PALESTINE, Texas – A little more than 20 years ago, Robert Roberson made headlines after he was convicted in 2003 murdering his 2-year-old daughter Nikki Curtis in Palestine, Texas — located in East Texas’ Anderson County.
MORE: Texas was about to execute Robert Roberson. Then a last-ditch tactic bought him more time
Recommended Videos
When Roberson’s execution was abruptly halted, it was due to a subpoena from the Texas House Criminal Jurisprudence committee, ordering him to testify about a law committee members said should have aided him in the appeal of his death sentence. The committee has been investigating whether Texas’s so-called “junk science” law is working as intended.
The law was first passed in 2013 and designed to provide an avenue of appeal for those convicted based on scientific evidence that later proved to be faulty or outdated.
The Texas Defender System told lawmakers the state’s highest criminal court, the Criminal Court of Appeals, is placing too high a burden on those filing appeals under this law.
SEE ALSO: Texas lawmaker says Robert Roberson’s attorney showed up at jury foreman’s home, here’s why she did
In a report published July 2024, TDS officials write the CCA has placed the burden of new or evolved science proving a person is actually innocent of the crime they’ve been convicted of before granting relief.
However, the law was intended to help defendant’s successfully appeal their convictions if they can show new or evolved science likely would have impacted the jury’s original decision, a lower burden.
In Roberson’s case, his attorneys argue new and evolved scientific evidence indicates his daughter did not die from “shaken baby syndrome,” and Texas’s “junk science” law should have led to a new trial.
However, the Texas Attorney General’s Office, Anderson County prosecutors and Gov. Greg Abbott stand by Roberson’s conviction.
