QUOTE OF THE DAY: (From another story): KETK: (On urgency if this appeal to stay execution); "It's an emergency. Robert Roberson's attorney asks for a stay of execution."…“The motion tries to make clear that we are asking [the stay of execution] to take precedence because it’s an emergency,” Sween said. “There’s now this time bomb of the execution date so hopefully that will be taken up first.”
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: “This kind of evidence is complex,” Sween said. “And misinformation about the physical evidence developed both at trial and in post-conviction has abounded. Under these circumstances, the district court’s stated rationale for scheduling Robert’s execution now—to ‘move things along’—seems incompatible with the truth-seeking function the public expects in matters of life or death. A stay is necessary to remove the artificial and arbitrary time pressure created by scheduling an innocent man’s execution while he has appeals pending."
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STORY: "Robert Roberson attorneys ask appeals court to stay execution, consider new evidence," by Digital Content Manager Jeff Awtry, published by KLTV on July 24, 2025.
SUB-HEADING: "A judge has set an Oct. 16 execution date for Robert Roberson."
GIST:"Attorneys for Robert Roberson have filed motions in the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals for a stay of execution and for the court to hear evidence they say proves his innocence.
Judge Reeve Jackson has set an Oct. 16 execution date for Roberson, who is accused in the 2002 death of his young daughter.
Roberson’s attorneys argue that his daughter, Nikki Curtis, had died as the result of an undiagnosed pneumonia. His attorneys say a shaken baby syndrome hypothesis is incorrect and Roberson would be the first person executed for that.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has released statements detailing how the abuse against the child went beyond shaken baby syndrome.
“It is reasonable to assume that the CCA has been carefully considering the wealth of evidence proving Robert’s innocence,” said Gretchen Sween, one of Roberson’s attorneys. “Comprehensive medical and scientific explanations for his daughter’s condition both at the time of her final collapse and then two days later after extensive medical intervention have been presented to the Court, including new expert medical opinions filed in February.”
“This kind of evidence is complex,” Sween said. “And misinformation about the physical evidence developed both at trial and in post-conviction has abounded. Under these circumstances, the district court’s stated rationale for scheduling Robert’s execution now—to ‘move things along’—seems incompatible with the truth-seeking function the public expects in matters of life or death. A stay is necessary to remove the artificial and arbitrary time pressure created by scheduling an innocent man’s execution while he has appeals pending."
The entire story can be read at:
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;
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