Death row inmate Robert Roberson expected to speak before state House committee

(WASHINGTON) — Texas death row inmate Robert Roberson, whose “shaken baby syndrome” murder conviction in the death of his 2-year-old daughter has come under scrutiny, has been ordered to appear before the Texas House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee on Friday over the state’s so-called “junk science” law.

The legislation, passed in 2013, creates a pathway for people to challenge their convictions if new scientific evidence or developments would have impacted the outcome of their case. However, some legislators say they are concerned that the state law may not adequately address these issues and it is now being investigated by the House committee.

“Robert is eager to testify and grateful for the chance to be heard,” said Gretchen Sween, Roberson’s attorney. “We will do all we can to cooperate, and I profoundly hope that his ability to appear is not obstructed by those who, for whatever reason, do not want the lawmakers and the public to hear from him directly about his experience trying to communicate his innocence.”

Roberson was set to become the first person in the U.S. executed for a shaken baby syndrome diagnosis murder conviction on Oct. 17 before the court intervened and a state House committee issued a subpoena for Roberson to testify on the law on Oct. 21, halting the execution. However, Roberson did not testify that day.

A new execution date has not yet been scheduled, according to Roberson’s legal representatives. In November, the Supreme Court of Texas noted that a subpoena could not block a scheduled execution.

Roberson was found guilty of the 2002 murder of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki, in part based on the testimony of a pediatrician who described swelling and hemorrhages in her brain to support a shaken baby syndrome diagnosis. He was tried and convicted of capital murder in 2003 and sentenced to death.

Roberson’s legal team argued that evidence not presented at the trial found that Nikki had pneumonia and had been prescribed respiratory-suppressing drugs by doctors in the days leading up to her death, leading to a case of severe viral and bacterial pneumonia that progressed to sepsis and then septic shock.

Additionally, Roberson’s team says his autism affects how he expresses emotion; investigators noted Roberson’s lack of emotion during his arrest.

Roberson’s fight for clemency has been backed 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 the use of the shaken baby syndrome diagnosis in his case based on newer scientific evidence. The lead detective on Roberson’s case at the time, Brian Wharton, also now argues that missing 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 has “exhausted every legally available appellate avenue” — noting that the case was heard once more by a trial court in 2021 in a dayslong evidentiary hearing after his execution was first halted, and earlier this year, Roberson’s team requested that a district court reopen his case.

Paxton also argued that the jury did not convict Roberson solely based on the controversial shaken baby syndrome diagnosis, though Roberson’s attorneys said that “shaken baby” was referred to by prosecutors and witnesses throughout the jury trial.

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