Calls for mercy grow as Robert Roberson faces execution for a crime that his supporters say did not happen

CNN
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Calls to spare the life of death row inmate Robert Roberson in Texas are growing louder. There is just over a day left before the state plans to execute him for the murder of his 2-year-old daughter – a crime that Roberson’s advocates say did not happen.

If he were killed by lethal injection Thursday night, Roberson’s lawyers said he would be the first person in the U.S. to be executed on a conviction based on “shaken baby syndrome” – a misdiagnosis in Roberson’s case. they argue, and this has also been discredited.

While child abuse pediatricians maintain the validity of the diagnosis, Roberson’s lawyers say there is ample evidence that his daughter, Nikki Curtis, did not die of child abuse. At the time of her death, she was suffering from double pneumonia that had progressed to sepsis and was prescribed two medications that are now considered unsuitable for children and would have further impaired her ability to breathe, they argue, citing medical experts. In addition, Roberson’s lawyers say she fell out of bed and was particularly vulnerable in her ailing condition.

Other factors also contributed to his conviction, they argue. Doctors who treated Nikki “suspected” abuse based on her symptoms and general mindset at the time of her death without examining her recent medical history, the inmate’s lawyers claim. His behavior in the emergency room – which was viewed as callous by doctors, nurses and police who viewed it as a sign of his guilt – was actually a manifestation of an autism spectrum disorder, which went undiagnosed until 2018.

Roberson’s lawyers do not dispute that babies can and do die from shaking. However, they contend that more benign explanations, including illness, can mimic the symptoms of tremors, and these alternative explanations should be ruled out before a medical expert testifies with certainty that the cause of death was abuse.

“Very early on, Robert was the center of everything, to the exclusion of all other possibilities,” said Brian Wharton, the former Palestine, Texas, detective who led what he said was an overly focused investigation into Nikki’s death. Since then, he has been fighting alongside Roberson’s supporters to save his life.

Roberson’s claim of innocence underscores the inherent risk of the death penalty: a potentially innocent person could be punished Death. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, since 1973, at least 200 people – 18 in Texas – have been acquitted after being convicted and sentenced to death.

With two of his final appeals failing Tuesday, Roberson’s lawyers filed a request with the U.S. Supreme Court for a stay of execution, arguing his due process rights were violated when the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals refused to accept additional evidence to be taken into account which the inmate claims will support his own claim of innocence. A separate appeal was also filed Tuesday with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

Separately, Roberson’s lawyers have filed a petition for clemency with the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and GOP Gov. Greg Abbott, asking that this sentence be commuted to a more lenient sentence or that Roberson be granted a 180-day reprieve to allow time for his appeal have to be argued in court.

The board is expected to make its recommendation on Wednesday. If Abbott declines to grant clemency, Abbott is limited to granting a one-time 30-day reprieve.

Meanwhile, many of Roberson’s supporters are taking their own steps to draw attention to his case in hopes of urging the state to stop the execution.

The Texas Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence plans to hold a hearing Wednesday to hear testimony “related to the death penalty” and a Texas law — commonly called “junk science writ” — that allows someone to challenge their conviction , if no new scientific findings were available at the time of their trial.

While Roberson’s name is not mentioned in a notice of the hearing, his supporters say he should benefit from this legislation – and a member of the committee, Rep. Jeff Leach, a Collins County Republican, told reporters Tuesday the hearing will “to bring a shine”. Light” on Roberson’s case “for all 31 million Texans to hear, see and witness.”

“And we hope to get the pause button on this case by Thursday night,” said Leach, who supports the death penalty but has emerged as a chief critic of the death penalty in cases involving wrongful convictions.

The committee, made up of both Republicans and Democrats, has also asked the Texas Court of Appeals to stop the execution, citing “junk science” law. Committee members want Roberson granted a stay while lawmakers consider changes to the “junk science” law, they wrote in a letter submitted to the court.

“There is no question that the medical evidence presented in Mr. Roberson’s 2003 trial is inconsistent with modern scientific principles,” the lawmakers wrote.

“We believe it would be a stain on the conscience of the state of Texas if an execution were to occur while efforts are being made to address deficiencies in the application of the law in this case.”

A bipartisan group of more than 80 Texas lawmakers have supported Roberson’s case and his petition for clemency. Rep. Joe Moody, chairman of the Criminal Justice Committee, said last week on

Author John Grisham — a board member of the Innocence Project, which has supported Roberson’s claim — also called for clemency in an editorial for The Washington Post on Tuesday.

“The evidence is assembled and available to Texas authorities, but no one with the power to stop Roberson’s execution is paying attention,” Grisham wrote. “The courts have closed all doors on a technicality, and even the politicians’ requests have been ignored.”

CNN’s Ed Lavandera, Ashley Killough and John Fritze contributed to this report.