Court in Texas again pauses execution of father in shaken baby case

Texas’ top criminal court on Thursday again paused the execution of Robert Roberson, just days before he was set to become the first person in the US. put to death for a murder conviction tied to a diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome.

- By Juan A. Lozano

ANNIE MULLIGAN Associated Press ROBERT ROBERSON waits to be interviewed in a visitation cell Oct. 1 at the prison in Livingston, Texas.

This was the third execution date that Roberson’s lawyers have been able to stay since 2016, including one scheduled nearly a year ago, due to an unprecedented intervention from a bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers who believe he is innocent.

The latest execution stay was granted by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Roberson had been scheduled to receive a lethal injection on Oct. 16 for the death of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis.

The court granted the stay based on Texas’ 2013 junk science law, which allows a person convicted of a crime to seek relief if the evidence used against them is no longer credible. It cited its October 2024 ruling that overturned the conviction of another man, Andrew Roark, in a shaken baby case in Dallas. Roberson’s lawyers argue that the two cases are indistinguishable.

The appeals court sent Roberson’s case back to his trial court in east Texas for review.