Target: Greg Abbott, Governor of Texas
Goal: Grant stay of execution to death row inmate possibly wrongfully convicted in death of his daughter.
Another deadly miscarriage of justice could soon occur in Texas without urgent intervention. Robert Roberson is scheduled to be executed on October 17. If the execution proceeds, Roberson (who is autistic) will be the first inmate put to death for a now-debunked condition called shaken baby syndrome. Roberson has consistently maintained his innocence in the death of his two-year-old daughter. New evidence has reportedly backed up his claims.
Roberson’s daughter Nikki passed away in 2005 after he rushed her to the hospital. He claimed he had discovered the little girl blue and unresponsive, and medical examiners later found bleeding in the girl’s brain. At the time, they had seemingly presumed that the bleeding had resulted from Roberson having shaken his daughter. Supposed experts testified to this chain of events, although the most current research has largely discredited the very idea of shaken baby syndrome. And the main expert reportedly testified in a separate case in which the convicted man has just been granted a new trial because of alleged questions about the expert’s testimony.
Texas recently passed a first-of-its-kind law intended to help individuals convicted on such discredited science pursue more avenues for appeal. The jury who convicted Roberson also apparently never heard testimony that the girl had been seriously sick with pneumonia just days prior to her death, which medical professionals claim could have accounted for her brain bleed. In addition, medications reportedly given to the girl at the time of her hospital admission could have exacerbated the problem.
An onslaught of scientists, legal professionals, politicians – and even the lead investigator of the case himself – have called for a stay of execution. Sign the petition below to join these pleas to save a potentially innocent man’s life.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Governor Abbott,
“We have failed to hear Robert’s righteous plea of innocence. We rushed to judgement. We were wrong, the jury was misinformed, and Robert is not guilty of any crime. If we are truly a nation of laws, a people who love justice in the most meaningful sense of that word, then Robert Leslie Roberson III must be set free.”
The man who wrote this appeal to the Texas Board of Pardons on behalf of death row inmate Robert Roberson was not a family member or a person with passing knowledge of the circumstances. He was the lead investigator in a case that will see Roberson executed in days without your intervention. Brian Wharton once unequivocally demanded Roberson’s arrest, but new evidence – and emerging science – have completely changed his perspective. He joins medical professionals, legal professionals, and a bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers in pleading for clemency for an autistic man who could be wrongfully executed for the tragic death of his young daughter.
If this date passes without a stay of execution or other needed action, then there will be no take-backs. An innocent man could be dead at the state’s hand. Please act immediately to prevent this potential grave miscarriage of justice.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Innocence Project
93 Signatures