The execution of Robert Roberson, a Texas man sentenced to death for the murder of his two-year-old daughter, has been delayed again after the judge overseeing his case voluntarily stepped down.
Roberson was set to be the first person in the United States to be executed for a crime linked to “shaken baby syndrome.” However, his execution was halted in October due to public outcry and legal battles among Texas lawmakers.
Judge Deborah Oakes Evans, who had signed Roberson’s death warrant, recused herself from the case on November 25, citing no specific reason for her decision. The warrant she issued expired in October, and the case now faces further delays.
Roberson has consistently maintained his innocence. In 2003, he was convicted of killing his daughter, Nikki Curtis, after a post-mortem found she died from abusive injuries. However, Roberson insists that Nikki fell out of her bed and was unresponsive when he found her hours later.
Medical staff at the hospital where Nikki was taken suspected abuse, but Roberson’s defense team argued that she had been prescribed a medication, no longer given to children, which could have caused complications contributing to her death, along with the fall.
Over the years, the case has sparked numerous legal battles, particularly as doubts about the validity of “shaken baby syndrome” diagnoses have grown. High-profile figures, including author John Grisham, have called for the execution to be halted.
With Judge Evans stepping down, it is now up to the district attorney to determine the next steps.
Judge Evans had previously presided over several hearings, including one in 2021 to review new evidence. Ultimately, she declined to order a new trial. The Texas appeals court upheld Roberson’s conviction, and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to take up the case. Despite retiring, Evans returned to sign Roberson’s death warrant, which led to the scheduled execution on October 17.
However, in a surprising move, a bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers issued a subpoena for Roberson to testify on that date, leading another judge to temporarily delay the execution. The Texas Supreme Court later ruled that the subpoena would not prevent the execution, but a new date has yet to be set.
Roberson’s lawyer, Gretchen Sween, expressed hope that recent developments would prompt the district attorney to reconsider moving forward with the execution. Sween also called for a meeting with defense attorneys to review the evidence once more.
“Shaken baby syndrome,” now referred to as abusive head trauma, is typically diagnosed based on symptoms like retinal hemorrhage, brain swelling, and bleeding in the brain. While the diagnosis is widely accepted by the medical community, recent reports emphasize the importance of thoroughly investigating all possible causes of the injuries before concluding abuse as the cause.
The BBC reached out to Allyson Mitchell, the district attorney in Anderson County, Texas, for comment, but did not receive a response.
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