LIVINGSTON, Texas (AP) — Robert Roberson was calm and hopeful as he contemplated his mortality and whether or not he may once more keep away from turning into the primary individual within the U.S. executed for a homicide conviction tied to the analysis of shaken child syndrome.
With days to go earlier than his scheduled Oct. 16 execution, Roberson maintained his innocence within the 2002 demise of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis, within the east Texas metropolis of Palestine. He’s set to die by deadly injection practically a yr to the day after a bunch of Texas lawmakers, who say he’s harmless, secured a unprecedented last-minute postponement as Roberson waited outdoors the demise chamber in Huntsville.
Roberson stated he was inserting his hopes for one other execution keep within the fingers of his attorneys, his supporters and God.
“I’m not going to emphasize out and stuff as a result of I do know God has it, you already know. He’s in management. It doesn’t matter what, God’s in management, you already know, and he does have the final say, you already know,” Roberson, 58, advised The Related Press final week as he sat behind a glass partition within the visiting space of the Polunsky Unit in Livingston, the place Texas’ male demise row inmates are housed.
Throughout an hourlong interview, Roberson stated he thinks about his daughter day by day and how much life she would have right now.
Prosecutors at Roberson’s 2003 trial argued he hit his daughter and violently shook her, inflicting extreme head trauma and that she died from accidents associated to shaken child syndrome. Roberson’s attorneys and a few medical specialists say his daughter died not from abuse however from issues associated to pneumonia. They are saying his conviction was primarily based on flawed and now outdated scientific proof.
The analysis of shaken child syndrome refers to a critical mind harm brought about when a baby’s head is damage by means of shaking or another violent impression, like being slammed in opposition to a wall or thrown on the ground.
Roberson’s attorneys have argued his undiagnosed autism helped convict him as authorities and medical personnel felt he didn’t act like a involved mother or father as a result of his flat have an effect on was seen as an indication of guilt.
A final-minute keep of execution
Final yr, Roberson was on the verge of being put to demise when a flurry of last-minute authorized maneuvering on the night time of his scheduled execution, together with an unprecedented intervention by a bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers, stayed his deadly injection. In July, a choose set the brand new execution date, Roberson’s third.
Throughout his interview with the AP, Roberson usually wouldn’t hold eye contact and would repeat phrases or phrases — behaviors that specialists say are related to autism.
“They assumed (guilt) due to the best way I used to be performing, you already know. And I didn’t know I used to be autistic, you already know, till years and years later, you already know,” stated Roberson, who wasn’t recognized with autism till 2018.
Roberson’s supporters and his authorized group are once more holding rallies and asking state and federal appeals courts and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to halt his execution. His supporters embrace each liberal and ultraconservative lawmakers, Texas GOP megadonor and conservative activist Doug Deason, bestselling creator John Grisham and Brian Wharton, the previous police detective who helped put collectively the case in opposition to him.
“The entire world is watching. Texas, don’t kill this harmless man,” Wharton stated throughout a rally Saturday outdoors the Texas Capitol constructing in Austin.
Lawyer normal and others insist Nikki died of kid abuse
The workplace of Texas Lawyer Common Ken Paxton, in addition to some medical specialists and different members of the family of Nikki, keep the woman died due to youngster abuse and that Roberson had a historical past of hitting his daughter.
“It’s been a very long time coming. … For my part he did it, 100%,” Matthew Bowman, Nikki’s half brother, advised reporters in July. Bowman declined to talk with the AP.
Abbott’s workplace didn’t instantly reply to emails searching for remark. Abbott has the facility to grant a one-time 30-day reprieve.
Roberson stated he by no means damage his daughter and had been working to show his life round and care for Nikki after spending time in jail for housebreaking and theft by verify.
“I by no means shook her or hit her,” Roberson stated, including he by no means disciplined his daughter “as a result of she was so tiny.”
Shaken child syndrome has come beneath scrutiny in recent times as some attorneys and medical specialists have argued the analysis has wrongly despatched individuals to jail. Prosecutors and medical societies say it stays legitimate.
“It’s now not a thriller what occurred to Nikki. It was not shaking. It was her power, critical well being situations,” Gretchen Sween, one in all Roberson’s attorneys, stated at Saturday’s rally. “A criminal offense didn’t happen.”
However in a Sept. 26 op-ed in The Dallas Morning Information, three pediatricians, together with two with the Yale College of Medication, stated they reviewed the case and “are satisfied that Nikki was a sufferer of kid abuse.”
Roberson says he’s optimistic he’ll get an opportunity to show innocence
Roberson was arrested after he took Nikki to a hospital when she grew to become unresponsive following a fall off their mattress. He stated he had by no means heard of shaken child syndrome.
“It was unhealthy sufficient dropping my little woman. After which after they accused me of it, I couldn’t imagine it,” Roberson stated.
In a press launch issued after Roberson’s execution was delayed final yr in addition to in current courtroom filings, Paxton’s workplace has confused that “this was no mere shaken child case however concerned a baby who was overwhelmed and obtained a number of blows to the pinnacle.” Paxton’s workplace stated the jury “didn’t convict Roberson on the idea of ‘Shaken Child Syndrome.’”
But one of many jurors who convicted Roberson, Terre Compton, advised lawmakers final yr that, “the whole lot that was offered to us was all about shaken child syndrome. That’s what our resolution was primarily based on.”
Grisham, who’s writing a e book in regards to the case, stated Roberson’s trial “was grossly unfair” as a result of his autism contributed to individuals believing he was responsible and his protection attorneys advised jurors it was a case of shaken child syndrome.
Roberson stated he stays optimistic he’ll sooner or later get an opportunity to show his innocence with a brand new trial.
“I’m not scared to die, however I’m not able to die, you already know. I wish to imagine God has extra for me to do and stuff, you already know,” Roberson stated.
