After years of debate among lawyers and advocates that Robert Roberson’s death sentence was based on faulty science and a misdiagnosis of “shaken baby syndrome,” the Texas Supreme Court on Thursday night blocked his execution.
Move to Stopping Roberson’s execution The operation was temporary, but it came less than two hours before the 57-year-old death row inmate was scheduled to die by lethal injection.
According to the Washington Post, Roberson would have been the first American to receive the death penalty for murder Belief Related Shaken baby syndromeBrain injury caused by forcefully shaking an infant or young child. The condition can cause permanent brain damage or death.
Roberson was on death row when he was convicted of killing his 2-year-old daughter after bringing her to a hospital in Palestine, Texas, in 2002. He told doctors that his daughter, Nikki Curtis, had developed a fever and had fallen out of the womb. Bed after a week of serious illness. The little girl who doctors told the court was “blue“In the skin, he was later pronounced dead at another hospital.
Doctors suspected Curtis of abuse and diagnosed the girl with shaken baby syndrome.
Roberson was sentenced to death for murder in 2003.
Since then, Roberson’s lawyers and supporters from both parties have tried to stop his execution. Advocates have long argued that Curtis died of complications from pneumonia, which developed into sepsis.
Roberson’s execution was stayed by a temporary restraining order issued by a Travis County judge. The order will allow Roberson to testify at a new hearing in the state Legislature next week, on October 21.
On Wednesday, the Texas House of Representatives voted unanimously to issue a subpoena for Roberson to appear at the hearing, thus postponing his execution. The representatives argued that executing Roberson before he could provide the required testimony would violate the Legislature’s constitutional authority.
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The Associated Press reported that such a method to stop the execution of a death sentence had not been tried before.
The petition was denied by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. The United States Supreme Court also refused to stop the execution of the death sentence.
But on Thursday, the Texas Supreme Court weighed in and granted a stay, ending a night of uncertainty.
A total of 86 bipartisan Texas lawmakers, including dozens of lawyers and medical and scientific experts, have publicly called for Roberson to be pardoned. His supporters argue that Roberson’s conviction predates a proper medical understanding of shaken baby syndrome.
Additionally, Roberson’s attorneys argued that his 2018 autism diagnosis, which came more than a decade after his daughter’s death, should be taken into account in this case.
The diagnosis adds context, Roberson’s lawyers say, in part because doctors said Roberson showed little emotion about his daughter’s death, raising suspicions. Autism, a neurodevelopmental condition, can often affect how a person communicates with others.
In a statement, Roberson’s attorney, Gretchen Swain, praised the “courageous, bipartisan contingent of Texas legislators.” [who] He chose to delve deeper into the facts of Robert’s case.
She said that no court had recognized before yesterday that Roberson’s “life was worth fighting for.”
“He lives to fight another day and hopes his experience will help improve the integrity of our criminal legal system,” the attorney concluded. “Thank you to all who supported Robert, an innocent man on death row in Texas.”
Roberson is supported by the Innocence Project, a nonprofit legal organization that works to exonerate wrongly convicted people through DNA testing and other legal means.
Texas State Representatives Joe Moody (Democrat) and Jeff Leach (Republican) said they were “deeply grateful to the Texas Supreme Court” for its decision to block Roberson’s execution.
“For more than 20 years, Robert Roberson spent 23.5 hours of each day in solitary confinement in a cell no larger than the closets of most Texans, yearning and striving to have his voice heard,” the statement read.
“We look forward to welcoming Robert to the Texas Capitol, and with him 31 million Texans, to finally give him — and the truth — a chance to be heard.”
Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokeswoman Amanda Hernandez said she spoke with Roberson after his execution was suspended.
“He was shocked, to say the least,” she said. He said. “He thanked God and thanked his supporters. And that’s pretty much what he had to say.
It’s rare for the Texas Supreme Court — the state’s highest civil court — to get involved in a criminal matter. But the way the majority-Republican court ended up halting Roberson’s execution in the final hours highlighted the unusual maneuvers used by a bipartisan coalition in the state House of Representatives who rose to his defense.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who has the power to delay a prisoner’s death sentence for 30 days, has not intervened or spoken publicly about the case.
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, whose members are appointed by the governor, denied clemency to Roberson in a 6-0 vote.
-With files from The Associated Press
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