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A Texas man on dying row is now scheduled to be put to dying in October for his conviction within the dying of his 2-year-old daughter in 2002, after his execution was delayed final 12 months amid considerations about whether or not he’s responsible.
Robert Roberson’s new execution date was set for Oct. 16 at 6 p.m., in line with Choose Austin Reeve Jackson, who stated it is the “actuality of the place we’re.” The brand new execution date is a 12 months after his preliminary execution date was paused after a push from a bipartisan group of state lawmakers, amongst others.
Attorneys for Roberson, 58, criticized the decide’s ruling, arguing that substantial proof reveals he didn’t kill his daughter, Nikki Curtis, greater than twenty years in the past in a case of the shaken child speculation they are saying has been extensively discredited.
“Texans ought to be outraged that the court docket has scheduled an execution date for a demonstrably harmless man,” his legal professional, Gretchen Sween, stated in an announcement to Fox Information Digital.
TEXAS JUDGE GRANTS INJUNCTION AHEAD OF MAN’S EXECUTION IN ‘SHAKEN BABY SYNDROME’ CASE
Robert Roberson’s new execution date was set for Oct. 16 at 6 p.m. (Felony Justice Reform Caucus by way of AP)
“Everybody who has taken the time to take a look at the proof of Robert Roberson’s innocence—together with the lead detective, one of many jurors, a variety of extremely certified specialists, and a bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers—has reached the identical conclusion: Nikki’s dying was a horrible tragedy. Robert didn’t kill her. There was no crime,” she continued.
Greater than 80 state lawmakers, in addition to the detective who helped the prosecution, medical specialists, parental rights teams, human rights teams, bestselling novelist John Grisham and different advocates have known as for the state to grant Roberson clemency over the assumption that he’s harmless. A gaggle of state lawmakers additionally visited Roberson in jail final 12 months to encourage him.
Sween stated she would search a keep of Roberson’s execution “so the entire proof that proves he’s harmless may be reviewed by the courts with out the stress of a looming execution date.”
If he’s put to dying, Roberson could be the primary individual within the U.S. to be executed in a case based mostly on shaken child syndrome.
Texas Legal professional Normal Ken Paxton not too long ago requested the court docket to schedule Roberson’s execution regardless of the state Court docket of Felony Appeals nonetheless contemplating new proof about his potential innocence, Sween famous.
TEXAS DEATH ROW INMATE’S LAWYER SAYS ‘THERE WAS NO CRIME’ AS SHE MAKES LAST-DITCH EFFORT TO SAVE HIS LIFE
Texas lawmakers meet with Robert Roberson at a jail in Livingston, Texas, on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Picture/Felony Justice Reform Caucus)
Roberson was convicted after prosecutors argued he killed his daughter by shaking her to dying. However his legal professionals have stated Nikki really died from different well being points akin to pneumonia and that new proof proves his innocence. His legal professionals additionally stated docs had did not rule out these different medical explanations for the kid’s signs.
“I imagine he’s harmless for 2 distinct causes,” Sween advised Fox Information Digital final 12 months. “The speculation that there was against the law that was used to convict him, which was then often known as the shaken child syndrome speculation, has been totally discredited. There isn’t any one now who would say the model of that speculation that was put earlier than his jury as if it had been scientific truth is official.”
“Additionally, I do know from the specialists that had dug into his daughter’s medical data and examined the proof that this exceedingly sick youngster died from undiagnosed pneumonia that was (ravaging) her lungs, mixed with very harmful prescription medicines she was given in the previous few days of her life,” she continued. “And it is to not counsel that docs did this deliberately. It is simply they did not know in regards to the pneumonia.”
Roberson was scheduled to be put to dying on Oct. 17, 2024, earlier than the state Supreme Court docket issued a keep to delay his execution shortly earlier than it was set to happen.
Robert Roberson and his daughter, Nikki. (Roberson Household)
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The state Home Committee on Felony Jurisprudence issued a subpoena the day earlier than Roberson’s scheduled execution for him to testify at a listening to about his case. The state Supreme Court docket paused the execution that night time to assessment the committee’s request.
The court docket stated in November that the committee ought to be allowed to listen to his testimony, so long as a subpoena doesn’t block an inevitable execution.
Roberson didn’t seem at subsequent Home committee conferences after Paxton’s workplace pushed to forestall him from testifying on the state Capitol.
