Texas Matters: Update on Roberson’s execution

Last week at Texas Matters we brought you an in-depth report on Texas death row inmate Robert Roberson. He faces an Oct. 17 execution date for a crime that experts say never took place.

As of Friday morning, Roberson’s execution was still on schedule and was scheduled to be executed in a few days.

Roberson’s conviction for the murder of his 2-year-old daughter Nikki was based on scientific nonsense.

Roberson said he assumed the legal system would recognize he did nothing wrong.

“I thought they would figure it out and do the right thing. I thought we had a fair and punitive justice system, but since all these years I have learned much else. I thought everything my mother kept telling me: If you didn’t do anything, it would work out, it would work out. And they tried three times to get me to plead for a life sentence. I will not accept a life sentence and I will not confess to something I did not do,” he said.

There is a shocking lack of evidence that Roberson did anything wrong. Little Nikki suffered from several chronic health problems and had a fever of 104.5 degrees the week of her death. In recent years, medical experts re-examined Nikki’s lung tissue and discovered that she was suffering from two types of pneumonia that caused sepsis and then septic shock.

When I interviewed Roberson on death row, I asked him why – even though there was all this evidence suggesting Nikki died because of her frail condition – why was he blamed for the death and sentenced to death? He said it had everything to do with his hometown of Palestine, Texas.

“Have you ever heard of the ‘good old boys’? They’re all about the “good ol’ boys.” They tried to hide it from each other, like this judge, she did something illegal, she tried to get back in after retiring and she did it too soon. She did it too soon. And that is illegal. And that doesn’t just apply to me. These are other people this has happened to and they are trying to cover up for the other person. Their mess, their injustice. They don’t want to admit it, just like the chief prosecutor. But she would rather watch a person being executed and other people cover it up because she and the judge who tried to go back home, who actually went back home. They had done some other deals that came about long before or even after me. And then there are some of the judges. They’re in cahoots. So if you know what a “good old” system is,” Roberson said.

Let me break this down for you. The judge Roberson is referring to is Judge Deborah Oakes Evans.

And the question is: Was she wrongly put in charge of this case? Evans signed the warrant that set Roberson’s execution date.

Roberson’s attorney, Gretchen Sween, argues that Evans did not follow due process and that she should be removed from office for reasons of impartiality under Texas law. That wouldn’t get Roberson off death row, but it would delay the execution.

A hearing will be held in Anderson County on Tuesday, October 15th. Judge Alfonso Charles, presiding judge of the Tenth Judicial District Court, will preside over the hearing to decide whether Evans should be removed from the case – and he could decide to overturn the potentially “unlawful” execution order.

The prosecutor Roberson mentioned is Allyson Mitchell – the Republican District Attorney of Anderson County. I reached out to her for comment but there was no response. Mitchell has not explained to the public why she adamantly seeks Roberson’s execution, even in the face of clear evidence of her actual innocence.

And there was another development – in the area of ​​shaken baby syndrome and junk science.

This week, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted a new trial for Texan Andrew Roark, saying his 2000 conviction in the Shaken Baby case should be overturned because it was based on science that has since evolved have.

The court also noted that a new trial for Roark today “would likely result in an acquittal.”

Roberson’s attorney, Gretchen Sween, responded that Roark’s case and Roberson’s case were virtually identical. Including the testimony of the same child abuse specialist used to convict Roberson.

She also believes Roberson should be granted a new trial.

And they have filed an emergency motion to stay Roberson’s Oct. 17 execution date.

I asked Roberson if he thought the Texas legal system was fair.

“No, sir. Not like it is now,” Roberson said.

“And I think it would be good if they asked the legislature to change the law, change different processing steps and make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else. And I think even if you do that, you’ll never know for sure whether someone else who is actually innocent wouldn’t be executed. That’s why I believe that in order to abolish the death penalty or pay more attention to it, to research and study all these things, you have to keep other people and things that could happen again away from it. “Here, too, not just for me, but also for other people,” he said.

Injured special education teachers

Special education teachers in San Antonio’s largest school district say they are frequently injured on the job. They filed a formal complaint alleging that the death of a teaching assistant earlier this year was part of a widespread pattern of injuries caused by students at Northside ISD.

TPR education reporter Camille Phillips received a copy of the complaint and spoke with teachers and the assistant’s widow about their concerns.

Who do the pollsters survey?

At this point in election season, it seems like there’s a new political poll virtually every day — and you may have received at least one call with the label “political poll” on your caller ID.

If you’re like most people, you’ve ignored it.

So if You are Who doesn’t answer these calls? Who do the pollsters survey? And how can they tell if they’re doing it right?

Texas Newsroom political reporter Blaise Gainey takes a look.

Amateur radio to the rescue

During Hurricanes Helene and Milton, amateur radio volunteers played a critical role in communications.

TPR amateur radio operator Jerry Clayton has more.