Texas board denies Robert Roberson’s clemency request one day before scheduled execution

LIVINGSTON, Texas ( KETK ) – The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles unanimously denied Robert Roberson’s request for clemency one day out from his scheduled execution.

If he is executed in Huntsville on Thursday, Roberson will be the first person in the nation to be executed in a shaken baby syndrome case. Roberson’s case has drawn national attention, with activists and politicians on either side of the aisle pleading for 30 more days to review new evidence in the case.

Roberson has been on death row for 20 years, almost a decade longer than the average timeline. His final recourse, per state law, was to appeal for clemency from the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles– an appeal which they unanimously denied on Wednesday.

Now, Roberson’s hope of postponing the execution is in Gov. Greg Abbott’s hands. Though Abbott can grant a 30-day reprieve for Roberson at the last minute, historically he rarely acts on these cases, and when he does it mostly involves lower-level offenses. The U.S. Supreme Court could also step in to block the execution, which it rarely does.

Roberson was found guilty in 2003 of abusing and killing his 2-year-old daughter– a crime some say never happened at all.

At the time of her death, hospital staff blamed abuse and shaken baby syndrome for the girl’s condition. Roberson’s defense team is arguing that his daughter died from undiagnosed illnesses, an accidental fall and medical error. Prosecutors maintain that she died from injuries inflicted by her father.

86 Texas legislators, several nonprofits, activists, former judges and attorneys have come out in support of Roberson’s innocence claim. This new push is based largely around questioning the science of shaken baby syndrome.

Shaken baby syndrome, now known as abusive head trauma, is a brain injury that happens when a baby or toddler is abused and shaken violently.

Roberson’s attorneys are citing the case of Andrew Roark, a Dallas County man convicted in a shaken baby case in 2000. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted Roark a new trial, based on the Junk Science Law, which gives courts room to reconsider a case if they find the science used to convict someone is no longer considered legitimate.

After Roberson’s clemency was denied, his attorney Gretchen Sween issued the following statement:

“We urge Governor Abbott to grant a reprieve of 30 days to allow litigation to continue and have a court hear the overwhelming new medical and scientific evidence that shows Robert Roberson’s chronically ill, two-year-old daughter, Nikki, died of natural and accidental causes, not abuse. A reprieve will also give Texas legislators time to investigate why Texas’s vaunted ‘changed science’ habeas law, which allows prisoners to challenge convictions based on science that turns out to be disproven or wrong, is not being applied as intended in the courts.

“It is quite possible that Mr. Roberson would not be on death row today, but for his autism. In 2002, Nikki was sick with a high fever and undiagnosed pneumonia when she suffered a short fall from bed. When Mr. Roberson found Nikki unconscious on the morning of January 31, 2002, he tried to revive her and then rushed her to the ER, where staff did not know that he had autism and judged his flat affect as a sign of guilt. Brian Wharton, the lead detective in charge of investigating Nikki’s death who directed that Mr. Roberson be arrested based on a doctor’s Shaken Baby hypothesis made before an autopsy was performed, and who testified for the prosecution at trial, now believes that Mr. Roberson is innocent and has spoken out widely about the need to right the wrong done in this case.

“On October 9, 2024, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) granted a new trial for a Dallas man, Andrew Roark, convicted in 2000 under the Shaken Baby/Shaken Impact hypothesis because the ‘science’ used to convict him has evolved and does not withstand scrutiny in light of contemporary scientific understanding. The expert used by the prosecution was the same in Mr. Roark’s case and Mr. Roberson’s case. The flawed testimony in both cases was virtually identical. Consistency demands that if Mr. Roark was given a new trial, Mr. Roberson must also be given a new trial. But so far, no court has been willing to consider three new expert reports showing that Nikki died of pneumonia, proof that Mr. Roberson is innocent of any crime.

“It is not shocking that the criminal justice system failed Mr. Roberson so badly. What’s shocking is that, so far, the system has been unable to correct itself—when Texas lawmakers recognized the problem with wrongful convictions based on discredited ‘science’ over ten years ago. We have tried multiple times to utilize that law. Multiple times we have been turned away—without explanation or consideration of the new evidence. We will ask Governor Abbott to issue a 30-day reprieve so we can continue to pursue Mr. Roberson’s innocence claim. We pray that Governor Abbott does everything in his power to prevent the tragic, irreversible mistake of executing an innocent man.”

Gretchen Sween, Attorney for Robert Roberson

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