A judge in Anderson County will hear arguments next week over whether an East Texas man’s execution should be canceled because a retired judge allegedly erred, attorneys said in a news release Tuesday.
Robert Roberson III, 57, was sentenced to death in 2003 for killing his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki. He is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on Oct. 17 in Huntsville.
Roberson’s conviction centered on doctors’ testimony that Nikki’s death was consistent with “shaken baby syndrome” when an infant is severely injured from being violently shaken. Roberson’s lawyers have called the hypothesis “junk science” and argued the jury was swayed by “false, misleading and scientifically invalid testimony.”
If he’s put to death, Roberson will become the first person in the country to be executed for shaken baby syndrome, according to lawmakers. More than 30 people who served time in prison after convictions involving shaken baby syndrome have been later declared innocent, according to the National Registry of Exonerations .
Tenth Administrative Judicial Region Presiding Judge Alfonso Charles will hear Roberson’s motion to vacate his execution warrant early Oct. 15 at the Anderson County courthouse in Palestine, according to the news release.
In their September motion, Roberson’s lawyers argue the retired judge who oversaw post-conviction preceding and issued his execution warrant in July did not follow statutory procedure and did not have jurisdiction over the case. Lawyers also questioned the judge’s impartiality. Charles will rule on whether to void the execution date order.
Roberson has maintained his innocence while being held on death row for more than 20 years. He petitioned the state for clemency last month, after Texas’ highest criminal appeals court declined to stop his execution.
In 2002, Roberson found Nikki unresponsive. He rushed her blue, limp body to a hospital and said she fell from a bed. Medical staff suspected child abuse and called police, according to court documents.
Roberson’s lawyers said in the news release that new evidence shows Nikki, who was chronically ill, died from “illness, accident, and medical error, not because of any abuse.”
A bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers, activists and an ex-Palestine police detective — whose testimony helped convict Roberson — have all urged the state to pause the execution.