Judge rules against vacating East Texas man’s death sentence in ‘shaken baby’ case

Published 4:04 pm Tuesday, October 15, 2024

PALESTINE — A judge in Anderson County on Tuesday morning denied pleadings from an East Texas man on death row for fatally shaking his daughter, thwarting an 11th-hour attempt by lawyers to stop the execution.

Administrative Judge Alfonso Charles, who is based in Gregg County, ruled against motions by Robert Roberson III’s attorneys to get a judge who oversaw post-conviction proceedings thrown off the case for alleged jurisdiction issues and bias.

Roberson, 57, is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection Thursday in Huntsville. If put to death, Roberson will become the first person in the country to be executed for “shaken baby syndrome,” according to lawmakers.

“I’m enraged, I’m heartbroken, but we are not giving up this fight,” attorney Gretchen Sween said outside the Beaux-Arts style courthouse in Palestine.

In 2002, Roberson found his 2-year-old daughter 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 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.” His lawyers have argued that new evidence shows Nikki, who was chronically ill, died from pneumonia and medical error.

Texas lawmakers, activists and an ex-Palestine police detective — whose testimony helped convict Roberson — have all urged the state to pause the execution.