The Supreme Court refused to block Texas from executing Robert Roberson, who claimed his conviction for killing his 2-year-old daughter debunked the Shaken Baby Syndrome fallacy, but the state court His execution has been temporarily suspended as a result of the ruling. In advance.
Roberson, 57, is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection Thursday night, making him the first person in the United States to be put to death for such a conviction.
In an order issued less than two hours later, the Supreme Court rejected Mr. Roberson's emergency appeal for a stay. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote: independent statement The court said it had “no authority to act absent a colored federal claim,” but emphasized that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) still has the authority to order a 30-day delay.
“This would prevent a miscarriage of justice by executing someone who has produced credible evidence of actual innocence,” Sotomayor wrote.
But shortly before the Supreme Court's order was issued, a Texas House committee proved successful in an unusual last-ditch effort to delay the death penalty, putting Roberson's execution on hold for now.
On Wednesday, the committee subpoenaed Mr. Roberson to testify. They appeared in court Thursday and a judge granted a motion for a preliminary order blocking the state from executing him, according to the Associated Press and Associated Press. Kusanlike The Hill, is owned by Nexstar Media Group.
A jury in 2003 found Roberson guilty of killing his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis, who died after doctors observed subdural hemorrhage, brain swelling and retinal hemorrhage. At the time, these combined symptoms were considered evidence of shaken baby syndrome, which is caused by child abuse.
Mr. Roberson has maintained his innocence, and his lawyers have since pointed to experts who have discredited the medical theory. Roberson's lawyers argue that his daughter died of pneumonia that progressed to sepsis, which caused her to fall out of bed and suffer a head injury. They also claim Roberson's autism was used against him.
“Robert has not harmed Nikki in any way,” Roberson's lawyers wrote to the Supreme Court. “There was no crime, just the tragic natural death of a young girl.”
The Supreme Court's appeal to block Roberson's execution was based on a Texas law passed more than a decade ago that allows convictions to be challenged based on changing science.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals declined to block Roberson's execution on procedural grounds. In an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court, Roberson's lawyers say his due process rights were violated because the state board dismissed his case with a “boilerplate” order that included no analysis of his claims. claimed to have been done.
“We believe that the sanctity of the law requires that a broader public, more than the state judiciary charged with trying this case, be aware of the facts of this case and are moved by the injustice it represents. “We've reached an eerie moment,” he said. The lawyers wrote in a court filing:
But the state of Texas argued that Mr. Roberson “falls short” of proving his innocence and, at best, presented an “expert battle” over the evidence.
“He introduced a new rule that state courts must explain the application of state procedural rules when a capital state habeas petitioner asserts actual innocence based on new scientific and medical evidence. That was not the rule at the time Roberson was convicted, and it is not the rule today,'' the Texas Attorney General's Office wrote in a court filing.
The Supreme Court rarely intervenes to block executions. Last term, judges received about 30 requests, but only halted one, according to an analysis of court documents by The Hill.
The Texas Board of Pardons and Parole voted Wednesday not to recommend commuting Roberson's sentence to life in prison or delaying his sentence. Texas' Republican governor, Mr. Abbott, needed that recommendation to issue a pardon, but he retains the power to grant a 30-day reprieve.
