Texas death row inmate Robert Roberson will not petition for clemency ahead of his scheduled execution in three weeks and will instead focus on obtaining a new trial in his capital murder conviction, his lawyer said Wednesday.
Roberson was convicted in 2003 for the death of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki, who was diagnosed with shaken baby syndrome. Roberson has maintained his innocence over the two decades he has spent on death row, arguing that scientific evidence developed since his conviction invalidates Nikki鈥檚 diagnosis and shows that she died from chronic illness 鈥� not from being shaken so violently that she died, as prosecutors claimed at Roberson鈥檚 trial.
Roberson, 58, is scheduled to be executed on Oct. 16. His deadline to submit an application for clemency with the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles is Thursday, 21 days before his execution date.
Under Texas law, a majority of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles must recommend clemency before the governor may grant it. Clemency in a capital case could mean a commutation of the sentence to life in prison and a reprieve of the execution, but would not affect the conviction.
Roberson鈥檚 application for clemency last year was denied by the board the day before he was set to be executed. His execution was then delayed by the Texas Supreme Court after a bipartisan group of state lawmakers undertook an to buy him more time 鈥� setting off a between members of the Texas House, who have pushed for a new trial, and Attorney General , whose office the state in opposing Roberson鈥檚 appeals.
In a statement, Gretchen Sween, Roberson鈥檚 lawyer, said that she advised Roberson not to apply for clemency again because it would offer a 鈥済rossly inadequate remedy.鈥�
鈥淎 commutation of sentence is not justice for an innocent man who was wrongfully convicted of a crime that never occurred,鈥� she said. 鈥淩elief for Mr. Roberson must come from the courts.鈥�
Sween added that the board rejected Roberson鈥檚 application for clemency last year 鈥渨ithout a hearing and without any explanation,鈥� making it 鈥渋mpossible to discern what kind of information might be persuasive.鈥�
鈥淚t is difficult to imagine a more robustly supported application than the one submitted for Mr. Roberson last year,鈥� she said, adding that clemency would not 鈥渁llow for the long overdue assessment of the objective medical evidence鈥� in Roberson鈥檚 case and would 鈥漮nly divert precious time and resources from the fundamental mission: obtaining a new trial for Robert at long last.鈥�
Roberson in August, citing new evidence brought to his legal team in June and claiming the judiciary in Anderson County 鈥� where he was convicted 鈥� acted unconstitutionally multiple times in his case.
His petition claims that Nikki was taken off life support at the direction of her grandparents 鈥� despite Roberson being her sole conservator 鈥� only after representatives of the Anderson County Judiciary falsely told hospital staff that the couple was Nikki鈥檚 legal conservators. Roberson was arrested for capital murder after Nikki died.
The filing also suggests that then-3rd District Court Judge Jerry Calhoon was improperly involved in the case and signed off on an order to provide Roberson鈥檚 legal counsel despite his son, Mark Calhoon, being a prosecutor in Roberson鈥檚 trial. The former judge did not preside over the trial.
Roberson also has an at the Court of Criminal Appeals, Texas鈥� highest criminal court, presenting additional expert opinions finding that Nikki鈥檚 and that the . That appeal also highlights the in October 2024 to overturn the shaken baby conviction of a Dallas man.
Additionally, Sween noted that Gov. has the authority to issue a one-time 30-day stay of execution.
In response to Roberson鈥檚 previous appeals, the state has maintained that the evidence backing his conviction still stands. Prosecutors have also sought to downplay the in his trial.
If Texas goes through with Roberson鈥檚 execution, he will become the first person in the United States put to death based on a shaken baby syndrome diagnosis.
鈥淢r. Roberson is actually innocent,鈥� Sween said. 鈥淚f he is executed, despite the overwhelming evidence of his innocence, Texas will commit an extreme miscarriage of justice.鈥�
This article originally appeared in at .
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