Shaken Baby Syndrome: Robert Roberson; Texas: Joshua George; Pennsylvania; Jordan Clark; Pennsylvania: The Debunked "Shaken Baby Syndrome" hypothesis raises "serious doubts" in all of these capital cases, the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) reports in its 2025 'Innocence and Clemency' document, noting tha;, "Robert Roberson has been granted relief under Texas' junk science statute - and that: Two defen­dants in Pennsylvania fac­ing cap­i­tal charges in alleged SBS cas­es filed a peti­tion before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court alleg­ing that Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh has demon­strat­ed a pat­tern of improp­er­ly threat­en­ing or seek­ing death sen­tences in vio­la­tion of the United States Constitution and the Pennsylvania Constitution. The peti­tion not only impli­cates the debunked sci­ence of SBS but also rais­es seri­ous alle­ga­tions of prosecutorial misconduct."

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: All too many many examples in this  of innocent people exposed to the death penalty in America — are set out in this important Death Penalty Information Center report which is well worth reading in its entirety. In this post I am highlighting a section of particular interest to our readers headed:  'Debunked "Shaken Baby Syndrome" Hypothesis  Raises Serious Doubts in Capital Cases.' All the more reason to abolish the death penalty wherever it exists.

Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.

----------------------------------------

REPORT: The Death Penalty  Information Center: 'The Death Penalty in 2025: Innocence  and clemency.'  

GIST: Robert Roberson, a Texas death row pris­on­er who has been on death row since 2002 for the death of his two-year-old daugh­ter, Nikki, received a stay of exe­cu­tion in October over con­cerns about the valid­i­ty of the evi­dence used to con­vict him. 

Mr. Roberson was sched­uled to be exe­cut­ed on October 16, 2025, but the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals halt­ed the exe­cu­tion on October 9, remand­ing his case to the dis­trict court for fur­ther con­sid­er­a­tion of his request for relief based upon relief offered in a sim­i­lar case, Ex parte Roark. 

Like Mr. Roberson’s case, Ex parte Roark also involved a con­vic­tion based on the now discredited  “Shaken Baby Syndrome” hypoth­e­sis (SBS), and the CCA grant­ed relief to Mr. Roark based on con­clu­sions that the sci­ence behind SBS is no longer sound. 

Mr. Roberson request­ed relief under Texas’ junk sci­ence statute, cre­at­ed in 2013, which allows pris­on­ers to chal­lenge their con­vic­tions if the evi­dence used against them relied on now out­dat­ed and/ or debunked sci­ence. 

Since the law’s cre­ation, no death row pris­on­er in the state has suc­cess­ful­ly secured a new tri­al or form of relief.

Mr. Roberson’s case has gar­nered nation­al atten­tion due to his com­pelling inno­cence claims.

 Numerous med­ical experts agree that Nikki’s death was caused by pneu­mo­nia and pre-exist­ing med­ical con­di­tions. 

The lead detec­tive in the orig­i­nal case has spo­ken pub­licly about his belief that Mr. Roberson is inno­cent, and even the judge who set his most recent exe­cu­tion date called the decision  “unfor­tu­nate” but acknowl­edged he had no legal basis to reject the Texas attor­ney general’s request for an exe­cu­tion date to be set.

 The involve­ment of the attor­ney gen­er­al, the gov­er­nor, and sev­er­al mem­bers of the Texas leg­is­la­ture inject­ed a com­pli­cat­ed polit­i­cal dimen­sion to the case pro­ceed­ings. 

Mr. Roberson’s case is the sub­ject of NBC ’s “Dateline” pod­cast and a forth­com­ing non-fic­­tion book by John Grisham enti­tled Shaken: The Rush to Execute an Innocent Man

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Two defen­dants in Pennsylvania fac­ing cap­i­tal charges in alleged SBS cas­es filed a peti­tion before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court alleg­ing that Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh has demon­strat­ed a pat­tern of improp­er­ly threat­en­ing or seek­ing death sen­tences in vio­la­tion of the United States Constitution and the Pennsylvania Constitution. 

