Trial judge in Robert Roberson’s death row case agrees to recusal
Senior District Judge Deborah Oakes Evans recused herself after a challenge to her impartiality over longtime relationships with case prosecutors and judges. Full Story
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![Judge Deborah Oakes Evans presides over a hearing in Palestine on Aug. 14, 2018 as Robert Roberson's attorneys seek a new trial. Roberson was convicted and sentenced to death in 2003 for the murder of the murder of his two-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis.]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune -
Texas can schedule Robert Roberson’s execution — but lawmakers still expect his testimony first
Roberson was convicted of killing his 2-year-old daughter in a “shaken baby” case that many say led to an innocent man’s death sentence. Full Story
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![Robert Roberson seeks a new trial for the 2003 conviction of the murder of his two-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis, in Palestine, Texas on August 14, 2018.]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Supreme Court removes temporary block to Robert Roberson’s execution
The state’s highest civil court ruled that legislators can’t use subpoenas to block death row inmates’ executions, but suggested there’s still time for Roberson to testify before a Texas House panel. Full Story
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![Former Detective Brian Wharton testifies during a Criminal Jurisprudence hearing on death row inmate Robert Roberson on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024 in Austin, TX. Wharton was an investigator in the case of the death of Nikki Roberson and has expressed his doubts of Roberson's guilt and agrees with stopping his execution. With his scheduled execution drawing closer, a hearing debating the certainty of Robreson's guilt and there is a bipartisan push to stay his execution. Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune
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There are warring depictions of Robert Roberson’s murder case. Here’s what to know.
Even before the Texas man’s death sentence became a political lightning rod, law enforcement and medical experts had differing opinions on the evidence that convicted him. Full Story
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![Robert Roberson photographed through plexiglass at TDCJ Polunsky Unit in Livingston on Dec. 19, 2023. Texas death row prisoners are housed in Livingston but executed at the state prison in Huntsville, about 43 miles away.]()
Credit: Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Innocence Project -
Ken Paxton resisting Texas House members’ bid to hear Robert Roberson’s testimony
Members of a Texas House committee say in a Texas Supreme Court filing that Paxton’s office is blocking the death row inmate from complying with a legislative subpoena. Full Story
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![The Texas House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence meets to consider the death penalty imposed on Robert Roberson, on death row for the death of his daughter, on Oct. 21, 2024. At issue is Roberson's conviction based on a diagnosis of "shaken baby syndrome," now discredited as "junk science" and specifically rejected by Texas law.]()
Credit: Lorianne Willett/The Texas Tribune -
Robert Roberson’s case spotlights Texas’ GOP divide on criminal justice
Texas’ junk science statute has remained hamstrung for the last decade. So too have other criminal justice reforms, despite efforts from the Texas House. Full Story
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![From left: State Reps. David Cook, R-Mansfield, Jeff Leach, R-Plano, and Brian Harrison, R-Midlothian, during a House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence hearing on death row inmate Robert Roberson on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024 in Austin.]()
Credit: Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune -
Gov. Greg Abbott’s office condemns Texas House lawmakers who intervened in Robert Roberson’s execution
The Texas governor had not publicly shared his thoughts on the actions of a bipartisan group of lawmakers that stopped the scheduled execution of Robert Roberson. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Dallas on Aug. 4, 2022.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Shelby Tauber -
Robert Roberson juror says new evidence would have prevented his conviction in shaken baby case
The death row inmate was expected to testify before a Texas House committee, but those plans were scrapped amid a dispute over whether he should appear in person or virtually. Full Story
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![Robert Roberson photographed through plexiglass at TDCJ Polunsky Unit in Livingston on Dec. 19, 2023. Texas death row prisoners are housed in Livingston but executed at the state prison in Huntsville, about 43 miles away.]()
Credit: Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Innocence Project -
As Robert Roberson’s execution neared, Gov. Greg Abbott stuck to silence
It’s rare for governors to step in to halt executions. In the case of Robert Roberson, it ended up being state lawmakers who took extraordinary steps. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott speaks about the recent 88th Legislative Session to an audience at the Texas Public Policy Foundation offices in Austin, on June 2, 2023. Abbott recounted policy victories in regards to fentanyl and the border crisis, as well as limiting gender-affirming care and banning DEI practices in higher education. Abbott ended the event by promising to call a special session for school choice, after the current special session for property tax resolves.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
After Roberson ruling, upcoming Court of Criminal Appeals election in the spotlight
Three of the five judges who allowed Robert Roberson’s execution to proceed will be leaving the court after Paxton-backed primary challenges. Full Story
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![The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Jan. 15, 2020.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
A legal battle spared Robert Roberson’s life, for now. Here’s what happens next.
