Death Row

The Criminal Jurisprudence Committee plans to issue a new subpoena to the death row inmate for a Dec. 20 hearing if Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office does not cooperate.

Senior District Judge Deborah Oakes Evans recused herself after a challenge to her impartiality over longtime relationships with case prosecutors and judges.

News coverage of Texas death row inmate Robert Roberson's stalled lethal injection raises questions about Texas executing the innocent.

This week on Texas Matters: Is Attorney General Ken Paxton perverting the facts about the death of baby Nikki and the looming execution of Robert Roberson? In a report to the public about the Roberson case, the AG Office made a number of untrue and debunked statements about the death of Nikki, Roberson and his trial. We get a response from Roberson’s attorney Gretchen Sween.

Texas’ junk science statute has remained hamstrung for the last decade. So too have other criminal justice reforms, despite efforts from the Texas House.

An unusual legal move has bought more time for a Texas man who was set to be executed Thursday evening.

Robert Roberson is scheduled to die Oct 17. He is set to be executed by the state of Texas for a crime that experts say didn’t happen. There is an overwhelming amount of evidence that indicates that Roberson’s two-year-old daughter, Nikki, did not die from physical abuse but that instead she died from a chronic health condition and pneumonia.

Robert Roberson is scheduled to be put to death on Oct. 17 in what would be the nation’s first execution for the now debunked theory. It claimed that violently shaking a baby can result in fatal brain damage but without leaving any other signs of physical trauma like broken bones or neck injuries.

Robert Roberson is due to be executed on October 17. The East Texas man was convicted of the shaken baby syndrome death of this two-year old daughter, Nikki. But shaken baby syndrome is now considered to be junk science, and evidence shows that Nikki died from a chronic illness. I spoke with Roberson on Texas death row to hear his story.

Robert Roberson is facing execution by lethal injection on Oct. 17, 2024, for the death of his two-year-old daughter. However, his attorneys say there is new evidence that proves he's innocent.