The execution of a Texas father in the shaken baby syndrome case is set to proceed after the parole board voted against the pardon

The execution of Robert Roberson, an autistic father at the center of a controversial “shaken baby syndrome” case, is set to proceed after the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles voted unanimously against granting clemency on Wednesday.

Roberson, 57, is scheduled to be executed Thursday by lethal injection for the 2002 death of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis. The panel’s decision came during a Texas House of Representatives hearing on the case.

According to the panel’s voting records, six panelists unanimously opposed commuting a death sentence to a lesser sentence and a 180-day stay of execution.

The parole board does not have the authority to stop an execution, but Gov. Greg Abbott can grant a pardon based on the board’s recommendation. The Governor may also grant a one-time 30-day stay of enforcement without a recommendation from the Board.

A group of 34 medical professionals from around the world had sent a letter to panelists saying Nikki died of a combination of severe, undiagnosed chronic viral pneumonia and secondary acute bacterial pneumonia.

“In other words, there was no murder,” the group wrote. “Mr Roberson should not have been convicted, let alone convicted and sentenced to death.”

On Monday, Roberson’s lawyers filed an emergency motion with the Texas Court of Appeals to stay the execution, asking the court to review the medical and scientific evidence that shows Nikki died as a result of illness, an accident and incorrect medication.

The next day, a group of state lawmakers sent a letter to the court asking for a stay until the end of the session in 2025 so lawmakers can consider changes to the law that affect the case. In 2013, Texas passed a law allowing wrongful convictions to be reviewed based on junk science. Lawmakers and Roberson’s lawyers say the law was not applied in his case.

The Court of Criminal Appeals the following day rejected all of Roberson’s pleadings on procedural grounds. His lawyers asked the United States Supreme Court to stay his execution on Wednesday evening.

Roberson would be the first person ever executed in connection with the syndrome, which has been discredited by the scientific community. Norman Gutkelch, a British pediatrician credited with discovering shaken baby syndrome, recounted The Washington Post In 2015 he believed that the justification of some criminal convictions citing science was “flawed”.

In the USA, at least eight people have been sentenced to death in connection with the syndrome. Two of these people were exonerated. Last Wednesday, the Texas Court of Appeals ruled that a Dallas man sentenced to 35 years in prison on the basis of discredited scientific evidence deserved a new trial, claiming a jury would not convict him today on the same facts.

Days before his daughter’s death, Roberson took Nikki to the emergency room in Palestine, Texas, because she was suffering from a respiratory infection, diarrhea and vomiting. A doctor prescribed Phenergan and Roberson took Nikki home. The next day, she developed a fever of 104 degrees and was given another dose of the drug in combination with codeine.

The Federal Drug Administration no longer recommends the combination for children due to the risk of induced breathing difficulties and death. According to court documents, Nikki had a long history of chronic health problems, including respiratory failure.

Roberson later left the hospital with his daughter, took her home and put her to bed.

The next morning, he says, he woke up with a strange scream and found Nikki on the floor at the foot of the bed. He said he comforted her and the two went back to sleep, court records say. When he woke up later that morning, he said Nikki was unconscious and had blue lips. He claims he tried to resuscitate her and rushed her to the emergency room, but she already had signs of brain damage, including staring and dilated eyes.

She was taken to Children’s Medical Center in Dallas, where she died from her injuries on February 1, 2002.

A pediatrician determined that abuse played a role in the girl’s death after noting signs on her body typically associated with shaken baby syndrome, including a subdural hematoma, a swelling of the brain and retinal hemorrhages. At the time, the medical community believed that the symptoms indicated that a child had been violently shaken and possibly struck against a dull surface.

The coroner ruled Nikki’s death a homicide. Doctors and law enforcement did not investigate the incident further, nor did they take into account her prescribed medications and pre-existing conditions, court records show.

At the time of her death, there was no one else with Nikki and Roberson had sole custody. Nikki’s mother was homeless and a drug addict. Child Protective Services took her in at birth, long before Roberson was identified as the girl’s father.

Authorities charged Roberson with murder the day after her death.

Brian Wharton, a former lead investigator assigned to prosecute Roberson, recounted The Independent He found him in the hospital in a stoic state and not behaving as he would have expected a distraught father to behave. Roberson was diagnosed with autism in 2018, which Wharton believes has now contributed to his behavior.

It appears to be a simple case, Wharton said. His doubts surfaced during Roberson’s trial. He didn’t believe the defense was up to the task and suspected the jury had been tainted after the district attorney filed child sexual assault charges that were later dropped.

After Roberson was sentenced to death, Wharton hoped the verdict would be overturned on appeal. He checked the case regularly for updates.

“I was confident, in my own naive way, that the system I was a part of would check itself, and obviously there has been no effort to do that in recent years,” Wharton said in a telephone interview. He no longer believes the scientific evidence used to accuse Roberson is credible. He left the police force in 2006 and is now a pastor in Onalaska, Texas.

When asked how he would feel if Roberson was executed, he replied: “I’m so angry I could spit nails.

“Oh God, the sadness. This is the deepest part of my shame. I visit him now and I don’t remember seeing him the way I see him now. He is a kind and gentle man, a kind man, a joyful man, a hopeful man.

“There is no meanness in him. There will be great sadness that I was involved in the killing of something so beautiful.”

The parole board’s decision came a day after an Anderson County court ruled against overturning Roberson’s execution order. His lawyers argued that a judge who denied his request for relief in 2022 was wrongly assigned to the case.

After the parole board’s decision, one of Roberson’s attorneys, Gretchen Sween, vowed to pursue the case.

“It is not shocking that the criminal justice system has failed Mr. Roberson so badly. What is shocking is that the system has so far been unable to correct itself… We will be asking Governor Abbott to grant a 30-day reprieve so that we can further pursue Mr. Roberson’s claim of innocence. We pray that Governor Abbott does everything in his power to prevent the tragic, irreversible mistake of executing an innocent man.”