The effort to spare Roberson sparked a conflict between the executive and legislative branches that must be resolved. When it is, the death row inmate will likely be back on the path to execution. Full Story
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![Robert Roberson seeks a new trial for the 2003 conviction of the murder of his two-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis. His attorneys are asking for a new trial based on new findings they say debunk the flawed science presented in the original trial.]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune -
What is shaken baby syndrome, the controversial diagnosis for which Robert Roberson is set to die?
The American Academy of Pediatrics embraces the diagnosis, but courts have thrown out some cases, calling it “junk science.” Full Story
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![A midwife cares for a newborn baby.]()
Credit: Natalia Ojewska for The Texas Tribune -
With little say over Robert Roberson’s fate, Texas lawmakers take extraordinary steps to buy him more time
With Roberson’s options dwindling, a House panel used its bully pulpit to prove his case and excoriate the failures of the state’s junk science law. Full Story
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![Robert Roberson seeks a new trial for the 2003 conviction of the murder of his two-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis in Palestine on Aug. 14, 2018. His attorneys are asking for a new trial based on new findings they say debunk the flawed science presented in the original trial.]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Supreme Court temporarily stops Robert Roberson’s execution
The state’s highest civil court said it wants a lower court to resolve a separation-of-powers issue raised by a group of Texas lawmakers who subpoenaed the death row inmate the night before he was set to be put to death. Full Story
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![Jennifer Roberson (center), sister-in-law of Robert Roberson, is comforted after speaking outside of the Huntsville Unit in Huntsville. Opponents of the death penalty and prison personnel alike waited into the night for word on whether Roberson would be executed.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for the Texas Tribunne -
Robert Roberson’s final efforts to stop Texas execution dwindle as support for clemency grows
Few options to avoid death remain for the Palestine man, who is set to be executed Thursday on the basis of a shaken baby syndrome diagnosis. Full Story
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![Interior of Death Chamber in Texas.]()
Credit: Jenevieve Robbins/Texas Department of Criminal Justice -
Bipartisan Texas House majority urges clemency for man facing execution in shaken baby case
Lawmakers cite new scientific evidence that they say proves Robert Roberson, who is set for execution on Oct. 17, did not kill his daughter. Full Story
![Robert Roberson seeks a new trial for the 2003 conviction of the murder of his two-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis, in Palestine, Texas on August 14, 2018.]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune -
Texas’ highest criminal court declines to stop execution of man accused in shaken baby case
Lawyers for Robert Roberson say the science used to sentence him to death is questionable and that prior health issues could explain the death of his 2-year-old daughter in 2002. Full Story
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![Robert Roberson in court for the review of his 2003 conviction in the death of his two-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis, in Palestine on August 14, 2018. His attorneys are asking for a new trial based on new scientific evidence.]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune -
Questions about validity of shaken baby syndrome not enough to give Texas death row inmate new trial, court rules
Robert Roberson was sentenced to death for killing his 2-year-old daughter. Experts have since backtracked on the science used in part to win his conviction. Full Story
![Robert Roberson seeks a new trial for the 2003 conviction of the murder of his two-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis, in Palestine, Texas on August 14, 2018.]()
Credit: Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune