AUSTIN, Texas — Texas lawmakers are concerned a "landmark" piece of legislation is being ignored as the state's parole board denied a request for clemency for a man set to be executed.
The concern was sparked by the pending execution of Robert Roberson who will be given a lethal injection Thursday for killing his 2-year-old daughter in 2002.
Roberson has proclaimed his innocence for a long time and would be the first person executed over shaken baby syndrome. However, state lawmakers heard testimony Wednesday that claims courts are ignoring a state law that would help delay Roberson's execution.
In 2013, Texas became the first state in the country to pass a law that addressed people who were put in prison due to flawed scientific evidence, known as the Junk Science Writ. The law created a "pathway to relief" for prisoners to challenge their convictions based on new scientific evidence.
At the time, state lawmakers cited examples of evidence such as dog scent lineups, misinterpreted signs of arson and infant trauma.
"[The issue] is whether our law ... has been thrown in the garbage in the courts," State Rep. Joe Moody said. "This report shows us that our law is being ignored by the courts."
The bipartisan committee asked for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to grant Roberson a stay through the end of the 2025 legislative session so lawmakers could consider amendments to the state's junk science law.
Gov. Greg Abbott can only grant clemency after receiving a recommendation from the board. He does have the power to grant a one-time 30-day reprieve without a board recommendation but has only halted an execution once during his governorship, when he spared Thomas Whitaker's life in 2018.
What happened to Nikki Curtis?
A medical examiner and pediatrician claimed Nikki’s death was due to the “shaken baby hypothesis,” which has since been debunked.
Since Roberson’s conviction, medical experts found that in the days before her death, Nikki had severe, undiagnosed pneumonia, which they went to the hospital several times to get treated. Doctors prescribed Nikki medications like Promethazine, which is no longer used on children.
Doctors said Nikki was resuscitated at the hospital, but that she was already brain dead after her pneumonia deprived her of oxygen, which led to organ failure.
Roberson's attorney reacts to board's denial
One of Roberson's attorneys, Gretchen Sween, issued the following statement which read in part:
“We urge Governor Abbott to grant a reprieve of 30 days to allow litigation to continue and have a court hear the overwhelming new medical and scientific evidence that shows Robert Roberson’s chronically ill, two-year-old daughter, Nikki, died of natural and accidental causes, not abuse. A reprieve will also give Texas legislators time to investigate why Texas’s vaunted ‘changed science’ habeas law, which allows prisoners to challenge convictions based on science that turns out to be disproven or wrong, is not being applied as intended in the courts."