Robert Roberson execution date finally set after 20 years behind bars over shaken baby case

Robert Roberson was given an execution date by a Texas court on Monday. Roberson was convicted in 2003 of killing his 2-year-old daughter and has continuously contested the verdict, arguing that the evidence was dubious.

Throughout his more than 20 years on death row , Roberson has continued to assert his innocence. His execution was previously postponed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in 2016. However, in 2023, the highest criminal court in the state determined that there was insufficient reason to reverse his daughter's death sentence.

October 17 is the new date of his execution. When Anderson County prosecutors asked for a date to be established for Roberson's execution on June 17, Roberson's defense protested. His lawyers announced that they intended to submit a fresh appeal to reverse his conviction since they now have further evidence to support their position.

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Thus, determining a date for his execution would be "premature and unjust," according to his attorneys. Roberson was found guilty of killing Nikki Curtis, his ailing 2-year-old daughter, after he rushed her lifeless, blue corpse to the hospital.

He claimed that when they were asleep in their East Texas house, near the town of Palestine, Nikki slid off the bed, and when he woke up, she was not breathing. Doctors and nurses suspected child abuse, but they did not think a low fall could have caused the fatal injuries, even though they were unable to revive her.

Doctors testified during the trial that Nikki's death was consistent with shaken baby syndrome, a condition in which a child sustains severe injuries after being forcibly thrown back and forth. Roberson was found guilty by the jury. In 2016, the scientific agreement surrounding diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome was called into question, leading the Court of Criminal Appeals to halt his execution and remand the matter to the trial court.

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Several medical professionals feel that the illness is far too frequently invoked as an excuse for a baby's death in court cases, neglecting to take into account other potential factors and the infant's medical background.

The 2013 state statute known as the "junk science law," which permits Texas courts to reverse a conviction when the scientific data utilized to support a decision has subsequently altered or been disproven, was a major contributing factor in the Court of Criminal Appeals' ruling. When passing the legislation, lawmakers cited cases of newborn trauma where defendants were found guilty based on flawed research as examples of the situations that the measure was intended to target.

The lawyers for Roberson opposed the appointment of an execution date, pointing to "overwhelming new evidence" that Nikki's death was caused by "natural and accidental causes" rather than a head injury.