Texas court denies clemency to Robert Roberson, sentenced to death for ‘junk science’ forensics

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has rejected an eleventh-hour request by death row prisoner Robert Roberson to stop his scheduled execution today – despite evidence that his 2003 conviction for murdering his 2-year-old daughter was based on “garbage science.” based. Unless Texas Governor Greg Abbott or the U.S. Supreme Court intervenes, Roberson will be executed tonight at 6 p.m. The appeals court ruling came even after a bipartisan group of lawmakers sought a stay of execution. They wrote: “We believe that it would be a stain on the conscience of the State of Texas to carry out an execution while efforts are being made to correct deficiencies in the execution of the law.” The law was applied to this case.”

Roberson’s conviction was based solely on forensic testimony relying on the “shaken baby syndrome hypothesis,” which was popularized in the early 2000s but never scientifically confirmed.