QUOTE OF THE DAY: "“That autopsy has been the subject of widespread criticism by a range of medical specialists, including numerous forensic pathologists,” Gretchen Sween, one of Robersons attorneys, told D Magazine. “So the Dallas County Commissioners may be concerned about that. But both the death and the autopsy occurred in Dallas County. The case was prosecuted in Anderson County, but the prosecution’s two ‘expert’ witnesses used to prove its theory that a crime had occurred were both from Dallas County.”
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Dr. Jan Gorniak will review the case if county commissioners approve the expenditure. Dr. Gorniak has been a medical examiner in Clark County, Nevada, and Franklin County, Ohio. She served as chief medical examiner in Fulton County, Georgia, before moving to Washington, D.C., where she was a deputy chief medical examiner. She is also no stranger to high-profile cases, including that of Cleveland kidnapper and rapist Ariel Castro, who died by suicide. She also appeared in a documentary about the effort to exonerate Adnan Sayed, whose conviction for the abduction and murder of his high-school girlfriend became the subject of the investigative journalism podcast Serial."
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STORY: "Dallas County Will Consider Independent Review of Roberson Case," by Bethany Erickson, published by 'D Magazine' on March 31, 2025. ""Bethany Erickson is the senior digital editor for D Magazine. She's written about real estate, education policy, the stock market, and crime throughout her career, and sometimes all at the same time. You'll find her writing primarily about city hall, Dallas ISD, and the Texas legislature, and editing the popular DBrief newsletter. She's won awards from National Association of Real Estate Editors, the Local Media Association, and the National Newspaper Association."
SUB-HEADING: "Robert Roberson awaits a new execution date, but Dallas County may pay for an independent review of the evidence used in his conviction."
"When the Dallas County Commissioners Court meets Tuesday, it could approve spending up to $20,000 to hire an independent forensic review of the autopsy findings in the 2003 death of two-year-old Nikki Curtis.
Her father, Robert Roberson, was convicted of murder after Anderson County prosecutors argued Nikki was diagnosed with shaken baby syndrome, which most leading experts now consider to be “junk science.”
Commissioners first discussed the potential review in a March 18 executive session.
Roberson was convicted in Anderson County, but much of the evidence presented in the case came from Dallas County.
Nikki died at Children’s Health in Dallas.
Her autopsy was performed by Dr. Jill Urban, a forensic pathologist with the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Roberson’s attorneys have vigorously questioned Urban’s findings and have brought a slate of independent pathologists to testify that Nikki was a very sick child who was prone to respiratory ailments that included occasionally not breathing.
She had also been prescribed promethazine, which now carries a black-box warning regarding its use with small children.
Roberson’s attorneys say the autopsy and initial findings from the Children’s child abuse expert did not take that into account.
“That autopsy has been the subject of widespread criticism by a range of medical specialists, including numerous forensic pathologists,” Gretchen Sween, one of Robersons attorneys, told D Magazine. “So the Dallas County Commissioners may be concerned about that. But both the death and the autopsy occurred in Dallas County. The case was prosecuted in Anderson County, but the prosecution’s two ‘expert’ witnesses used to prove its theory that a crime had occurred were both from Dallas County.”
Roberson’s execution was scheduled for October 17.
An unusual bipartisan effort by state lawmakers effectively stopped the execution after they issued a subpoena for Roberson to testify during a hearing on Texas’ junk science law.
The appellate courts eventually ruled against their bid to delay Roberson’s execution but did find that they were within their rights to subpoena him as long as the effort didn’t seek to delay his death.
Since then, the state prison system has not produced Roberson to testify.
A new execution date has not been set. His attorneys filed another appeal in February.
Dr. Jan Gorniak will review the case if county commissioners approve the expenditure.
Gorniak has been a medical examiner in Clark County, Nevada, and Franklin County, Ohio.
She served as chief medical examiner in Fulton County, Georgia, before moving to Washington, D.C., where she was a deputy chief medical examiner.
She is also no stranger to high-profile cases, including that of Cleveland kidnapper and rapist Ariel Castro, who died by suicide.
She also appeared in a documentary about the effort to exonerate Adnan Sayed, whose conviction for the abduction and murder of his high-school girlfriend became the subject of the investigative journalism podcast Serial.
The entire story can be read at:
https://www.dmagazine.com/frontburner/2025/03/dallas-county-will-consider-independent-review-of-roberson-case/
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.
SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
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FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
