Robert Roberson’s defense team drops 27-page rebuttal after Texas AG releases autopsy report and statement

A day after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton released the autopsy report for Nikki Curtis, Robert Roberson’s daughter, and sentenced her to death, Roberson’s defense team released a 27-page rebuttal to Paxton’s statements.

The rebuttal focuses on what the defense team describes as 12 misrepresentations made by Paxton in the Roberson case.

“On October 23, 2024, the Attorney General’s Office issued a press release under the seal of the State of Texas in which it doubled down on its grotesque misrepresentations of Robert Roberson’s innocence case, with the goal of discrediting Mr. Roberson and others, including a nonpartisan “One group of elected officials who rightly view his case as a colossal miscarriage of justice,” the rebuttal begins.

The 12 points the defense team claims are misrepresentations are as follows. The following language comes directly from the defense team’s rebuttal:

Misrepresentation #1: The OAG released the 2002 autopsy report of Mr. Roberson’s two-year-old child (Nikki Curtis) to the public, indicating that it is final. It ignores the entire 2002 process and an evidentiary hearing in 2021 that identified significant deficiencies in the report.

Misrepresentation #2: The OAG falsely claims, “Two-year-old Nikki Curtis was admitted to the hospital nearly dead with severe bruising to her chin, face, ears, eyes, shoulder and mouth.” NO ONE testified that Nikki’s body had bruises all over her body.

Misrepresentation #3: Citing the authority of “Emergency Room Nurse Andrea Sims,” the OAG claims she “saw Nikki before a medical procedure and testified in court that in addition to bruising, Nikki had a handprint on her face and that the back of her head was injured.” and ‘mushy’.” (See document for further details)

Misrepresentation #4: The OAG falsely claims that “Nikki was abused by her father and died as a result of the trauma he inflicted,” citing imaginary “countless hours of testimony” that are completely missing from the trial transcripts. Read the transcripts. The evidence prepared for the trial by a handful of impaired and traumatized witnesses in connection with Robert’s estranged girlfriend, Teddie Cox, is all the state can present. There 8 p.m. 9, there are no records of violence in Robert’s extensive social history records.

Misrepresentation #5: The OAG falsely claims that “doctors” testified at trial that “Nikki died of significant blunt force head injuries that clearly indicated that the girl had been beaten” and “excluded the possibility that the child died from ‘concussion.’ ‘ died.”

Misrepresentation #6: The OAG falsely claims: “Dr. “Jill Urban, the medical examiner who performed the autopsy on the two-year-old’s body, testified at the trial based on photographic evidence that Nikki’s head had been hit repeatedly, leaving obvious blow wounds, which was completely inconsistent with mere violent shaking.”

Misrepresentation #7: The OAG falsely claims, “Roberson repeatedly changed his story about what happened to Nikki throughout the investigation and trial.”[.] “In truth, Mr. Roberson’s statements were remarkably consistent…

Misrepresentation #8: The OAG relies on a psychologist hired by defense counsel for the punishment phase to argue that Robert “confessed” to “shaking Nikki” (even though the State incoherently argues that he didn’t). was a case of the “shaking baby”). ).

Misrepresentation #9: The OAG claims that Robert “has been arrested over a dozen times for lack of evidence.”[.]“The State should look at the trial record as well as its own direct appeal, which lists arrests for burglary (1), writing hot checks (2) and a probation violation (1) – all cases to which Robert pleads guilty confessed and served his sentence without incident. Most importantly, Robert had no allegations, arrests, or criminal charges of violence before he was falsely accused of hurting Nikki. And Robert has been a model prisoner for 22 years since his arrest.

Misrepresentation #10: The OAG is the penalty phase testimony of Robert’s ex-wife Della Gray, who told a series of alarming stories about a coat hanger, a chimney shovel and a broken nose – none of which involved a doctor, police or court the time was confirmed records.

Misrepresentation #11: The OAG’s most egregious lie is its statement that an unidentified “cellmate” claimed he sexually assaulted Nikki, providing a pornographic and completely unsubstantiated report that merely represents deeply disturbing prosecutorial misconduct. This slander was not presented to the jury. There is only one possible reason why the prosecution did not want to present the informant’s highly inflammatory claims in court: they did not believe their own snitch and realized that his claims were false and through his explicit requests for the prosecution’s help in obtaining them His verdict – which can be found in the public prosecutor’s file – was based on a reduction in the sentence.

Misrepresentation #12: The OAG falsely claims: “Now a coalition of activists and state legislators is engaging in unprecedented intervention in the justice system to stop or prevent Roberson’s execution.” They have attempted to mislead the public by falsely claiming that Roberson was wrongly convicted of “shaken baby syndrome” by “junk science.” The OAG has apparently ignored the concrete evidence contained in the extensive briefs Mr. Roberson has filed and developed since 2016 suddenly “now”. Mr. Roberson has more than established his right to compensation under Texas’ well-established “altered science” law.

On each of these points, the defense team cites sources, the trial and post-conviction records.

“The following information shows that the State of Texas stubbornly refuses to acknowledge the truth in this case. In multiple expert reports, testimony during the 2021 post-conviction hearing, and recent testimony before the House Criminal Justice Committee, highly specialized medical experts have explained exactly how Nikki died as a result of pneumonia aggravated by improper medication and the course of events Her illness, along with medical interventions, affected her body and resulted in the condition she was in two days later when the autopsy was performed. They also explained the lack of evidence of “battery” or other abuse and that the state’s crime theory was not tied to science — or even the court records. “Lead investigator Brian Wharton stated that Mr. Roberson’s case was rushed to judgment based on incorrect medical information and misjudgment due to Mr. Roberson’s autism,” the document states.

The full document can be read below:

Roberson’s execution was scheduled for Thursday, October 17, but a group of Texas lawmakers called on Roberson to testify before them in a hearing about his case, sparking a legal debate and ultimately delaying Roberson’s execution.

The legal debate centered on the separation of powers clause in the Texas Constitution and whether the legislature had the authority to issue a subpoena to a death row inmate when it did, the eleventh hour.

Prior to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s statement on Wednesday, Gov. Greg Abbott submitted a letter to the Texas Supreme Court, which ultimately stayed Roberson’s execution after the Legislature’s appeal, saying that the House Criminal Justice Committee had issued the subpoena “from the Roberson was in line.

Abbott argued that at this point in the case, the state constitution only gave the governor the authority to grant a pardon or 30-day reprieve in capital cases.

Abbott argued that unless the tactic is rejected by the Texas Supreme Court, it could be repeated in any capital case, effectively rewriting the Texas Constitution to reallocate a power that belongs only to the governor.

“Even when it was clear that Roberson’s execution date was approaching and the issue of Article 11,073 was obvious, the House Committee could not be bothered to obtain Roberson’s testimony during all this time. It was only at the eleventh hour, when the Constitution authorizes the governor to take the final step, that the House committee decided to violate the Separation of Powers Clause,” Abbott said.