The peti­tion not only impli­cates the debunked sci­ence of SBS but also rais­es seri­ous alle­ga­tions of prosecutorial misconduct.

In the case of one defen­dant, Joshua George, the peti­tion alleges DA Walsh’s First Assistant failed to dis­close excul­pa­to­ry tes­ti­mo­ny to the defense until after the pre­lim­i­nary hear­ing. 

Mr. George was ulti­mate­ly acquit­ted of all charges after only 90 min­utes of jury delib­er­a­tions.

 In the oth­er case, that of Jordan Clarke, the peti­tion alleges DA Walsh inter­vened so that Washington County would con­duct the autop­sy despite the death occur­ring in Allegheny County.

 Although Washington County pathol­o­gist Jennifer Hammers found the cause of death to be  “blunt-force trau­ma of the head and tor­so,” Washington County Coroner Timothy Warco filed an invalid death cer­tifi­cate stat­ing the death was due to  “Shaken Baby Syndrome/ Abusive Trauma” and deemed it a homi­cide after Allegheny County had already filed a death cer­tifi­cate. 

The Department of Health did not accept Coroner Warco’s improp­er fil­ing, instead accept­ing the death cer­tifi­cate filed by Allegheny County, which list­ed cause of death as  “intracra­nial hem­or­rhage” and  “man­ner of death as undetermined.” 

The affi­davit pro­vid­ed by Washington County Coroner Warco on July 25, 2025, states that DA Walsh coerced him to file a fraud­u­lent death cer­tifi­cate in the case of Mr. Clarke’s child to ensure it was deemed a homi­cide. 

Coroner Warco alleges that DA Walsh told him, “[you] know that I need this to be a homi­cide, I need it to win an elec­tion,” as his cam­paign plat­form focused on harsh pun­ish­ment for those who kill children."

The entire report can be read at: 

https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/research/analysis/reports/year-end-reports/the-death-penalty-in-2025/innocence

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;

—————————————————————————————————

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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Tameshia Shelton: Mississippi: Major (Welcome Development): A court has ordered a new murder trial for mother of four, Mississippi Today (Investigative Reporter Jerry Mitchell) reports, noting that: "The Mississippi Attorney General’s Office has asked the judges for another hearing. Special Assistant Attorney General Barbara Byrd argued that the defense lawyer’s failure to put an apparent suicide note from the victim into evidence “does not reflect deficient performance," - and that, In 2024, Clay County Circuit Judge James Kitchens Jr. rejected Shelton’s request for a new trial, despite the state pathologist reversing his original ruling and saying the death was more likely a suicide. The appeals court concluded Kitchens erred in denying Shelton’s request for a new trial. The court cited the pathologist’s reversal and the failure of defense lawyer Rod Ray to introduce the victim’s apparent suicide note into evidence at the murder trial."

PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "In 2009, forensic pathologist Dr. Liam Funte ruled Young’s death a homicide, basing that decision on the trajectory of the bullet from the front of the chest to the back “without significant deviation to left or right.” Under questioning byLevick, Funte said at the time he had not seen that in a suicide, but he said he has seen such cases since and was “leaning toward suicide.” In reversing the original ruling, he cited scientific studies on bullet trajectories in suicides and homicides. In one study, more than 36% of suicides had bullet trajectories that did not deviate to the left or right."

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PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: "In the autopsy report, Funte concluded Young had been shot in the chest and that the gun was fired from less than an inch away. Both he and another forensic pathologist, Dr. Randall Frost, demonstrated at hearings how the small gun could fire a self-inflicted shot, following the same path the bullet traveled through Young’s body. Funte said he would now rule the death “undetermined.” Kitchens never addressed the apparent suicide note in his 15-page decision. In that note, Young wrote, “I have no life without her (Shelton’s sister Ketina). … These are my last words. … Tell (your daughter) Treasure about me one day. Bye. Bye.” At the hearing, Funte testified that the note would have been relevant to determining the manner of death."

