Supporters call for a new trial for Palestine man

HUNTSVILLE – The Dallas Morning News reports that death penalty supporters, along with conservative supporters and two Republican lawmakers held a news conference Wednesday afternoon at the state Capitol urging for Robert Roberson to have a new trial ahead of his scheduled execution in a little over two weeks. Roberson, 58, of Palestine, was convicted of capital murder in 2003 for reportedly shaking his 2-year-old daughter Nikki, to death.

His prosecution relied, in part, on proving Nikki showed a triad of symptoms associated with “shaken baby syndrome” — also known as “abusive head trauma.”

The theory has come under intense scrutiny by scientists and doctors who say it is not grounds to presume abuse. Roberson is scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection the evening of Oct. 16 in Huntsville. It is his third execution date in the more than two decades he has spent on death row.

One of the men who spoke Wednesday was Joshua Burns, a Michigan man who was exonerated after being convicted in 2014 of second-degree child abuse of his infant toddler Naomi. Burns’ conviction came after a doctor concluded his daughter had been a victim of shaken baby syndrome. Burns’ case was vacated last year. Burns, who moved to Texas three years ago, said Wednesday there are many questions that need to be answered in Roberson’s case and only a new trial can find the answers.

“This man was convicted using science and methods that no longer stand under the scrutiny of truth and justice, and I stand here today as living proof of that,” Burns said. “Robert’s life hangs in the balance.” If his execution proceeds, lawmakers have said Roberson will be the first person in the country to be put to death in a shaken baby case. According to the National Registry of Exonerations, more than 30 people who served time in prison after convictions involving the diagnosis have been declared innocent.