asked Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to halt his execution. Abbott has not commented on Roberson’s case and the Texas parole board has rejected requests for clemency.
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