The Texas Pardon Board on Wednesday rejected the clemency appeal of an autistic man on death row whose murder conviction was based on what his lawyers called a misdiagnosis of “shaken baby syndrome.”
Robert Roberson, 57, is scheduled to die by lethal injection Thursday at the state prison in Huntsville for the February 2002 death of his two-year-old daughter, Nikki.
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles took up Roberson’s case on Wednesday and declined in a 6-0 vote to recommend clemency to Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
Abbott is unable to grant clemency without the board’s recommendation, but he can grant a 30-day commutation of Roberson’s death sentence.
Gretchen Sween, one of Roberson’s attorneys, urged the governor to grant relief “so that we can pursue Mr. Roberson’s claim of innocence.”
“We pray that Governor Abbott will do everything in his power to prevent the tragic, irreversible mistake of executing an innocent man,” Swain said.
Roberson’s case has drawn the attention of the Innocence Project, which works to overturn wrongful convictions, as well as best-selling American novelist John Grisham, Texas lawmakers, and medical experts.
Those calling for his execution to be halted include the man who put him behind bars – Brian Wharton, the former chief detective for the city of Palestine.
“Knowing everything I know now, I am absolutely convinced that Robert is an innocent man,” Wharton said at a recent news conference held by Roberson’s supporters. “System failed Robert.”
Grisham, author of legal thrillers “The Firm” and “A Time to Kill,” also appeared on the program and said: “The amazing thing about Robert’s case is that no crime was committed.”
Roberson’s lawyers say that the diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome made by the hospital where her chronically ill daughter died was incorrect and that the cause of death was actually pneumonia, which was worsened when doctors prescribed inappropriate medication.
Roberson’s attorney, Sween, said there was “a wealth of new medical and scientific evidence” that showed the little girl died “from natural and accidental causes, and not from abuse.”
According to his lawyers, Roberson would be the first person to be executed in the United States based on a conviction of shaken baby syndrome.
‘unscientific’
According to Kate Judson of the Center for Integrity in Forensic Sciences, more than 30 parents and caregivers in 18 US states were acquitted after being wrongfully convicted using “unscientific” shaking baby testimony. Is.
Sweeny said that Roberson’s autism spectrum disorder, which was not diagnosed until 2018, contributed to his arrest and conviction.
He said, “It is very likely that Mr. Roberson would not be on death row today, but would be because of his autism.”
Sveen said that the staff at the hospital where her daughter was admitted did not know she had autism and “considered her flat affect as a sign of guilt.”
A bipartisan group of 86 Texas state lawmakers has also urged clemency for Roberson, citing “vast new scientific evidence” that casts doubt on his guilt.
There have been 19 executions in the United States this year.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