--------------------------------------------

STORY: "Appeals court orders new murder trial for Mississippi mother of four," by Senior Investigative Reporter Jerry Mitchell, published by Mississippi Today, on December 15, 2025. (The stories of investigative reporter Jerry Mitchell have helped put four Klansmen and a serial killer behind bars. His stories have also helped free two people from death row, exposed injustices and corruption, prompting investigations and reforms as well as the firings of boards and officials. He is a Pulitzer Prize finalist, a longtime member of Investigative Reporters & Editors, and a winner of more than 30 other national awards, including a $500,000 MacArthur “genius” grant. After working for three decades for the statewide Clarion-Ledger, Mitchell left in 2019 and founded the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting.)

GIST: The Mississippi Court of Appeals has ordered a new murder trial for Tameshia Shelton, a 47-year-old mother of four who has long insisted on her innocence in the death of her sister’s boyfriend.

Judges vacated her conviction and ordered the new trial.

“After 10 long years in prison, it is time for Ms. Shelton, who did nothing wrong, to come home.  The charges should be dismissed.  If there is a new trial, the jury should hear all of the evidence, including the evidence of Ms. Shelton’s innocence that the original jury never heard,” Shelton’s attorney, Sandra Levick, said.

The Mississippi Attorney General’s Office has asked the judges for another hearing. Special Assistant Attorney General Barbara Byrd argued that the defense lawyer’s failure to put an apparent suicide note from the victim into evidence “does not reflect deficient performance.”

Courts cannot presume prejudice, she wrote. “This Court’s opinion nevertheless assumes the ‘potentially exculpatory’ letter would have been admitted, credited by the jury, and outcome-determinative. These assumptions are unsupported by the record.”

In 2024, Clay County Circuit Judge James Kitchens Jr. rejected Shelton’s request for a new trial, despite the state pathologist reversing his original ruling and saying the death was more likely a suicide.

The appeals court concluded Kitchens erred in denying Shelton’s request for a new trial. The court cited the pathologist’s reversal and the failure of defense lawyer Rod Ray to introduce the victim’s apparent suicide note into evidence at the murder trial.

Mississippi Innocence Project lawyers wrote that if it “offends the 8th and 14th Amendments to execute a person who could prove his actual innocence, then it offends the Constitution as well to consign her to prison for the remainder of her natural life for a crime she did not commit.” 

“It’s been a long time coming,” said Shelton’s sister, Shenikia. “Finally, I feel like our voice is getting heard and they’re seeing that an injustice was done. We’re extremely happy, and we’ve been thanking God ever since.”

She said her sister is “very happy and very excited” at the news.

In 2015, a Clay County jury convicted Shelton of murder in the 2009 shooting death of her sister’s 21-year-old boyfriend, Danelle Young. Shelton, who was sentenced to life, won’t be eligible for parole until 2043.

The prosecution never presented a motive for why Shelton would have killed Young.

In April 2022, Kitchens presided over the last of three days of hearings over whether Shelton deserved a new trial. Those hearings revealed evidence never shown to the jury, including an apparent suicide note Young wrote.

In 2009, forensic pathologist Dr. Liam Funte ruled Young’s death a homicide, basing that decision on the trajectory of the bullet from the front of the chest to the back “without significant deviation to left or right.”

Under questioning byLevick, Funte said at the time he had not seen that in a suicide, but he said he has seen such cases since and was “leaning toward suicide.”

In reversing the original ruling, he cited scientific studies on bullet trajectories in suicides and homicides. In one study, more than 36% of suicides had bullet trajectories that did not deviate to the left or right.

After a verbal argument in which Shelton’s sister said she told Young that she didn’t want to live with him, Young walked to Shelton’s trailer.

Shelton told authorities she was already in bed with her infant daughter when Young knocked on the window of the trailer. She went to the front door, and she said he told her that he only needed one bullet to kill a raccoon.

She said she replied that he might need more than one bullet and loaded her small .22 pistol and gave it to him.

After she heard a shot and he failed to return, she said she went outside, found him collapsed on the gravel driveway and called 911.

In the autopsy report, Funte concluded Young had been shot in the chest and that the gun was fired from less than an inch away.

Both he and another forensic pathologist, Dr. Randall Frost, demonstrated at hearings how the small gun could fire a self-inflicted shot, following the same path the bullet traveled through Young’s body.

