The high court’s conclusion, attorney Gretchen Sween said, “goes much farther than Roberson is asking Texas to go.”
By Jamie Landers
Dallas Morning News
https://www.dallasnews.com/
Chitose Suzuki / Staff Photographer
Robert Roberson’s lawyer has formally asked the court to consider a landmark ruling out of New Jersey that last week deemed “shaken baby syndrome” testimony inadmissible, according to a filing obtained Monday by The Dallas Morning News.
The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled 6-1 Thursday that a shaken baby syndrome diagnosis, also known as abusive head trauma, is not generally accepted within the “biomechanical community” and is therefore not “sufficiently reliable” for admission at trials. The state’s public defender’s office hailed it as a “landmark” moment that reflects the importance of “reliable, well-supported scientific evidence” in criminal cases.
The high court’s decision, attorney Gretchen Sween said, “goes much farther than Roberson is asking Texas to go.”
“Mr. Roberson is not asking a Texas court to resolve the raging contemporary debate about whether SBS/AHT has any efficacy,” wrote Sween, who has represented Roberson since 2016. “He is only asking for a new trial that would reflect the changes in scientific understanding with respect to SBS since his 2003 trial.”
It remains to be seen if New Jersey’s decision could influence the proceedings for Roberson, who was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to die in 2003, having been accused of shaking his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki, to death.
Roberson’s prosecution relied heavily on proving Nikki showed a triad of symptoms associated with the decades-old theory that scientists and doctors have broadly scrutinized. During his 23 years on the death row, the 59-year-old has faced execution three times, including once in 2016, another in 2024 and a third time this October. Each stay was the result of a challenge to shaken baby syndrome.
Roberson was last spared on Oct. 9, one week before he was scheduled to be put to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals sent Roberson’s case back to district court in light of a ruling made last year in Dallas County. In that case, Andrew Roark’s conviction was vacated on the basis that the science of shaken baby syndrome had evolved, and that expert witnesses would have given different testimony had he gone to trial in 2024.
New Jersey’s high court also referenced Roark, according to court documents.
Roberson’s legal team is awaiting their next court date as the state pushes back on moving forward with an evidentiary hearing that could give him a chance to retry his case. While Roberson’s defense has long argued the evidence they’ve compiled since his trial shows his daughter died of accidental and natural causes, the Texas attorney general’s office has argued there is still enough proof of abuse to uphold his death sentence.
In Monday’s filing, Sween wrote that “considerable medical evidence” rebuts the state’s theory, and noted some of the more significant findings made in New Jersey.
One finding stated the neck would be the first place to look for an injury on a child that has been shaken, “yet Nikki had no neck or spinal cord injuries.” Sween also noted the importance of recognizing that Nikki was a toddler, not an infant.
“Nikki was a nearly 30-pound toddler,” she said, “and there has never been an attempt to validate SBS/AHT with respect to a child Nikki’s age and size.”
The document was filed as a notice of persuasive authority, which is not binding, but a court can choose to rely on and follow the decisions made by other jurisdictions.
In her conclusion, Sween urged the court to consider it, “and grant relief as justice requires.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Jamie Landers is a breaking news reporter at The Dallas Morning News. She is a graduate of The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in Phoenix, where she studied journalism and political science. Jamie previously reported for The Arizona Republic and Arizona PBS.
This story, originally published in The Dallas Morning News, is reprinted as part of a collaborative partnership between The Dallas Morning News and Texas Metro News. The partnership seeks to boost coverage of Dallas’ communities of color, particularly in southern Dallas.
