As one Texas "shaken baby" suspect is exonerated, Robert Roberson sits on death row
NORTH TEXAS — Two strikingly similar cases involving decades-old claims of shaken baby syndrome are making news this week.
In one, a Dallas County man, Andrew Roark, has been exonerated. In the other, death row inmate Robert Roberson is waiting on an execution date.
Both men were convicted more than 20 years ago for the deaths of children they were accused of violently shaking, and in both cases, their prosecution relied not on anyone witnessing the act but on the testimony of medical experts.
"I think that medical science has spoken loudly and clearly," said Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot.
His office began examining Roark's case in 2012 citing evolving science around "shaken baby syndrome."
"It has completely removed the underpinning for these types of convictions," said Creuzot.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals last month agreed with the DA's recommendation to vacate Roark's conviction finding "given further study, the experts would have given a different opinion on several issues at a trial today."
Specifically, it found new scientific evidence shows a shortfall days earlier could have caused the victim's fatal head injuries and that "people cannot shake an infant hard enough" to cause the injuries sustained, certainly not without also breaking the infant's neck.
So, what about Roberson's case, then?
"To me, those are inextricably linked," said State Representative Joe Moody.
When the court released its opinion on Roark, he said it raised hope for Roberson.
"It's very similar. In fact, an identical witness was involved in both cases," he said.
"Literally the same doctor testified. Made a shaken baby diagnosis in both Mr. Roark's case and Mr. Roberson's case, and much of the testimony is identical," said Roberson's attorney Gretchen Sween.
No court, though, she said has considered the latest scientific evidence would affect Roberson's case, instead denying his appeals on procedural grounds.