Overview

• The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted an emergency stay one week before Roberson’s Oct. 16 execution and returned the case to the trial court for further proceedings.
• Had the execution proceeded, Roberson was poised to be the first person in the U.S. put to death on a conviction tied primarily to a shaken baby syndrome diagnosis, according to the Associated Press.
• Roberson’s attorneys argue Nikki Curtis died from severe pneumonia and inappropriate medications, not abuse, and submitted a joint statement from 10 independent pathologists challenging the original autopsy’s reliability.
• Recent filings also allege undisclosed judicial misconduct, claiming the 2003 trial judge authorized Nikki’s grandparents to remove her from life support without revealing that role.
• The court cited evolving science and a recent overturned shaken baby case in Dallas as it invoked the 2013 law, while Attorney General Ken Paxton and prosecutors maintain Roberson’s guilt and could seek further appellate action after previous pauses in 2016 and 2024.