Texas Showdown: Man Fights ‘Shaken Baby’ Sentence, Liberals Cry Foul

A Texas man is making a last-ditch effort for clemency ahead of his scheduled execution next week, set to be the first American executed for a case of “shaken baby syndrome.”

Robert Roberson, now 57, was convicted in 2003 of killing his 2-year-old child based on evidence of the now widely criticized diagnosis. In recent years, shaken baby syndrome diagnoses have been successfully challenged in criminal cases.

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Roberson and Legislators Plead for Clemency

On Oct. 7, Roberson's attorneys filed an emergency motion, asking the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals to delay his execution and reconsider the conviction.

In addition to filing a clemency petition ahead of his Oct. 17 execution, Roberson was interviewed by NBC News anchor Lester Holt. Roberson urged Gov. Greg Abbott to pardon him and “let me go home.”

“Look at the support I've got, Mr. Governor, and I'm just hoping, praying that you do the right thing," Roberson said.

The support Roberson refers to comes from medical experts and Texas legislators. The Innocence Project, advocating for Roberson's clemency, claims the “case is riddled with unscientific evidence, inaccurate and misleading medical testimony, and prejudicial treatment.”

Roberson's daughter, Nikki, had been chronically ill. In 2002, according to NBC News, Roberson heard a cry and found Nikki had fallen out of her bed. After soothing the child, both went back to sleep. When Roberson woke again, he found Nikki was not breathing, and her lips had turned blue. Upon arrival at an emergency room, doctors noticed the child had symptoms of brain death. The next day, she was pronounced deceased.

Nikki was found to have a head injury that had caused bleeding, brain swelling, and retinal hemorrhaging. A Dallas doctor claimed the child's injuries were consistent with shaken baby syndrome, which occurs when a child develops head trauma from being violently shaken.

Lead police Detective Brian Wharton concurred with the diagnosis and arrested Roberson before an autopsy could be completed, NBC News reports. Wharton testified against Roberson in the 2003 capital murder trial, in which prosecutors claimed Roberson had intentionally shaken Nikki, causing bruising and blunt force trauma.

Supporters Cite Autism Diagnosis, Discredited ‘Shaken Baby Syndrome’

Prosecutors in 2003 also noted Roberson lacked emotion when he brought his child to the hospital—a claim that Roberson's supporters say is rooted in prejudice.

Since the trial, Roberson has explained his “seemingly blank reaction” was due to his autism spectrum disorder, which he was diagnosed with in 2018. His defense lawyers were also prevented from calling in a medical expert to reinforce his claims of “mental lapses” caused by a brain injury.

Roberson's recent clemency petition outlines why his Oct. 17 execution should be halted.

Texas legislators and the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty assert that Roberson is innocent, arguing he has spent more than 20 years on death row for a “crime that never occurred.” They contend that “new scientific and medical evidence” suggests Nikki, who was chronically ill, died of natural or accidental causes, and that Roberson should not be held accountable.

Roberson maintains his innocence. In 2016, after Texas became the first state to pass a “junk science law”—which allows individuals to appeal convictions based on debunked forensic science—he filed a new writ of habeas corpus. In the motion, he claimed that new scientific evidence contradicted the shaken baby syndrome theory used to convict him, that the evidence used at trial was scientifically invalid, that he is innocent, and that the use of scientifically invalid evidence violated his right to a fair trial.

Since the law was enacted in 2013, no Texan on death row has successfully secured a new trial using it. Last month, the Texas House majority advocated for his clemency.

One of Roberson's attorneys, Gretchen Sween, issued the following statement:

"Texas law expressly requires the courts, when interpreting state law, to look at any available evidence of what the Legislature intended in passing a given law so that it is accurately interpreted. A majority of the Texas House of Representatives has now left no doubt that they intended Article 11.073 to apply to circumstances like Mr. Roberson’s where evidence has been amassed that their convictions hinge on unreliable scientific evidence.

"Several of these lawmakers visited with Robert on death row recently and prayed with him. They saw with their own eyes that he is a kind, gentle, devout man who also has a palpable disability: Autism. Manifestations of that disability, along with a medical hypothesis that no responsible doctor would espouse today, resulted in hasty allegations and then the conviction of an innocent man. We hope the CCA will credit the lawmakers’ clear statement of legislative intent and pause to reconsider his changed-science claims. It would be a travesty for Texas to gain notoriety as the first government anywhere to execute one of its citizens based on a wholly discredited version of the 'Shaken Baby' hypothesis."

If the execution scheduled for Oct. 17 is carried out, Roberson would become the first person in the United States to be put to death based on a shaken baby syndrome diagnosis.