State granted 60-day extension

ANDERSON COUNTY – The state has been granted a 60-day extension to determine the future of Robert Roberson’s case. According to court documents and our news partner KETK, the state requested a 60-day extension before returning to court, citing the trial’s unprecedented nature and that Roberson’s prior conviction was based on flawed science.

The state also requested the extension, claiming that the lead counsel has been unable to give the case their full attention because they are working on other capital cases with death sentences.

Roberson’s attorney, Gretchen Sween, is pleading with the Anderson County District Court to deny the state’s request, stating that it exposes the weakness of the plaintiffs’ position after they had months to file an answer.

“The state’s request for yet more delay does not make sense,” court documents said. “It relies on a mischaracterization of the history and posture of this case,” Sween stated. “The state has long been on notice of the basis of Mr. Roberson’s remanded claim and further delay is wholly unjustified.”

Sween also stated in her request that the district court deny the state’s extension that Roberson has been confined to a single cell within a steel-and-concrete box since 2003.

Each and every day that justice is deferred is a travesty,” Sween added.

Sween also challenged the state’s claim in asking for an extension due to an element of false science being present in the case, stating that the plaintiff has already filed multiple responses to the substance of Mr. Roberson’s changed-science claim.

“The fundamental point is after all this water under the bridge. The state has
offered no explanation as to why it needs yet more time just to answer,” Sween said. “Unless the
the state is contemplating a change that would involve fair and truthful consideration of
the objective medical evidence and the relevant science that has already been
proffered, there is no reason for yet more delay.”