Man's Execution In Shaken Baby Case Delayed After Texas Lawmakers' ‘Unprecedented’ Move

LOADING ERROR LOADING The execution of a Texas man convicted of killing his 2-year-old daughter under a disputed shaken baby syndrome diagnosis was put on hold Thursday hours before he was scheduled to die when Texas lawmakers demanded he appear at an upcoming hearing. In a last-ditch effort on Wednesday, his lawyers filed a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court to stay his execution and consider whether the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied Roberson due process by refusing to consider new evidence of his innocence. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor noted in a statement that “mounting evidence suggests” Robertson “committed no crime at all.” “Few cases more urgently call for such a remedy than one where the accused has made a serious showing of actual innocence, as Roberson has here,” Sotomayor wrote in the statement. Criminal Justice Reform Caucus via Associated Press Roberson will now appear before lawmakers to testify on a Texas law that allows prisoners to challenge their convictions based on “junk science.” Roberson’s lawyers have argued that his case merits a new trial under the state law, pointing out that similar cases have received new trials. The committee heard testimony earlier on Wednesday about Roberson’s case and shaken baby syndrome, a diagnosis some experts say has been misused in the criminal justice system to wrongfully convict parents and caregivers.