Texas Supreme Court postpones execution of shaken baby inmate

The state’s highest court ordered a last-minute stay of execution on Thursday for convicted murderer Robert Roberson, who was set to be the first person executed for a conviction relying on a diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome in the United States. Several advocacy groups and state politicians rallied behind Roberson, insisting he was wrongfully convicted for the death of his infant daughter. Roberson’s lawyers argued that the science behind shaken baby syndrome is invalid, despite a wide portion of the medical community backing the diagnosis. More than 30 scientists and doctors support Roberson’s innocence, plus over 80 bipartisan Texas legislators, according to the Innocence Project, a group that advocates against specific convictions its members determine to be wrongful.

Roberson’s team petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for a reprieve, which SCOTUS declined to grant on the basis of legislative policy. It’s imperative that the credibility of Roberson’s claims of innocence be investigated, but the nation's highest court can’t stay the state’s execution, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in the majority opinion. A month-long reprieve would give the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles a chance to reconsider Roberson’s evidence and prevent a potential miscarriage of justice, the order added. However, the state’s parole board rejected a clemency appeal in a 6—0 vote on Wednesday ahead of the Supreme Court’s Thursday order, according to The Associated Press. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals also ruled to keep the scheduled Thursday execution in place last week.

What reason did the Texas Supreme Court give for the reprieve? The Texas House of Representatives Criminal Jurisprudence Committee held an all-day hearing on Wednesday and subpoenaed Roberson for testimony next week. The Texas high court delayed the sentence so that Roberson could appear as a witness before the committee.

Why is the conviction being questioned? A jury convicted Roberson in 2003 of murdering his 2-year-old-daughter, Nikki Curtis. Roberson brought Nikki to a local hospital when she stopped breathing one night in 2002. Medical staff noted bruising in several places on the comatose child’s body, and a CT scan showed severe brain trauma. An autopsy later attributed the child’s death to blunt force head injuries, according to court documents.

A common cause of brain injury and swelling in infants is shaken baby syndrome; a form of child abuse that occurs when a caretaker violently shakes an infant and causes permanent brain damage. Abusive head trauma is the leading cause of child abuse deaths for children under the age of five, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Roberson claimed Nikki’s injuries were sustained when she fell off a bed. However, nurses and doctors who cared for Nikki testified that the severity of her injuries seemed inconsistent with her simply falling off a bed. Roberson’s girlfriend, Teddie Cox, and her child also lived with him and Nikki. Cox’s 11-year-old niece testified to seeing Roberson shake the infant on previous occasions.

Roberson’s lawyers insisted that the science behind shaken baby syndrome is suspect, despite a wide portion of the medical community backing the diagnosis. Nikki had previously been taken to the hospital before she died with a fever of over 104 degrees, according to a Texas Public Radio report. Doctors prescribed the child codeine and another respiratory suppressant in response to her struggling to breathe. Roberson’s team alleged that Nikki died from sepsis that developed from a case of pneumonia she was battling before her death. Her illness combined with strong medications she should never have been prescribed in the first place led to her death, his team insisted.

Dig deeper: Read Daniel James Devine’s feature in WORLD Magazine about another parent jailed for accusations of shaken baby syndrome.