Robert Roberson’s trial judge agrees to recusal

PALESTINE – A retired Anderson County judge who signed death row inmate Robert Roberson’s execution warrant earlier this year has recused herself from his case. According to The Texas Tribune, senior state District Judge Deborah Oakes Evans signed the court filing last Monday. No reason was given for her decision.

“I have not yet been served with this order and do not know anything about what prompted Judge Evans to sign this order soon before Thanksgiving,” Gretchen Sween, Roberson’s attorney, told The Texas Tribune.

Roberson was convicted of capital murder in 2003 for the death of his chronically ill 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis. At his trial, prosecutors accused Roberson of shaking Nikki so violently that she died. But Roberson, who was diagnosed with autism after his conviction, has maintained his innocence.

Evans’ involvement in Roberson’s case began in 2016, when she oversaw Roberson’s legal challenge after his first execution was stayed and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals sent his case back to the trial court. After a nine-day hearing, Evans recommended that all relief be denied.
She then retired from the bench in 2022. But in 2024, it was disclosed after the state of Texas sought a new execution date that Evans had been assigned to Roberson’s case, and she set his execution for Oct. 17.

Roberson’s attorneys, including Sween, quickly requested a hearing before Evans but those requests were denied. On Sept. 25, his lawyers asked to have the execution warrant set aside and they asked that Evans voluntarily recuse herself. When Evans declined to step aside, the argument was heard by an administrative judge on Oct. 15, two days before Roberson’s scheduled execution. The recusal motion was denied.