A judge ordered an Oct. 16 execution date for death row inmate Robert Roberson Wednesday upon the Texas Attorney General's request — almost exactly a year after he narrowly avoided execution when state lawmakers intervened in his case.
During the roughly 20-minute hearing in Anderson County court, Judge Austin Reeve Jackson — a Smith County district judge who took over the case after a retired judge recused herself from the case — heard arguments from Roberson's attorney Gretchen Sween and an attorney for the state. Roberson was present for the hearing in black and white striped prison clothing and handcuffs.
Roberson was sentenced to death in 2003 after he was convicted in the death of his infant daughter Nikki, who prosecutors said died of “shaken baby syndrome.” His legal team has long claimed that diagnosis is junk science, and his attorneys’ latest filing in his case cites medical experts who say the conclusions made in Nikki’s autopsy are flawed and unreliable.
Roberson’s attorney Gretchen Sween argued Wednesday there's no legal reason to set a date for Roberson’s execution while there's an application for Roberson's release from prison pending before Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the state's court of last resort for criminal matters.
"There's perhaps a political reason, which really has no place in the courtroom, which is to put pressure on this higher court to hurry up and rule," Sween said.
Sween also cited the exoneration of Andrew Wayne Roark last year, a Dallas County man whose conviction was also based on shaken baby syndrome.
But Jackson said it’s not up to him to consider the merits of Roberson’s criminal appeal.
“There is no legal basis that would prohibit the setting of an execution date,” Jackson said.
In a statement, Sween said Roberson's team plans to seek a pause on Roberson's execution so the new evidence they've put forth to support his innocence can be reviewed in court, which hasn't happened yet.
Roberson’s execution was put on pause last October when a bipartisan Texas House committee subpoenaed Roberson to discuss the application of the state’s junk science law in his case — an unprecedented move. The law allows people to appeal their convictions if they believe they would not have been convicted if certain scientific information was available at trial.
But Attorney General Ken Paxton's office nonetheless stopped Roberson from ever testifying at that hearing. And the Texas Supreme Court — which usually only handles civil cases — later ruled the House can’t use its subpoena power to stop Roberson's execution, clearing the way for a judge to set a new execution date.
Paxton's office has also taken over Roberson’s prosecution from the Anderson County District Attorney’s Office.
WFAA reported there was a “scuffle” among family members going through courthouse security. One man was heard saying, “he killed my sister.”
As Roberson left the courtroom after the hearing, someone shouted out, “love you, Robert.”
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