Texas death row inmate to testify before lawmakers who secured reprieve

19/10/2024 13:24

        A man on death row in Texas who had expected to be executed on Thursday night is now set to testify next week before the state lawmakers who believe he may have been wrongly convicted of murdering his 2-year-old daughter and secured him an extraordinary reprieve.
        
        Robert Roberson, 56, had been scheduled for the execution by lethal injection. He was convicted in 2002 based on a since-discredited understanding of shaken baby syndrome.
        
        Lawmakers in the Republican-controlled state House of Representatives have been reviewing Roberson's case as they debate whether to strengthen a Texas statute that addresses convictions linked to so-called junk science.
        
        Roberson has said he found that his daughter, Nikki, had fallen out of bed and, soon after, stopped breathing - days after a doctor diagnosed her with a viral infection and prescribed medicine that, according to medical experts, should not be given to young children.
        
        In recent years, doctors have said that shaken baby syndrome abuse occurs and can cause symptoms that brain scans showed Nikki had, but that these also may be present in cases in which no abuse took place.