Entries tagged with “Robert Roberson”

Innocence

,

Nov 20, 2024

Texas Supreme Court Rules that a New Execution Date Can be Set for Robert Roberson

In a November 15, 2024, rul­ing, the Texas Supreme Court cleared the way for the state to resched­ule the exe­cu­tion of Robert Roberson, despite com­pelling evi­dence of his inno­cence and wide­spread sup­port for a new tri­al. Mr. Roberson was sched­uled to be exe­cut­ed October 17, but on October 16 the Texas House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence issued a sub­poe­na for Mr. Roberson to tes­ti­fy on a day after his exe­cu­tion was to occur. A dis­trict court tem­porar­i­ly halt­ed the exe­cu­tion so that…

Innocence

,

Oct 28, 2024

“Simply Untrue”: Lawmakers Refute Unprecedented Attack by Texas Attorney General in Robert Roberson’s Case

On October 23, 2024, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton released a press state­ment, the orig­i­nal autop­sy report, and oth­er case records in an effort to ​“set the record straight” and ​“cor­rect false­hoods” that he accused state law­mak­ers of mak­ing about Robert Roberson (pic­tured). In this unprece­dent­ed attack, AG Paxton also char­ac­ter­ized the defense efforts as ​“eleventh-hour, one-sided, extra­ju­di­cial stunts that attempt to obscure facts and rewrite his past.” Texas Governor Greg Abbott has also…

Innocence

,

Oct 21, 2024

Testimony at Texas Legislature Does Not Include Robert Roberson But Witnesses Confirm Serious Concerns about the Possible Execution of an Innocent Man

The Texas House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence heard tes­ti­mo­ny on Monday October 21, 2024 from nov­el­ist John Grisham, talk show host ​“Dr. Phil” McGraw, but not its expect­ed star wit­ness, Robert Roberson, whose sub­poe­naed tes­ti­mo­ny result­ed in a dra­mat­ic last-minute stay of exe­cu­tion on October 17th from the Texas Supreme Court. Legislators said they could not reach an agree­ment with the Office of the Texas Attorney General to facil­i­tate Mr. Roberson’s in-per­son tes­ti­mo­ny, and Committee…

Innocence

,

International

,

Public Opinion

,

Oct 11, 2024

French and German Embassies Host a Discussion on Innocence and the Death Penalty

On October 11, 2024 the Embassies of France and Germany host­ed a dis­cus­sion on the ques­tion of inno­cence and the death penal­ty at the res­i­dence of the French Ambassador in Washington, D.C. Panelists includ­ed Herman Lindsey, a death row exoneree and Executive Director of Witness to Innocence; Vanessa Potkin, Director of Special Litigation at the Innocence Project; and Emmjolee Mendoza Waters, Director of the Death Penalty Abolition Program at Catholic Mobilizing Network. The approx­i­mate­ly 75…

Clemency

,

Innocence

,

Sep 18, 2024

Broad Coalition Supports Robert Roberson’s Clemency Petition

On September 17, 2024, attor­neys for Texas death row pris­on­er Robert Roberson filed a clemen­cy peti­tion accom­pa­nied by let­ters from hun­dreds of sup­port­ers, includ­ing emi­nent sci­en­tists and med­ical pro­fes­sion­als, a bipar­ti­san group of Texas leg­is­la­tors, and for­mer lead Detective Brian Wharton, urg­ing the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and Governor Greg Abbott to reduce Mr. Roberson’s sen­tence. Mr. Roberson is cur­rent­ly sched­uled to be exe­cut­ed on October 17, 2024. He was con­vict­ed and…

Policy Issues

Innocence

,

Sep 12, 2024

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Dismisses New Evidence of Innocence and Denies Robert Roberson Habeas Relief

On September 11, 2024, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (TCCA) dis­missed Robert Roberson’s request for habeas relief with­out review­ing the mer­its of any of his five claims, cit­ing a fail­ure to meet pro­ce­dur­al require­ments, despite the inclu­sion of new, pre­vi­ous­ly unavail­able med­ical and sci­en­tif­ic evi­dence in the appli­ca­tion. The TCCA also denied Mr. Roberson’s motion for a stay of exe­cu­tion, which remains sched­uled for October 17, 2024.

