AUSTIN, Texas — Attorneys for a Texas death row inmate are taking a new step to try and save his life.
Robert Roberson is set to be executed on Oct. 17 for the 2002 death of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki.
Roberson's attorneys have sent an updated letter to the Board of Pardons and Paroles and Gov. Greg Abbott, requesting clemency for Roberson because they say the state is risking executing a man for "a crime that did not occur."
Multiple groups have come out in support of Roberson in recent weeks. When he was convicted, jurors accepted the theory that his daughter died from "Shaken Baby Syndrome." But since then, medical experts have said that Nikki had pneumonia before she died and she was given medication that made it worse.
On the night of her death, Nikki fell out of her bed and Roberson found her unconscious and turning blue. His attorneys say when he brought her to the hospital, that's when the accusations started.
“He was immediately prejudged as suspicious because of a symptom of his autism,” said Gretchen Sween, Roberson's longtime counsel.
More than 80 state lawmakers are calling for clemency for Roberson because they say the state's Junk Science Writ, which took effect in 2013, should require the case to be reconsidered.
"As far as we can tell though, the courts simply aren't engaging in that process. So convictions are being allowed to stand on junk science," State Rep. Joe Moody (D-El Paso) said in a recent press conference.
Even the lead detective involved in Roberson's trial back in 2003 now says he got it wrong.
“I made some assumptions about Robert that were clearly incorrect," Brian Wharton, the former Chief of Detectives for the Palestine Police Department, told KVUE. "I'm embarrassed about myself that I did not see him as he is. Back then, it might have changed something."
“I will forever be haunted by my participation in his prosecution, his arrest and prosecution,” Wharton added. "I am firmly convinced that Robert is an innocent man."
Roberson's attorneys say their fight to save him may end up going to the U.S. Supreme Court.
If Roberson is executed on Oct. 17, he will be the 12th death row inmate killed in the U.S. in less than a month and the sixth executed in Texas this year, after Ivan Cantu in February, Ramiro Gonzales in June, Arthur Burton in August, Travis Mullis in September and Garcia White earlier this week.