Shaken baby syndrome is a serious brain injury that occurs as a result of forcefully shaking an infant or young child, also known as abusive head trauma.
Given the seriousness of this type of abuse, Robert Roberson was sentenced to death for the death of his daughter Nikki, a 2-year-old girl who died on January 31, 2002. after arriving at the hospital in a coma, fainting in her father’s arms and with her face blue from suffocation.
Roberson will be the first person executed in the United States based on the hypothesis of causing “shaken baby syndrome,” unless Texas authorities intervene.
Last week, Roberson’s attorneys filed an emergency motion asking the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to halt Roberson’s execution on October 17.
According to Roberson’s lawyers, one night in 2002, when he woke up, he found his two-year-old daughter, Nikki, lying on the floor at the foot of the bed, so he comforted her, put her back to bed, and went back to sleep. . When he woke up the next morning, he found Nikki unconscious and with purple lips. He took her to the emergency room, where she was eventually pronounced dead.
Roberson was convicted based on the testimony of a pediatrician who cited swelling and hemorrhages in Nikki’s brain at the time as a diagnosis of “shaken baby syndrome,” although there is limited evidence to support this diagnosis as accurate.
The hypothesis has been the subject of serious scrutiny in biomechanical studies, as well as in extensive medical and legal literature. The medical examiner also suspected Nikki suffered multiple head injuries and ruled the death a homicide in the official autopsy.
However, the organization Innocence Project took the case to discredit the evidence that was presented during the trial.
According to the organization, Texas Sets Robert Roberson’s Execution for October 17, Despite New Evidence That He is an Innocent Man Wrongfully Convicted under the now discredited hypothesis of shaken baby syndrome.
“Robberson’s case is plagued by unscientific evidence, inaccurate and misleading medical testimony, and biased treatment. In 2002, her two-year-old daughter, Nikki, who was chronically ill, developed a high fever and fell out of bed. “The hospital staff did not know that Roberson had autism and considered his reaction to his daughter’s serious condition to be emotionless, so he was prosecuted, convicted and sentenced to death,” he said.
“Overwhelming medical and scientific evidence now demonstrates that Nikki died of natural and accidental causes,” the Innocence Project concluded.
The prisoner is now 57 years old and is scheduled to be executed tomorrow, Thursday, October 17.
However, Roberson’s lawyers filed a clemency petition for the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to recommend that the state’s governor, Republican Greg Abbott, agree to commute the death sentence.
Although the board formulates the proposal, the final decision is in the hands of Abbott, who has granted only one pardon to a person sentenced to death in the nine years he has been governor of Texas.
The lawyers’ goal is not only to prevent Roberson’s execution. They also ask that a new hearing be convened, in which they can refute what they consider to be procedural errors from 2002 and show the evidence that was not evaluated by the jury.
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