A bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers, medical experts, death penalty attorneys, and bestselling novelist John Grisham have come together to petition Governor Greg Abbott and the Board of Pardons and Paroles to stop the scheduled execution of Robert Roberson, who was convicted of killing his 2-year-old daughter in 2002. The group argues that the case against Roberson was built on faulty scientific evidence related to shaken baby syndrome.
Roberson is set to be executed by lethal injection on October 17, despite the significant bipartisan support for halting the execution. Rep. Joe Moody highlighted that the issue is a matter of life and death that transcends politics. Roberson has consistently maintained his innocence, and experts have refuted the diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome in his daughter’s case.
The petition argues that Roberson’s conviction was based on inaccurate science, and that medical professionals now believe the syndrome can be diagnosed too quickly without considering other medical explanations for a child’s symptoms. Despite a previous halt in his execution in 2016, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals allowed the case to proceed in 2023 and set a new execution date.
Roberson’s supporters, including former law enforcement officials involved in his prosecution, are calling on the state to halt the execution and reevaluate the evidence in light of new medical understanding. Governor Abbott, who has only granted clemency in one death row case since taking office, and the Board of Pardons and Paroles have not yet commented on the petition.
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