Execution of Robert Roberson to resume, Texas Supreme Court says
AUSTIN – After months of delays and an attempt for clemency, the execution of Robert Roberson will resume, according to a new filing from the Texas Supreme Court.
Roberson was convicted in the 2002 killing of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis but has long proclaimed his innocence. His lawyers as well as a bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers, medical experts and others have argued his conviction was based on faulty scientific evidence and say new evidence has shown Curtis died from complications related to severe pneumonia.
Roberson was set to become the first person in the U.S. executed for a shaken baby syndrome murder conviction on Oct. 17 before the court intervened the night prior. The dramatic turn of events included a state House committee issuing a subpoena for Roberson to testify.
Roberson's attorneys have said he was wrongly arrested and later convicted after taking his daughter to a hospital. She said her client had undiagnosed autism at the time which made his cold demeanor at the hospital seem like a sign of guilt to the detective.
"[Roberson's] daughter Nikki's death was a tragedy not a crime; Robert is innocent. Given the overwhelming new evidence of innocence, we ask the State of Texas to refrain from setting a new execution date," said Roberson's attorney, Gretchen Sween.