Roberson Attorney Statement: Texas Court’s Decision Reveals Its Failure to Consider Any of the New Evidence That Robert Roberson Is Innocent

(Austin, Texas, October 11, 2024) The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) – without a written opinion – has denied Robert Roberson’s request to stay his execution, scheduled for Thursday, October 17. The CCA also denied, without issuing an opinion, Mr. Roberson’s request that the Court reconsider its denial of post-conviction relief.

The CCA, once again, failed to consider any of the extensive medical and scientific evidence Mr. Roberson has submitted demonstrating that his chronically ill, two-year-old daughter, Nikki, died from illness, accident, and medical error, not because of any abuse.

Mr. Roberson’s innocence claim has widespread, diverse, and growing support, including from 34 eminent scientists and doctors, a bipartisan group of 86 Texas legislators, 8 advocates for parental rights, 8 organizations that advocate for people with autism and their families, faith leaders, innocence advocacy groups, and the former lead detective Brian Wharton.

A group of bipartisan lawmakers recently met and prayed with Mr. Roberson on death row.

In response to the CCA denial by Judge Kevin Yeary which repeats excerpts from the State’s misleading summary of the evidence (Judge Yeary was a dissenter in the CCA ruling this week, Ex parte Roark, finding that the “Shaken Baby” hypothesis in that case with the same child abuse expert in Mr. Roberson’s case is incompatible with contemporary science), Mr. Robersons’ attorney, Gretchen Sween, stated:

“Judge Yeary’s concurrence reveals that members of the CCA could not have reviewed the mountain of evidence proving that no crime occurred in Robert Roberson’s case. The concurrence simply repeats the State’s erroneous ‘multiple impacts’ claim, which flatly misrepresents what was established during the evidentiary hearing that took place over nine court days in 2018 and 2021, resulting in a lengthy record that the habeas court then disregarded and that the CCA has not discussed.

“That record contains no credible evidence that Nikki suffered from what Judge Yeary and the State call ‘multiple impacts.’ It was precisely because Nikki had no significant external injuries that the Shaken Baby diagnosis was made. Even the autopsy photos— taken after Nikki had been subjected to days of medical intervention—do not show evidence of any “battery.” That was an imagined scenario—a product of outdated medical beliefs that led doctors to consider only abuse as a possible explanation for Nikki’s death—beliefs that have been falsified by mountains of evidence in 2021.

“Since then, even more evidence supporting Mr. Roberson’s innocence, proving the actual causes of Nikki’s death, has been submitted to the CCA more recently, yet the court clearly has elected not to consider it. Instead, the CCA is relying on a deceptive and unsubstantiated argument the State clings to in its zeal to execute an innocent man and turn the spotlight off this gross miscarriage of justice.

“This devastating development further confirms that no court has yet looked at the overwhelming evidence amassed from highly qualified specialists showing that Nikki died from a virulent pneumonia that had progressed to the point of sepsis and then septic shock, and that she was pushed over the edge by dangerous prescription medications that should never have been prescribed to a child her age in her condition. Neither State’s counsel nor any court has yet acknowledged the long-lost CAT scans that a radiologist has explained are definitive proof of only a single minor impact–a bump on the back of Nikki’s head–and no other signs of impact at all.

“Moreover, the habeas court’s mishandling of Mr. Roberson’s attempts to prove his right to relief, including its wholesale adoption of the State’s unsupported proposed findings, is among the numerous reasons why the issue of whether the habeas judge’s impartiality can reasonably be questioned is now before another judge in a proceeding in the trial court. A hearing on that issue is scheduled for Tuesday.

“Texas must stop its relentless pursuit of Robert Roberson’s wrongful execution. If the courts will not fulfill their role as the neutral arbiters of justice, then the Board and Governor Abbott must step in to prevent an irreparable injustice.”