Texas Attorney General's Office releases collection of evidence in controversial death penalty case
There's yet another twist in the controversial case of Robert Roberson, the Texas man who was set to be executed one week ago.
Roberson was convicted of murder in the death of his 2-year-old daughter Nikki Curtis in 2003 and sentenced to death.
His scheduled Oct. 17 execution was delayed by the Texas Supreme Court, and now, there are cries for his life to be spared, but Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton strongly disagrees.
Paxton came out swinging in a statement released on Wednesday, calling out two state lawmakers for "misleading" the public in Roberson's case. Paxton's office also shared Nikki's original autopsy report.
Paxton says the report proves Roberson was convicted of beating his child and leaving her with extensive head wounds. He says the jury did not convict Roberson on the basis of "shaken baby syndrome."
Roberson's supporters say he deserves a new trial under the state's "junk science" law that says a defendant should get a new trial if faulty science is discovered in a case.
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His attorneys argue new medical evidence suggests the child died of pneumonia, not shaken baby syndrome.
Paxton says that claim is not true and pointed to the child's autopsy report while calling out two state representatives -- Joe Moody and Jeff Leach -- who have shown support for Roberson and also were part of a hearing held on Monday to discuss Roberson's case.
Rep. Moody -- the chair of the committee spearheading the effort for a new trial -- said Paxton's statement has no new facts, calling it a "collection of exaggerations, misrepresentations and full-on untruths completely divorced from facts and context."
That bi-partisan committee is expected to release a full statement on Thursday.
READ MORE: Texas set to execute man on discredited 'shaken baby syndrome' hypothesis
According to Roberson's attorneys, he woke up to find his 2-year-old daughter Nikki lying on the floor at the foot of the bed one night in 2002. They say Roberson comforted her, put her back to bed and went back to sleep himself. He found Nikki unconscious with blue lips when he woke up the next morning. He took her to an emergency room, where she was ultimately pronounced dead.
Roberson, a 57-year-old man, was then convicted in her death.
Roberson was found guilty based on the testimony from a pediatrician who cited swelling and hemorrhages in Nikki's brain at the time as a "shaken baby syndrome" diagnosis, even though there is limited evidence to support this as an accurate diagnosis. The hypothesis has come under serious scrutiny in biomechanical studies, as well as lengthening medical and legal literature. The medical examiner also suspected that Nikki sustained multiple head injuries, and considered the death a homicide in the official autopsy.
Roberson is autistic, according to his legal team, which affects how he expresses emotions -- a concern that also arose during the trial.
Since his conviction, new evidence found that Nikki had pneumonia at the time of her death and had been prescribed respiratory-suppressing drugs by doctors in the days leading up to her death. These drugs include the narcotic drug codeine and promethazine, both of which are no longer prescribed to children Nikki's age or those in her condition because it could impair their ability to breathe and be deadly.
Following a post-mortem toxicology report, medical toxicology and emergency room medicine expert Dr. Keenan Bora concluded that high levels of promethazine are likely to have exacerbated Nikki's issues breathing.
A reexamination of her lung tissue by lung pathology expert Dr. Francis Green also found that chronic interstitial viral pneumonia and acute bacterial pneumonia were damaging her lungs, causing sepsis and then septic shock, leading to vital organ failure.
