HOUSTON — On Thursday night, a man from Texas was spared the death penalty for being convicted of murder in connection with the diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome.
Thursday was Robert Roberson’s scheduled execution date for the 2002 murder of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis.
Advertisement In the late hours of Thursday, the Texas Supreme Court halted Roberson’s execution and ordered state officials to let the death row inmate comply with a House committee’s subpoena for his testimony.
The Texas House committee wants Roberson to testify on Monday at a hearing about how his case was handled by the state’s “junk science” law, which lets people challenge convictions with new science.
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By signing up for GoogleFacebook, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Roberson has long maintained his innocence. The head and other injuries caused by child abuse are real, according to his lawyers, a bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers, medical experts, and others. But they say that new evidence has shown Nikki died from complications related to severe pneumonia, and that his conviction was based on flawed and now-outdated scientific evidence.
Related: Advertisement A Supreme Court justice is dissatisfied with the way a Texas court handled Roberson’s death row case. However, prosecutors maintain that Roberson’s new evidence does not refute their claim that Nikki died from injuries her father caused.
The controversy surrounding shaken baby syndrome was rekindled by Roberson’s scheduled execution. Lawyers and some members of the medical and scientific communities on one side of the argument contend that the shaken baby diagnosis is flawed and has resulted in incorrect convictions.
On October 15, 2024, Judge Alfonso Charles denied motions to vacate the execution warrant and recuse Judge Deborah Oakes Evans. He upheld Robert Roberson’s execution order. Azul Sordo/Staff Photographer) On the opposing side, prosecutors and medical societies from the United States and around the world assert that the diagnosis is accurate, has been scientifically demonstrated, and is the most common cause of fatal head injuries in children under the age of two.
