Robert Roberson, first person set to run In the US, based on the largely discredited “shaken baby syndrome” hypothesis, a petition for a stay of execution and a petition for certiorari were filed in the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Roberson has argued that his federal due process rights were violated when the Texas Supreme Court refused to consider his bid to reopen the case on “substantial new scientific and medical evidence.”
The plea comes after the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles denied a request to commute his sentence to life in prison or delay his execution.
Hours later, the state of Texas filed its appeal with the Supreme Court, asking the justices to throw out Roberson’s appeal.
This handout image by the Innocence Project shows Robert Roberson being photographed through Plexiglas at the Polunsky Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice on Dec. 19, 2023, in Livingston, Texas.
Ilana Panich-linsman/Innocence Project/AFP via Getty Images
Roberson was found guilty of her 2-year-old daughter’s murder based on the testimony of a pediatrician who described swelling and hemorrhages on Nikki’s brain to diagnose “shaken baby syndrome,” although there is limited evidence that this is a credible diagnosis.
The hypothesis is being explored in biomechanical studies, as well as a growing body of medical and legal literature. Likewise, the medical examiner at the time suspected that Nikki had multiple head injuries and declared the death a homicide during the official autopsy.
Roberson is autistic, according to his legal team, which affects how he expresses emotions — a concern that also came up at trial.
Texas lawmakers meet with Center Robert Roberson at a prison on September 27, 2024 in Livingston, Texas.
Criminal Justice Reform Caucus via AP
Since the conviction, newly presented evidence found that Nikki had pneumonia at the time of her death and that doctors had prescribed her breathing suppressants in the days leading up to her death.
A medical expert who conducted post-mortem toxicology reports and re-examined her lung tissue said chronic interstitial viral pneumonia and acute bacterial pneumonia were damaging her lungs, leading to sepsis and then septic shock, possibly leading to vital organ failure.
More than 30 medical and scientific experts have written to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, asking them to reconsider Roberson’s sentence because of what he calls “shaken baby syndrome.”
A bipartisan group of 86 members of the Texas House of Representatives also spoke in support of Roberson’s request for clemency, arguing that a state law allows for wrongful convictions to be reviewed based on changing scientific evidence. In Roberson’s case, they believe the new evidence should have led to a new trial.
In its opposition statement to the Supreme Court on Wednesday, the state of Texas said there has been no violation of Roberson’s constitutional rights that would require the high court’s intervention.
He said his courts properly considered and rejected Roberson’s requests to review the evidence, writing, “As indicated by (the Court of Appeals’) direct review and Judge (Kevin) Yeary’s final concurring opinion,” the young victim suffered a great deal. trauma not consistent with a brief fall from bed or complications from a virus.”
The state asked the Supreme Court to give the green light to the execution, which is scheduled for Thursday.
