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robert roberson expectations he can postpone again Became the first person in the United States to be executed for a murder conviction related to a diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome.
Days before his scheduled execution on October 16, Roberson maintained his innocence in the 2002 death of his two-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis. texas City of Palestine. One group is scheduled to die by lethal injection approximately one year to one day later texas Lawmakers, who say he is innocent, won an extraordinary last-minute court reprieve as Roberson waited outside the death chamber in Huntsville.
Roberson said he is putting his hopes for a stay of another execution in the hands of his lawyers, his supporters and God.
“I’m not going to stress and stuff because I know God has it, you know. He’s in control. No matter what, God has control, and He has the final say, you know,” Roberson, 58, said last week while sitting behind a glass partition in the visiting area of the Polunsky Unit in Livingston.
During the hour-long interview, Roberson said he thinks about his daughter every day and what kind of life she might be living today.
Prosecutors at Roberson’s 2003 trial argued that he hit his daughter and shook her violently, causing severe head injuries and that she died from injuries related to shaken baby syndrome.
Roberson’s lawyers and some medical experts say her daughter died not from abuse but from complications related to pneumonia. He says his conviction was based on flawed and now outdated scientific evidence.
The diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome refers to a serious brain injury that occurs when a baby’s head is hit by a shaking or other violent impact, such as being slammed against a wall or thrown to the floor.
Roberson’s lawyers have argued that his undiagnosed autism helped convict him, because authorities and medical personnel felt he did not act like concerned parents because his flat affect was seen as a sign of guilt.
last minute stay on hanging
Last year, Roberson was on the verge of being executed when last-minute legal maneuvering on the night of his scheduled execution, including the unprecedented intervention of a bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers, prevented his lethal injection. In July, a judge set a new execution date, Roberson’s third.
During this interview, Roberson often did not maintain eye contact and repeated words or phrases — behavior that experts say is linked to autism.
“They assumed (guilt) because of the way I was acting, you know. And I didn’t know I was autistic, you know, until years and years later, you know,” said Roberson, who was not diagnosed with autism until 2018.
Roberson’s supporters and his legal team are again holding rallies and making demands at state and federal appeals courts and the Texas government. greg abbott To stop his execution. His supporters include both liberal and ultraconservative lawmakers, Texas GOP megadonor and conservative activist Doug Desson, a bestselling author. John Grisham and Brian Wharton, the former police detective who helped build the case against him.
“The whole world is watching. Texas, don’t kill this innocent man,” Wharton said during a rally outside the Texas Capitol building on Saturday. Austin,
The Attorney General and others insist Nikki died as a result of child abuse
Texas Attorney General’s Office ken paxtonAlso some medical experts and other members of Nikki’s family say that the girl’s death was caused by child abuse and that Roberson had a history of beating his daughter.
Nikki’s half-brother Matthew Bowman told reporters in July, “It’s taken a long time. … In my opinion, he did it, 100%.” Bowman declined to speak to the AP.
Abbott’s office did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Abbott has the power to give a one-time relief of 30 days.
Roberson said he never hurt his daughter and was working to turn his life around and care for Nikki after spending time in prison for theft and check passing.
“I never shook her or hit her,” Roberson said, adding that he never disciplined his daughter “since she was very young.”
Shaken baby syndrome has come under scrutiny in recent years as some lawyers and medical experts have argued that the diagnosis has unfairly sent people to prison. Prosecutors and the medical society say it remains legal.
“It’s no longer a mystery what happened to Nikki. It wasn’t concussion. It was her chronic, serious health condition,” Gretchen Sween, one of Roberson’s attorneys, said at Saturday’s rally. “No crime was committed.”
But in a Sept. 26 op-ed in The Dallas Morning News, three pediatricians, including two pediatricians Yale School of Medicinesaid they reviewed the case and are “convinced that Nikki was a victim of child abuse.”
Roberson says he’s optimistic he’ll get a chance to prove his innocence
Roberson was arrested after he took Nikki to the hospital after she fainted after falling from her bed. He said he had never heard of shaken baby syndrome.
Roberson said, “It was so bad to lose my little girl. And then when they accused me of it, I couldn’t believe it.”
In a press release issued after Roberson’s execution was delayed last year, as well as in recent court filings, Paxton’s office has stressed that “this was not just a case involving child shaking, but it also involved a child who was beaten and struck multiple times in the head.” Paxton’s office said the jury “did not convict Roberson on the basis of ‘shaken baby syndrome’.”
Yet Terre Compton, one of the jurors who convicted Roberson, told lawmakers last year that, “Everything that was presented to us was about shaken baby syndrome. Our decision was based on that.”
Grisham, who is writing a book about the case, said that Roberson’s trial was “grossly unfair” because his autism led people to believe he was guilty and his defense attorneys told jurors it was a case of shaken baby syndrome.
Roberson said he is optimistic that one day he will get a chance to prove his innocence in a new trial.
“I’m not afraid to die, but I’m not ready to die, you know. I’d like to believe that God has a lot more to do and do for me, you know,” Roberson said.