Robert Roberson’s Attorneys File Objection to Texas AG’s Request for Execution Date in Innocence Case

(June 17, 2025) Yesterday, Attorney General Ken Paxton asked the Anderson County District Court to schedule an execution date for Robert Roberson, an innocent man who was wrongfully convicted of causing the tragic 2002 death of his chronically ill toddler daughter, Nikki.

Today, Mr. Roberson’s legal team filed an objection to the attorney general’s request asserting numerous reasons why no execution should be scheduled. Mr. Roberson’s application for habeas corpus relief, which presents a wealth of new evidence supporting his actual innocence, is presently pending before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

The Objection to Request for Execution Date and Motion to be Heard can be accessed here.

Below is a statement from Gretchen Sween, one of Mr. Roberson’s attorneys:

“Robert Roberson is innocent. Yet Attorney General Paxton, whose office just recently took over the State’s representation, is trying to execute him even though Robert has presented powerful new evidence of his innocence to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. The AG’s unjustified rush to seek an execution date while that new evidence of innocence is before the court is outrageous.

Robert’s attorneys have amassed overwhelming innocence evidence—including more unrebutted evidence since last fall—proving that Robert’s daughter died because of illness, medical error, and accident, none of which was Robert’s fault. Robert was almost wrongfully executed last year. But for the courageous intervention of Texas lawmakers from both parties the worst possible injustice would have been an irrevocable stain on Texas.

New information continues to come to light proving Robert’s innocence and we are grateful that his habeas application with that new evidence is currently being considered by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. There is no justification for the Attorney General’s relentless effort to kill an innocent human being—and no state law or moral law that authorizes seeking an execution date under these circumstances.”

More information about Mr. Roberson’s case can be found here and here.

For more information or to speak with an attorney for Mr. Roberson, please contact: [email protected].