HOUSTON -- A Texas man who this week could be the first person in the U.S. executed for a murder conviction tied to the diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome awaited a decision Wednesday on his request for clemency from a state board.
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles' decision on whether to recommend that Robert Roberson’s execution on Thursday be stopped either through a commutation of his sentence or a reprieve was expected to come on the same day that a Texas House committee was set to meet in Austin to discuss his case. “We’re going to shine a light on this case for all 31 million Texans to hear and to watch and to see. And we’re hopeful that by Thursday evening, we’re able to secure that pause button in this case,” said state Rep.
Jeff Leach, one of the members of the Texas House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee that will meet on Wednesday. Leach, a Republican, is part of a bipartisan group of more than 80 state lawmakers who have asked the parole board and Gov. Greg Abbott to stop the execution.
Roberson, 57, is scheduled to receive a lethal injection for the 2002 killing of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis, in the East Texas city of Palestine. Roberson has long proclaimed his innocence. Abbott can only grant clemency after receiving a recommendation from the parole board.
Under Texas law, Abbott has the power to grant a one-time 30-day reprieve without a recommendation from the board. In his nearly 10 years as governor, Abbott has halted only one imm.