Funte said he would now rule the death “undetermined.”

Kitchens never addressed the apparent suicide note in his 15-page decision. In that note, Young wrote, “I have no life without her (Shelton’s sister Ketina). … These are my last words. … Tell (your daughter) Treasure about me one day. Bye. Bye.”

At the hearing, Funte testified that the note would have been relevant to determining the manner of death.

“Considering the potentially exculpatory nature of this letter, we find it difficult to conclude that its absence did not prejudice Shelton’s defense,” Chief Judge Donna Barnes wrote for the appeals court in its 7-3 decision.

In his dissent, Judge John Emfinger wrote that a study provided by Shelton’s lawyers actually supports Funte’s original opinion of a homicide. That study showed that 82.4% of suicides were shots to the head and 16.3% were shots to the chest.

“So, according to that study, looking at those numbers, if it was a suicide, it would have been much more likely to be a shot to the head than to the chest, correct?” Special Assistant Attorney General Jackie Bost II asked Funte at the hearing.

“Yes,” Funte replied. “According to the study.”

This is why the trial judge determined that Funte’s change of opinion and the evidence used to support the changed opinion didn’t support reversal of the case, Emfinger wrote.

The entire story can be read at:

https://mississippitoday.org/2025/12/15/appeals-court-orders-new-murder-trial-for-mother-of-four/

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

———————————————————————————————

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;

—————————————————————————————————

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;

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Pune Porsche Crash: New Delhi: A unique blood-swapping case I have been following because of the allegations of corruption brought against senior forensic officials - and the seriousness in which the courts are taking the case (as well they should): HL: …"The police had taken the minor to the hospital, following procedure, to measure his level of intoxication by drawing a blood sample. However, the collected blood sample was allegedly swapped with another person’s blood, and the Pune Police claimed that the doctors and hospital staff were hand in glove with members of the accused Agarwal family in the case. The bench observed that the offence is serious and the witnesses in the case can be manipulated. Though the detailed judgement with observations passed by the court is yet to be made available. However, Special Public Prosecutor Shishir Hiray, appearing for the Pune Police, argued that the accused had fabricated vital evidence in the case by manipulating the minor accused’s blood samples. Hiray also submitted that witnesses in the case could be easily influenced, as some are junior to the accused doctors at the hospital, while others are economically vulnerable and could be threatened by the powerful accused."

BACKGROUND:  (From a previous  post of this Blog): May 29, 2025: "The hit-and-run case that happened on 19th May 2024, in Maharashtra’s Pune in which a 17-year-old son of a builder, Vishal Agarwal of Brahma Realty and Infrastructure, rammed his Porsche Taycan car into a vehicle in an inebriated state and killed two people named Aneesh Awadhia and Ashwini Koshta. The case sparked widespread public outrage as multiple cover-up attempts were made in the case and the accused was granted bail within 15 hours of the incident. Dr Shrihari Halnor was the CMO who attended to the accused after the accident. According to Pune Police, Dr Halnor swapped the blood samples on the instruction of Taware. Both were arrested on 27th May 2024, after the accused teenager’s blood sample test conducted at two hospitals gave different results. The results confirmed the Pune Police’s suspicion that the samples at the Sassoon hospital were swapped."

https://draft.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/8746436172977995068

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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Dr Taware and Halnor are booked for replacing the blood samples of the minor accused and the other minor accused who was sitting on the passenger seat at the time of the accident. Taware is the head of the Forensic Medicine Department and Halnor is the Chief Medical Officer. Makandar worked as the middleman, who connected Vishal with Taware and Halnor for swapping the blood samples. Mittal and Sood were allegedly in cahoots with the other accused and provided their own blood samples to replace those of the two minor accused. Singh is alleged to have asked Sood and Mittal to give their blood samples."

-----------------------------------------

STORY: "Pune Porsche crash: Court denies bail to minor driver's father, 7 others," published by India Today, on December 16, 2025.

