Witnessing the dramatic last-minute bid to spare a Texas inmate on death row, accused of a 'shaken baby' case, from imminent execution
While he was in prayer, a heated debate was occurring between the state and his supporters regarding his fate, resulting in some extraordinary 11th-hour legal manipulations.
The Texas Supreme Court saved Roberson's life temporarily, at least for the moment, by issuing a provisional halt to his execution just before his execution warrant was due to expire at midnight.
A fresh execution date for Roberson must now be established, offering invaluable time for his legal team and a coalition of bipartisan Texas House members who believe in his wrongful conviction for murder in the death of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki, which was attributed to shaken baby syndrome.
A wave of disbelief swept over Roberson as a group of Texas officials informed him of the halt on Thursday night, prompting him to express gratitude towards God and declare his innocence, much as he has for the past two decades, based on Amanda Hernandez's account, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
The unexpected turn of events commenced on Wednesday when, in a rare attempt to postpone Roberson's execution, the bipartisan Texas House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence issued a summons commanding his presence for testimony before the panel the following week as they evaluated the legitimacy of his case.
The committee's motion offered renewed hope for Roberson's legal team as all other methods to halt the execution fell short. In a matter of days, his defense lost multiple appeals in state courts, the Texas pardons board refused his plea for clemency, and the US Supreme Court declined to intervene.
“The dedicated team fighting for Robert Roberson – individuals from across Texas, the nation, and the world – are jubilant tonight, as a contingent of courageous, bipartisan Texas legislators chose to delve deeply into Robert’s case, facts abandoned by no court yet, and recognized the significance of preserving his life,” Gretchen Sween, Roberson's attorney, declared on Thursday night.
Barely 90 minutes prior to Roberson's execution initiation, the House committee managed to secure a temporary restraining order against the state, halting the execution. Nevertheless, the victory was short-lived, as a divided Texas Court of Criminal Appeals invalidated the order.
Following the appeals court's verdict, the House committee petitioned the Texas Supreme Court to issue an injunction against the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and Texas Department of Criminal Justice Correctional Institutions Division. Although the high court swiftly issued a temporary halt to the execution, the injunction petition remains pending.
“For over two decades, Roberson has spent 23.5 hours of every single day in solitary confinement in a cramped cell not bigger than many Texans’ closets, yearning to be heard,” stated committee members Rep. Joe Moody and Rep. Jeff Leach in a joint statement following the halt. “And while some courts have failed him, the Texas House has not.”
As the array of legal challenges unfolded, Roberson remained in a Huntsville Unit cell where his execution was scheduled to transpire. He spent time in prayer and also communicated several times with his wife and other family members, as per his sister-in-law, Jennifer Roberson.
“When we connected with Robert earlier, I was convinced he required encouragement to remain strong, only to discover it was me he was soothing, advising me to be obedient to God, remain strong, andkeep the faith and hope,” she elaborated.
Roberson's family feels “incredible” after the halt, Jennifer Roberson said. “It has taken almost 22 years for Texas to take the right step.”
Among those anxiously anticipating news in this case was Brian Wharton, the former Palestine, Texas, detective who spearheaded the investigation into Nikki’s death. Wharton has since asserted that the investigation was excessively focused and has joined the effort to save Roberson.
“Eventually, this evening, they did come to tell us that he received a stay, and his wife burst into tears, and everybody else just took a deep breath. Because we all recognize that he's innocent,” Wharton told CNN on Thursday. “We've been fighting this battle for a while now, just attempting to secure a fair hearing.”
Roberson is scheduled to testify before the House committee on Monday, or possibly sooner if ordered by the court.
“We look forward to welcoming Robert to the Texas Capitol, giving him, accompanied by the truth, the chance to be heard - along with the 31 million Texans,” Reps. Moody and Leach said in their statement.
CNN has reached out to the Texas Governor Greg Abbott's and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's offices for comment on the court's decision.
Roberson's case is brought into question
Supporters of Roberson contend that the diagnosis attributing his daughter's death to shaken baby syndrome is unfounded, and this diagnosis has now been undermined.
The Texas House committee opted to summon Roberson as they consider the validity of a law commonly referred to as the “junk science writ,” which offers individuals a chance to challenge their convictions if new scientific evidence has arisen since their trial.
The lawmakers state that the medical evidence presented at Roberson's 2003 trial is inconsistent with modern scientific standards.
Although child abuse pediatricians remain convinced in the reliability of the shaken baby syndrome diagnosis, Roberson’s attorneys assert that there is compelling evidence that his daughter, Nikki Curtis, did not die from child abuse.
At the time of her demise, she was struggling with double pneumonia that had progressed to sepsis, which she was administered two medications now recognized as inappropriate for children, further impeding her capacity to breathe, as per the defense team's allegations, backed by medical experts.
Additionally, she had fallen off a bed, and was significantly vulnerable in her delicate state, Roberson’s attorneys state.
Different elements also played a role in his conviction, they assert. Medical professionals working with Nikki assumed mistreatment based on her symptoms and the prevalent viewpoint during her demise, disregarding her recent medical records, as per Roberson's legal team. His conduct in the emergency room, perceived as indifferent by doctors, nurses, and law enforcement, who saw it as an indication of his guilt, was in fact a manifestation of autism spectrum disorder, which wasn't identified until 2018, according to his lawyers.
Roberson's attorneys aren't denying that infants can and do succumb to being shaken. However, they argue that less harmful explanations, such as illness, can mimic the symptoms of shaking, and these alternatives should be taken into account before a medical expert provides an unquestionable verdict that the cause of death was abuse.
Shaken baby syndrome is recognized as a bona fide diagnosis by the American Academy of Pediatrics and is backed by child abuse pediatricians who spoke with CNN. This condition, first discussed in the mid-1970s, has been regarded as a form of "abusive head trauma" – a broader term used to encompass actions other than shaking, like a blow to a child's head – for the past 15 or so years.
Defense lawyers have oversimplified the process of diagnosing abusive head trauma, argue child abuse pediatricians, highlighting that numerous factors are considered to make this determination.
"The conclusion is undeniably (Nikki) was a victim of abusive head trauma," Dr. Sandeep Narang, a child abuse pediatrician and lawyer, told CNN after he was asked by a supporter of Roberson's defense to review trial testimony in the case.
Still, the diagnosis has sparked debates in courts nationwide. Since 1992, courts in at least 17 states and the US Army have exonerated 32 individuals convicted in shaken baby syndrome cases, according to the National Registry of Exonerations.
Child abuse pediatricians like Dr. Antoinette Laskey, chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Council on Child Abuse and Neglect, challenge these statistics. She pointed to a 2021 study that found only 3% of all convictions in shaken baby syndrome cases between 2008 and 2018 were overturned, and only 1% of them were overturned due to medical evidence.
The coalition of bipartisan Texas House members expresses their belief in Roberson's wrongful conviction, which they aim to rectify by offering valuable time to establish a new execution date.
In response to the halt, Roberson expresses gratitude towards God and reiterates his claims of innocence, as he has for the past two decades.