Policy Issues

Innocence

,

Sep 09, 2024

Article of Interest: Author John Grisham Says Texas Plans to Execute Robert Roberson, An Innocent Man

Best-sell­ing author of The Innocent Man and for­mer crim­i­nal defense lawyer John Grisham ​“nev­er, not once” believed that any of the hun­dreds of clients he rep­re­sent­ed were wrong­ful­ly con­vict­ed. In a September 5, 2024, op-ed, Mr. Grisham writes that he just assumed the crim­i­nal jus­tice sys­tem always got it right. Now, writ­ing for the sec­ond time about Robert Roberson’s case, Mr. Grisham acknowl­edges that was ​“a wrong assump­tion.” He argues that ​“Robert Roberson is inno­cent because the…

Policy Issues

Innocence

,

Victims' Families

,

Aug 12, 2024

New York Times Video Op-eds Highlight Systemic Flaws in the Capital Punishment System, Including Mistakes from Junk Science and Lack of Closure for Victims’ Families

In the sec­ond and third videos of The New York Times’ three-part series, ​“The Fallibility of Justice,” Brett Malone, whose mother’s killer remains on Louisiana death row, and Texas death-sen­tenced pris­on­er Charles Don Flores pro­vide their per­spec­tives on cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. The New York Times has con­sis­tent­ly called for abo­li­tion of the death penal­ty, describ­ing it as ​“full of bias and error, moral­ly abhor­rent, [and] futile in deter­ring crime.”…

Policy Issues

Innocence

,

Aug 05, 2024

New Report Reveals Texas Junk Science Statute Fails to Adequately Provide Relief for Innocent Prisoners, Including Robert Roberson

A July 2024 report from the Texas Defender Service (TDS), An Unfulfilled Promise: Assessing the Efficacy of 11.073, the first-ever com­pre­hen­sive review of Texas’ junk sci­ence writ, revealed that the ​“law sys­tem­at­i­cal­ly fails to pro­vide relief to inno­cent peo­ple con­vict­ed based on false foren­sic evi­dence.” In 2013, the Texas Legislature passed a first-of-its-kind law, Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 11.073, cre­at­ing a pro­ce­dur­al path­way for con­vict­ed indi­vid­u­als to seek new…

Policy Issues

Innocence

,

Jul 31, 2024

Articles of Interest: Lead Detective on Robert Roberson’s Case Now Believes He Is Innocent

Brian Wharton, who was the lead detec­tive in Palestine, Texas at the time of Robert Roberson’s con­vic­tion for the death of his two-year-old daugh­ter Nikki, now believes Mr. Roberson is inno­cent and sup­ports abo­li­tion of the death penal­ty. Mr. Wharton said in a video for The New York Times that there is ​“unas­sail­able doubt” that Mr. Roberson is…

Policy Issues

Innocence

,

Jul 08, 2024

Significant Developments in Cases of Innocent Prisoners on Death Row

On Wednesday, July 3rd, the 200th death row exon­er­a­tion was announced. But an unknown num­ber of pris­on­ers with com­pelling inno­cence claims remain on death row, unable to secure relief either because they lack access to com­pe­tent legal rep­re­sen­ta­tion for their appeals, are barred from access­ing the courts because of pro­ce­dur­al legal bar­ri­ers, or due to the incal­ci­trance of elect­ed offi­cials. For some of these pris­on­ers, exe­cu­tion dates have been set. Significant devel­op­ments have occurred…

Policy Issues

Innocence

,

Jul 03, 2024

The 200th Exoneration Underscores Critical Flaws in the U.S. Criminal Legal System; Other Innocent Prisoners Remain on Death Row

Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s land­mark rul­ing in Furman v. Georgia (1972), 200 death-sen­tenced men and women across 30 states have been exon­er­at­ed. Analysis from the Death Penalty Information Center reveals these indi­vid­u­als have col­lec­tive­ly spent 2,621 years in harsh prison con­di­tions for crimes they did not com­mit. On aver­age, death row exonerees spent 13 years under the sen­tence of death before their exon­er­a­tions, with some indi­vid­u­als spend­ing more than 40 years fight­ing to prove…

Policy Issues

Innocence

,

Jun 20, 2024

Anderson County, Texas District Attorney Requests Execution for Robert Roberson, Despite a Conviction Obtained with Debunked Forensic Science

On June 17, 2024, Anderson County District Attorney Allyson Mitchell filed a motion to set an exe­cu­tion date for Texas death row pris­on­er Robert Roberson, despite his stead­fast main­te­nance of inno­cence in the death of his two-year-old daugh­ter. Mr. Roberson has spent more than 20 years on death row for a crime that, accord­ing to the Innocence Project, ​“nev­er occurred and a con­vic­tion based on the out­dat­ed and now debunked shak­en baby hypoth­e­sis.” New evi­dence indi­cates that Mr. Roberson’s…

Facts & Research

New Voices

,

May 24, 2024

Article of Interest: Retired Supervising Detective Says There Was No Crime in Robert Roberson’s Case

In a May 23, 2024 op-ed pub­lished in The Dallas Morning News, Brian Wharton, the retired super­vis­ing detec­tive in Robert Roberson’s case, urged Anderson County District Attorney Allyson Mitchell to reex­am­ine the case and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to reex­am­ine a pend­ing motion on Mr. Roberson’s inno­cence claims, which have pre­vi­ous­ly been denied. ​“It would be a ter­ri­ble lega­cy for all of us to be asso­ci­at­ed with exe­cut­ing an inno­cent man based on a rush to judg­ment and…