SUB-HEADING: "The court dismissed the pleas of Vishal Agarwal, the father of the minor; Ashish Mittal; Aditya Sood; Arunkumar Singh; Ashpak Makandar; and Dr Ajay Taware and Dr Shrihari Halnor of Sassoon Hospital, who have been charged with tampering with the minor accused's blood sample to ensure that no alcohol was detected in his system."

GIST: :The Bombay High Court on Tuesday rejected the bail pleas of eight accused in the Pune Porsche hit-and-run case, in which two people were killed after a high-end car allegedly driven by a minor rammed a two-wheeler in Kalyani Nagar on May 19, 2024.

The bench of Justice Shyam Chandak dismissed the pleas of Vishal Agarwal, the father of the minor; Ashish Mittal; Aditya Sood; Arunkumar Singh; Ashpak Makandar; and Dr Ajay Taware and Dr Shrihari Halnor of Sassoon Hospital, who have been charged with tampering with the minor accused’s blood sample to ensure that no alcohol was detected in his system.

The police had taken the minor to the hospital, following procedure, to measure his level of intoxication by drawing a blood sample.

However, the collected blood sample was allegedly swapped with another person’s blood, and the Pune Police claimed that the doctors and hospital staff were hand in glove with members of the accused Agarwal family in the case.

The bench observed that the offence is serious and the witnesses in the case can be manipulated. Though the detailed judgement with observations passed by the court is yet to be made available.

However, Special Public Prosecutor Shishir Hiray, appearing for the Pune Police, argued that the accused had fabricated vital evidence in the case by manipulating the minor accused’s blood samples.

Hiray also submitted that witnesses in the case could be easily influenced, as some are junior to the accused doctors at the hospital, while others are economically vulnerable and could be threatened by the powerful accused.

Dr Taware and Halnor are booked for replacing the blood samples of the minor accused and the other minor accused who was sitting on the passenger seat at the time of the accident.

Taware is the head of the Forensic Medicine Department and Halnor is the Chief Medical Officer.

Makandar worked as the middleman, who connected Vishal with Taware and Halnor for swapping the blood samples.

Mittal and Sood were allegedly in cahoots with the other accused and provided their own blood samples to replace those of the two minor accused. Singh is alleged to have asked Sood and Mittal to give their blood samples."

The entire story can be read at: 

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/law-news/story/pune-porsche-hit-and-run-case-court-denies-bail-to-minors-father-7-others-2836993-2025-12-16

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

———————————————————————————————

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;

—————————————————————————————————

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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Robert Roberson: Tyler: Texas: Bulletin: What's next? Thankfully the courts have stayed his execution thanks to a 2013 'junk science law', which allows a person convicted of a crime to seek relief if the evidence used against them is no longer credible. So what happens next? KLTV: (Reporters Meredith Billings and Katie Parker)

BULLETIN: "Court dates set for Robert Roberson following stay of execution," by Reporters  Meredith Billings and Katie Parker, published on December 12, 2025.

SUB-HEADING: "A district judge has determined a June hearing to consider evidence in the Robert Roberson case."

GIST:  "A district judge has determined a June hearing to consider evidence in the Robert Roberson case. Roberson, of Palestine, was convicted in 2003 for the 2002 murder of his daughter Nikki. The Texas Supreme Court paused Roberson’s execution in October of this year, days before he was set to be the first person in the U.S. to be put to death for a conviction tied to shaken baby syndrome. This was the third execution date that Roberson’s lawyers have been able to stay since 2016. Robert Roberson’s defense and the state agreed to a potential evidentiary hearing regarding Roberson’s stay of execution during a Friday court meeting with Smith County Judge Reeve Jackson over Zoom. A status hearing is set for Feb. 27 at 1 p.m. to review material the state files before an evidentiary hearing that is tentatively scheduled for the week of June 15.  The latest stay was granted based on Texas’ 2013 junk science law, which allows a person convicted of a crime to seek relief if the evidence used against them is no longer credible. The appeals court then sent Roberson’s case back to his trial court in East Texas for review."

The entire bulletin can be read at:

 https://www.kltv.com/2025/12/12/court-dates-set-robert-roberson-following-stay-execution/

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

———————————————————————————————

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;

—————————————————————————————————

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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