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A Texas court stay of Robert Roberson’s execution just days before his death is likely to trigger new arguments and investigations into cases that rely on medical science and evidence in diagnosing shaken baby syndrome.
Roberson would be the first person in the country to be executed in a case related to shaken baby syndrome. He is currently on death row, but a stay of his execution – the third since 2016 – not only gives him more time, but possibly a new trial.
Thursday’s decision by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals is based on a decades-old state law that allows courts to review convictions based on science that has changed or been rejected, and a recent court decision overturning a conviction in another shocking child case.
Roberson, 58, was convicted in the 2003 death of her 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis. He was to be given a lethal injection on 16 October. The ruling did not overturn his conviction or immediately reduce his sentence.
Shaken Baby Syndrome
The trial evidence of shaken baby syndrome was crucial in Roberson’s case, which refers to the severe 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.
Shaken baby syndrome has come under scrutiny in recent years; Some lawyers and medical experts say the diagnosis has unfairly sent people to prison. Prosecutors and the medical society say it remains legal.
Texas’s ‘junk science’ law and one such case
In 2013, Texas lawmakers passed a measure called the “junk science law”, which allows courts to re-examine a case if the science that would establish a conviction evolves or is debunked. But due to that law, no new trial has yet started for a death row prisoner.
That law was the basis for a delay in Roberson’s execution in 2016, but he was not granted a new trial and remained on death row.
Thursday’s decision cited the court’s decision last year to overturn the conviction of one dallas Just like that, based on the diagnosis of a shaken baby, a man was sent to jail for 35 years. In that case, the court said that medical evidence and expert testimony might have been different if presented under 2024 scientific standards.
rally for roberson
Roberson’s case has received broad support from a coalition that includes liberal and ultraconservative lawmakers, including the best-selling novelist. John Grisham And even one of the original detectives on Roberson’s case. They all want him to get a new trial. Those efforts have been opposed and criticized by the Texas Attorney General ken paxtonA republican,
What’s next for Roberson?
Roberson’s legal team hailed the court-ordered review of his case as a major victory.
The case will go back to the county trial court in East Texas to decide whether he deserves a new trial. If so, he may be acquitted or convicted again.
Gretchen Sween, one of Roberson’s attorneys, said Thursday that there is no timeline for when the trial court will review his case, but that she is “determined to move this forward as quickly as possible.”
Roberson has maintained his innocence. Her legal team argues that her daughter died not from abuse but from complications related to pneumonia. Paxton, as well as some medical experts and other members of Nikki’s family, say the girl’s death was a result of child abuse and that Roberson had a history of beating his daughter.
“Robert loved Nikki, whose death was a tragedy,” Sween said. “We are confident that an objective review of the science and medical evidence will show that no crime was committed.”