Ken Paxton releases notes to correct ‘falsities’ about Robert Roberson case

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued his first public statement Wednesday affirming prosecutors’ case against Robert Roberson III, the death row inmate whose execution was stayed last week after an unprecedented legal maneuver by a bipartisan group of lawmakers.

In the evening statement, Jeff Leach, R-Plano, and Joe Moody, D-El Paso.

Roberson, an East Texas man, was convicted in 2003 in the death of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki. He has maintained his innocence since his trial.

The 57-year-old was scheduled to be executed by lethal injection in Huntsville on October 17, but a bipartisan group of lawmakers carried out a novel legal maneuver that led to the state Supreme Court staying the execution.

Roberson’s lawyers and lawmakers, including half of the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, argue his case is based on shaken baby syndrome, a medical finding that abuse has resulted in serious or fatal head injuries.

Gretchen Sween, one of Roberson’s defense attorneys, said in an emailed statement: “Something deeply disturbing happened this evening: the state of Texas’ top law enforcement agency, the OAG, issued a stunningly misleading statement aimed at targeting a bipartisan group to suppress lawmakers in their search for truth that has captivated the world. Why is there an urgency to execute an innocent, autistic man who had a perfect record of discipline during the 22 years he was incarcerated on Texas death row, without a lawyer willing to investigate his claim of innocence? “

As of Wednesday, Paxton had not publicly commented on the case. Last weekend, he filed a petition with the Texas Supreme Court asking to overturn the order granting the subpoena, which was later denied.

But in his press release, Paxton said: “The Attorney General’s Office released the original autopsy report and other evidence to correct falsehoods that were amplified by a coalition that interfered in the death penalty trial in which Robert Roberson was to be executed for murder. “his two-year-old daughter Nikki.”

In the statement, Paxton said Nikki suffered multiple injuries when she was taken to the emergency room that were consistent with blunt force trauma and not pure “shaken baby syndrome,” echoing Paxton’s statements in the weekend petition. Paxton said in the statement that Roberson had abused both Nikki and his ex-wife in the past and that Nikki died because Roberson hit him.

Paxton also claimed in his statement that there was evidence that Roberson sexually abused Nikki. Roberson was never charged with sexually abusing his daughter.

The Dallas Morning News is in the process of reviewing more than 1,000 pages of court transcripts from Roberson’s original 2003 trial and his appeals.

Paxton also criticized House Democrats’ efforts to delay Roberson’s execution. Paxton said House members tried to mislead the public by “falsely claiming” Roberson was wrongly convicted by “garbage science” based on the shaken baby theory.

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“The OAG’s statement contains no new facts, just a collection of exaggerations, misrepresentations and outright falsehoods that are completely independent of facts and context,” Moody said. “We intend to give an answer tomorrow that completely undermines it. We will continue to act based on the truth to achieve justice and the rule of law.”

The diagnosis has come under extensive scrutiny in the years since the conviction. Roberson’s lawyers and lawmakers said the state’s 2013 “junk science” law should have been a way to overturn Roberson’s conviction.

The Anderson County district attorney and state attorney general maintain that shaken baby syndrome was not a factor in the conviction. Since then, several courts have declined to intervene in subsequent appeals.

Roberson’s execution was stayed at the last minute after the Texas House of Representatives Criminal Justice Committee, of which Moody is chairman and Leach is a member, issued a subpoena the day before asking Roberson to testify before the committee about his case.

Staff writer Aarón Torres contributed to this report.