Death row inmate Robert Roberson was supposed to testify before a Texas state House committee regarding becoming the first person in the U.S. to be executed for a “shaken baby” death, but he was a no-show. The committee heard testimony from Josh Burns, a former airline pilot who served time after being falsely accused of abusing his daughter. The Texas attorney general’s office filed a motion to disregard a subpoena for Roberson to testify in Austin, citing security risks and procedural defects. Roberson has consistently maintained his innocence in the death of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki, in 2002.
Lawmakers issued a second subpoena for Roberson to testify under a 2013 “junk science” law that allows Texas inmates to challenge convictions based on forensic science advances. The Texas Supreme Court ruled that lawmakers could not halt an execution using their subpoena power, but they could compel him to testify. The attorney general’s office has not set a new execution date for Roberson.
There has been public sparring between lawmakers and the attorney general over Roberson’s case, with conflicting reports about the evidence that led to his conviction. Roberson’s defense argues that new understanding of shaken baby syndrome shows that other medical conditions can contribute to a child’s death, as they believe was the case with Nikki. The latest developments in Roberson’s case have raised questions about the use of junk science in criminal convictions and have reignited a debate about the validity of shaken baby syndrome as a cause of death in children.
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