One doesn't have to be for or against the death penalty to see that Robert Roberson's conviction for allegedly shaking his 2-year-old daughter to death was a...
An undated family photo of Robert Roberson III with his daughter Nikki. Roberson is scheduled to be executed Oct. 17, 2024, for his conviction in a controversial "shaken baby syndrome" case.One doesn’t have to be for or against the death penalty to see that an East Texas man scheduled for execution next month should be granted clemency.
The case of Robert Roberson III isn’t about politics. It’s about justice, more specifically the proper functioning of the Texas criminal justice system.in Austin. They’re joined by dozens of medical experts, parental rights’ advocates, and others — even the former lead detective on the case — who believe Roberson’s chronically ill daughter did not die of the now-debunked “shaken baby syndrome,” but from natural and accidental causes.
Dozens of convictions based on the “shaken baby syndrome” have been overturned in recent years. Doctors have come to believe that the so-called triad of symptoms that supported the diagnosis — bleeding over the brain, brain swelling and retinal hemorrhages — do not necessarily mean a child was forcibly shaken and can be caused in a variety of other ways.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals stayed Roberson’s execution in 2016 and sent it back to the Anderson County court where a jury convicted him. But the judge affirmed the death sentence and Roberson’s subsequent appeals have failed on procedural grounds. He is scheduled to die by lethal injection on Oct. 17.
Gov. Abbott cannot let that happen. To be convicted of even a low-level misdemeanor, one must be found guilty beyond all reasonable doubt. Far, far more than that exists in this case, and a man’s life is on the line. This isn’t political. It’s moral. Our criminal justice system will have failed if Roberson is put to death.. Dallas Morning News editorials are written by the paper's Editorial Board and serve as the voice and view of the paper.
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