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The state of Texas is again trying to execute Robert Roberson, a man diagnosed with autism who was convicted in the shaken baby syndrome death of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki. But groups like the Center for Integrity in Forensic Sciences say there's mounting evidence that Nikki died of an illness and not from child abuse. Texas Public Radio's David Martin Davies has more.
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DAVID MARTIN DAVIES, BYLINE: Robert Roberson was handcuffed behind his back when he was brought into a small cell. The cuffs were removed through a thin slot in the steel door. One side of the cell was bulletproof glass and on the wall was an old-style telephone handset. That was two weeks ago.
ROBERT ROBERSON: Good morning, morning.
DAVIES: Good morning, Robert. How are you doing?
ROBERSON: I'm good.
DAVIES: In 2024, he came within 90 minutes of the lethal injection, but a last-minute court decision put the execution on hold.
ROBERSON: I was relieved not just for myself but for my loved ones, you know? I said, I'm still just as innocent, you know, as I was when y'all put me in there, you know?
DAVIES: In July, Texas assigned Roberson another execution date.
ROBERSON: Here we are again.
DAVIES: In 2003, Roberson was sentenced to die for the death of his 2-year-old daughter Nikki Curtis. Prosecutors based their case on the theory of shaken baby syndrome, which is now in question in this case. But Nikki had contracted pneumonia, and she had a fever over 104 degrees, which jurors never knew about. When Roberson took her to the hospital, he was immediately labeled a suspect.
ROBERSON: Then they called the detectives in and stuff, you know?
DAVIES: Brian Wharton was that detective.
BRIAN WHARTON: We just need to find the responsible party and make the case. Well, we're going to make the case.
ROBERSON: I couldn't believe it, you know?
DAVIES: Roberson said he was stunned when he was arrested.
ROBERSON: I said, how can they accuse me of it? It's already bad enough that Nikki's dying and stuff, you know?
DAVIES: Wharton now thinks he got it wrong that day and that Roberson is innocent. Gretchen Sween is Roberson's attorney. She said last year an expert looked at lung tissue samples taken from Nikki's autopsy and found new evidence that she died from pneumonia.
GRETCHEN SWEEN: She had not one but two kinds of pneumonia and very diseased lungs.
DAVIES: Katherine Judson, director of the Center for Integrity in Forensic Science, has said this evidence was not available during Roberson's trial.
KATHERINE JUDSON: In the two decades that have passed since Mr. Roberson's trial, evidence-based science has roundly debunked the version of the shaken baby syndrome hypothesis that was put before his jury.
DAVIES: The American Academy of Pediatrics has not commented directly on Roberson's case but says there is, in fact, no debate in the medical field that shaken baby syndrome is a real and devastating injury that can lead to lifelong brain damage or death. In its pursuit of Roberson's execution, the state of Texas has changed its story on what caused Nikki's death from shaken baby to blunt-force trauma. In 2024, the Texas attorney general's office emphasized that Nikki had extensive bruising, indicating blunt-force impacts, and that it was not shaking that killed her. Sween says the bruises were caused by the hospital staff when they tried to save her life.
SWEEN: The bruises that were noted in the autopsy report were after two days of extensive medical intervention.
DAVIES: NPR reached out to the Texas AG's office for comment, and there was no response. A juror who voted to convict Roberson, Terry Compton, testified last year to the Texas House Committee on criminal jurisprudence that the jury was not instructed to consider blunt-force trauma as a cause of death.
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TERRY COMPTON: I'm the - one of them that made that conviction of shaken baby syndrome.
DAVIES: John Grisham, a novelist and lawyer known for his best-selling legal thrillers, is joining the effort to get Roberson a new trial. His next book is about Roberson called, "Shaken: The Rush To Execute An Innocent Man."
JOHN GRISHAM: A kind last-ditch effort to raise awareness, to get attention, to try to stop the execution.
DAVIES: Meanwhile, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals is considering if Roberson should get a new trial based on the new medical evidence that 2-year-old Nikki died of pneumonia, but time is running out. Roberson is scheduled to be executed on October 16. For NPR News, I'm David Martin Davies in San Antonio. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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