Exonerees Urge Relief for Robert Roberson, Innocent Father Scheduled for Execution on Oct. 16 Based on Discredited “Shaken Baby” Conviction

Exonerees fear if Mr. Roberson’s execution is not stayed, he will be the first person executed in the United States for a conviction obtained using the now widely debunked “Shaken Baby Syndrome” (SBS) hypothesis.

In an open letter released today at a virtual press conference sponsored by the Center for Integrity in Forensic Sciences (CIFS), a group of 20 exonerees call on Texas authorities to do everything in their power to prevent the wrongful execution of Robert Roberson, an innocent man who faces execution in Texas on October 16. Several of the signatories were wrongfully convicted under the now-discredited SBS hypothesis, like Mr. Roberson; five of them appear on the SBS exoneree list maintained by the National Registry of Exonerations.

Josh Burns, an airline pilot who was wrongfully convicted in Michigan of shaking his infant daughter and spent ten years fighting to obtain official recognition of his innocence, read the exonerees’ letter. “We all know the horror of being wrongfully accused and convicted of having hurt a beloved child,” the letter says. “Some of us sought medical help for a sick or injured child, only to be blindsided by abuse accusations stemming from hasty, scientifically dubious diagnoses, including SBS. In the cruelest cases, while grieving the loss of a child, we were unjustly charged with murder, convicted, and sentenced despite considerable reasons to doubt the allegations and despite medical alternatives for the child’s condition. This is what happened to Robert.”

The signatories express relief for their own exonerations “after years of heartache, anguish, and despair,” and gratitude to finally be “reunited with our families and communities, free to rebuild the lives stolen from us by the State.” They urge: “This is what we want for Robert and what he deserves,” and implore the Texas authorities “to prevent the wrongful execution of this innocent father.”

Mr. Burns said that following his exoneration, he and his family moved to Texas because “we believed that Texas cherishes liberty, parental rights, and evidence-based science.” He was shocked to learn about Mr. Roberson’s case, and said, “I feel compelled to speak out for Robert  because his case looks so much like mine, yet his life hangs in the balance.”

Mr. Burns’ concern is heightened by his awareness of how Mr. Roberson’s undiagnosed Autism Spectrum Disorder contributed to the rush to judgment against him. Mr. Burns’ daughter is also a person with autism. He said: “I can only imagine how challenging it must be for him to communicate what it feels like to be caught up in this kind of nightmare for over 20 years.”

Exoneree Audrey Edmunds also spoke at today’s event. She was a happily married mother of two with a baby on the way and the neighborhood soccer mom. When an infant died in her care, she was wrongfully convicted of murder based on the same SBS hypothesis used to obtain Robert’s conviction. Ms. Edmunds spent 11 years fighting for her freedom. “The pseudo-science of SBS cost me more than a decade with my family, she said. “I missed seeing my children grow up, but I was fortunate to have finally been exonerated. I can’t fathom how Texas can possibly think executing Robert would be anything other than a complete miscarriage of justice.”

According to the National Registry of Exonerations, there have been at least 41 people exonerated in the United States after being wrongfully convicted on the basis of the SBS hypothesis.

Two other exonerees, Anna Vasquez and Sabrina Butler-Smith, who were also wrongfully convicted of harming children and lost years of freedom, also spoke at today’s press event. Ms. Vasquez spent 13 years in prison in Texas for child abuse that never occurred after being convicted in part based on flawed forensic evidence. Ms. Butler-Smith was a teenage mother whose coerced confession led to her wrongful conviction for murder arising from the death of her infant son. She was the first woman exonerated from death row in the United States.

Katherine Judson, Director of CIFS, said: “Science proves Robert Roberson did not harm his daughter, and she died because of readily identifiable natural and accidental causes. The Texas courts and the Texas authorities have all of this evidence before them—they must not ignore it and allow an innocent man to be executed.”

Her concern was echoed by CIFS co-founder Keith Findley, Emeritus Professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School and the author of the first multi-disciplinary treatise on SBS/AHT: “All available evidence shows that Mr. Roberson’s daughter’s death was not a crime. Texas should not be afraid to admit when a mistake has been made.”

Concerns about Mr. Roberson’s innocence have generated a groundswell of support in Texas, nationally, and internationally; he was nearly executed last year but was spared through the intervention of a bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers. Despite ever-mounting evidence of his innocence, the State continues its efforts to execute him.

Mr. Roberson was a Special Education student when he dropped out of school after the 9^th grade and is a person with Autism Spectrum Disorder. In 2002, Mr. Roberson’s two-year old, chronically ill daughter, Nikki, was sick with a high fever and undiagnosed pneumonia when she suffered a short fall from bed. Doctors had prescribed her Phenergan, a powerful medication that is no longer approved for children Nikki’s age and in her condition because of its respiratory-suppressing effects. She was also prescribed Codeine, a narcotic, not recommended for anyone under age eighteen.

Mr. Roberson took Nikki to the emergency room, where hospital staff did not know he had Autism and judged his response to his daughter’s grave condition as lacking appropriate emotion. The police and prosecutors similarly rushed to judgment and, after Nikki tragically died, Mr. Roberson was prosecuted, convicted, and sentenced to death using the now-discredited SBS hypothesis and a diagnostic process that is no longer acceptable under standards set by the American Academy of Pediatrics. The child abuse pediatrician who made the SBS diagnosis did not review Nikki’s medical history documenting a history of unexplained breathing apnea and dangerous prescriptions contra-indicated for a child with respiratory issues; the medical examiner who performed Nikki’s autopsy did not even review the records from her last hospitalization, including CT scans of Nikki’s head establishing she had no skull fractures or any evidence of a battery; and none of the physicians at the time employed the differential diagnosis process that now requires consideration and exclusion of all plausible alternatives before “diagnosing” SBS.

Earlier this year, a group of independent pathologists submitted a joint statement to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in which they concluded: “the 2002 autopsy performed on Nikki Curtis is not reliable,” and “[t]he conclusions regarding cause and manner of death . . . could not withstand scrutiny in light of contemporary scientific understanding.” They expressed particular concern that the medical examiner failed to review Nikki’s CT scans “and thus did not recognize that the more extensive intracranial blood observed at autopsy two days later—and presumed to be a sign of multiple sites of trauma—had not existed when Nikki arrived at the hospital.”

Mr. Roberson has been fighting for his life as the State of Texas refuses to acknowledge the evidence of his innocence. “There is still time for the Court of Criminal Appeals to step in and prevent an irreparable injustice, and we urge the court to consider all the evidence before it proving that Robert is innocent,” said Professor Findley.