Policy Issues

Innocence

,

Prosecutorial Accountability

,

United States Supreme Court

,

Oct 02, 2023

Supreme Court Denies Certiorari to Two Death-Sentenced Men with Credible Innocence Claims

On October 2, the first day of its new term, the Supreme Court denied review in two high-pro­file death penal­ty cas­es: Toforest Johnson and Robert Roberson. Both men have long main­tained their inno­cence and have gar­nered broad bipar­ti­san sup­port for their innocence…

Policy Issues

Innocence

,

Sep 11, 2023

John Grisham on Robert Roberson: ​“Texas may exe­cute an inno­cent man”

In an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, nov­el­ist John Grisham recounts the flawed sci­ence that led to the con­vic­tion of Robert Roberson (pic­tured, with his daugh­ter Nikki) and the inad­e­quate legal process that has main­tained that con­vic­tion. Mr. Roberson was con­vict­ed and sen­tenced to death for the 2002 death of his 2‑year-old daugh­ter Nikki. His con­vic­tion relied on a the­o­ry of ​“shak­en baby syn­drome” that has since been dis­cred­it­ed. After a hear­ing ordered by the Texas Court of Criminal…

Policy Issues

Innocence

,

United States Supreme Court

,

Jun 15, 2023

Scientists, Physicians, Retired Federal Judges, and Innocence Groups File Amicus Briefs in Support of Robert Roberson, Texas Man Convicted and Sentenced to Death in ​“Shaken Baby Syndrome” Case

On June 15, 2023, five ami­cus briefs were filed with the United States Supreme Court in sup­port of Robert Roberson (pic­tured with his daugh­ter, Nikki), a Texas death-sen­tenced pris­on­er who has long claimed to be inno­cent of caus­ing the death of his daugh­ter. Mr. Roberson filed his peti­tion with the Supreme Court on May 11th after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) denied his request for a new tri­al despite the pre­sen­ta­tion of new sci­en­tif­ic evi­dence that sound­ly dis­cred­it­ed the ​“shak­en…

Policy Issues

Innocence

,

May 18, 2023

Texas Prisoner Seeks Supreme Court Review of Conviction Based on Debunked Scientific Evidence

On May 11, attor­neys for Robert Roberson, a death-sen­tenced pris­on­er in Texas, filed a peti­tion for cer­tio­rari to the Supreme Court ask­ing it to reverse the deci­sion of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (TCCA). Mr. Roberson’s con­vic­tion for the mur­der of his daugh­ter Nikki was based on the so-called ​“Shaken Baby Syndrome” which has now been debunked by new sci­en­tif­ic and med­ical evi­dence. The TCCA dis­re­gard­ed this and oth­er evi­dence that showed his daughter’s death was attrib­ut­able to…

Policy Issues

Innocence

,

Apr 18, 2022

Forensics Experts and Shaken-Baby Exonerees File Briefs Supporting Texas Death-Row Prisoner Robert Roberson’s Innocence Claim

Forensics experts and three exonerees wrong­ful­ly con­vict­ed of mur­der based upon junk-sci­ence diag­noses of Shaken Baby Syndrome are urg­ing the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (TCCA) to over­turn the con­vic­tion of death-row pris­on­er Robert Roberson (pic­tured with his daugh­ter, Nikki). In sep­a­rate friend-of-the-court briefs filed on April 8, 2022, the two groups argue that Shaken Baby Syndrome is an invalid med­ical diag­no­sis that should nev­er be used as the basis…

Policy Issues

Victims' Families

,

Executions Overview

,

Apr 10, 2017

Texas Court Stays Execution of Paul Storey Based on False Argument About Wishes of Victim’s Family

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has issued an order stay­ing the sched­uled April 12 exe­cu­tion of Paul Storey. The unpub­lished April 7 order sends Storey’s case back to the tri­al court to con­sid­er whether the pros­e­cu­tion know­ing­ly pre­sent­ed false evi­dence about the vic­tim’s fam­i­ly’s views on the death…

Policy Issues

Arbitrariness

,

Innocence

,

Representation

,

Jun 17, 2016

Texas Court Stays Execution of Man Convicted by Now Debunked ​“Shaken Baby” Testimony

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has grant­ed a stay of exe­cu­tion to Robert Roberson (pic­tured), who had been sched­uled to be exe­cut­ed on June 21 for the 2003 death of his two-and-a-half-year-old daugh­ter, Nikki Curtis. The court’s June 16 stay order halts Roberson’s exe­cu­tion under a recent Texas law per­mit­ting court chal­lenges based on new sci­en­tif­ic evi­dence of inno­cence. Prosecution experts had tes­ti­fied at Roberson’s tri­al that his daugh­ter died of…