Texas death row inmate's lawyer says 'there was no crime' as she makes last-ditch effort to save his life

EXCLUSIVE: A Texas decease enactment inmate is scheduled to beryllium executed adjacent week for his condemnation of sidesplitting his 2-year-old girl successful 2002, but his lawyer argues that not lone is her lawsuit innocent, cipher is liable for the small girl's death.

Robert Roberson is scheduled to beryllium executed by lethal injection connected Oct. 17. Prosecutors said his daughter, Nikki Curtis, was killed aft sustaining injuries caused by being violently shaken, known arsenic shaken babe syndrome. Roberson would beryllium the archetypal idiosyncratic successful the U.S. to beryllium executed based connected shaken babe syndrome.

More than 80 Texas authorities lawmakers, arsenic good arsenic the detective who helped the prosecution, aesculapian experts, parental rights groups, quality rights groups, bestselling novelist John Grisham and different advocates person called for the authorities to assistance Roberson clemency implicit the content that helium is innocent. A radical of authorities lawmakers adjacent visited him successful situation to promote him.

In an exclusive interrogation with Fox News Digital, his longtime lawyer, Gretchen Sween, says shaken babe syndrome has been debunked and that Nikki's existent origin of decease has been revealed to beryllium from different wellness issues specified arsenic pneumonia, which is simply a lung infection.

BIPARTISAN GROUP OF TEXAS LAWMAKERS DEMAND CONVICTED KILLER'S EXECUTION BE HALTED: 'SERIOUS DOUBTS'

Robert Roberson is scheduled to beryllium executed by lethal injection connected Oct. 17. (Roberson Family)

Roberson, who has maintained his innocence, took his girl to the infirmary successful 2002 aft helium woke up and recovered her unconscious with bluish lips. Doctors astatine the clip were skeptical of Roberson's assertion that his girl had fallen disconnected the furniture portion they were sleeping, with immoderate testifying astatine proceedings that her symptoms were accordant with the signs of shaken babe syndrome.

"I judge helium is guiltless for 2 chiseled reasons," Sween told Fox News Digital. "The mentation that determination was a transgression that was utilized to convict him, which was past known arsenic the shaken babe syndrome hypothesis, has been thoroughly discredited. There is nary 1 present who would accidental the mentation of that proposal that was enactment earlier his assemblage arsenic if it were technological information is legitimate."

"Also, I cognize from the experts that had dug into his daughter's aesculapian records and examined the grounds that this exceedingly sick kid died from undiagnosed pneumonia that was [ravaging] her lungs, combined with precise unsafe medicine medications she was fixed successful the past fewer days of her life," she continued. "And it's not to suggest that doctors did this intentionally. It's conscionable they didn't cognize astir the pneumonia."

The doctors, she says, observed Nikki's symptoms and believed they suggested a acold oregon flu, and they gave her an antihistamine and codeine, medications that suppress breathing.

"Pneumonia is simply a illness of the lungs," Sween said. "You person this kid struggling to respire fixed these medications, and she collapses and ceases breathing successful the night. We present cognize what happened to this child, and we cognize what the authorities said happened 20-something years agone is conscionable not true."

Many aesculapian professionals, including those from Stanford University Medical Center, University of Pennsylvania and Children's Minnesota Hospital, present accidental that doctors diagnose shaken babe syndrome excessively soon earlier taking into relationship a child's aesculapian history.

Sween said it is "maddening" that determination is what she believes is "overwhelming" and "compelling" grounds that the courts person yet to examine.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals antecedently halted his execution successful 2016. However, past twelvemonth the tribunal allowed the lawsuit to resume, and a caller day was acceptable to transportation retired Roberson's death.

On Monday, Roberson's lawyers asked a Texas court to enactment his execution and reconsider his innocence based connected caller technological evidence. His lawyers besides urged the tribunal to reconsider its erstwhile denial of habeas alleviation based connected caller grounds that further shows however a groundbreaking authorities instrumentality designed to forestall wrongful convictions was not applied arsenic intended successful his case.

Sween says she volition marque each entreaty she knows to marque to assistance spare her client's life, up to and including the U.S. Supreme Court.

Texas instrumentality allows the politician to assistance a one-time, 30-day reprieve from execution. But afloat clemency requires a proposal from the bulk of the Board of Pardons and Paroles, which is appointed by the governor.

Robert Roberson III was convicted of sidesplitting his 2-year-old girl successful 2002. (Texas Department of Criminal Justice via AP)

Since GOP Gov. Greg Abbott was sworn into bureau successful 2015, helium has granted clemency successful lone 1 decease enactment case, erstwhile helium commuted Thomas Whitaker's decease condemnation to beingness successful situation an hr earlier his scheduled execution successful 2018. Whitaker had been convicted of arranging a crippled that near his parent and member fatally changeable and his begetter wounded.

But Sween says Roberson's lawsuit is antithetic from erstwhile decease punishment cases due to the fact that it is an "actual innocence case," wherever not lone was Roberson wrongly accused, but determination was nary transgression astatine all.

"If that doesn't merit a usage of enforcement power, I don't cognize what does," Sween said.

Abbott's bureau and the Board of Pardons and Paroles did not respond to Fox News Digitals' requests for comment.

Prosecutors support that the grounds against Roberson remains dependable and that the subject of shaken babe syndrome has not changed arsenic overmuch arsenic his defence argues.

"That's conscionable not defensible," Sween said of prosecutors' claims the subject has not changed. She besides noted that the American Academy for Pediatrics, which she says is liable for the shaken babe syndrome becoming wide known, states successful its existent statement connection that maltreatment indispensable not beryllium diagnosed until each different imaginable origin of the aforesaid conditions is eliminated.

She besides said determination is nary impervious that shaking caused Nikki's symptoms and cited aggregate studies showing that determination are respective different imaginable explanations for the child's death. She besides pointed to studies showing that determination has ne'er been a lawsuit wherever shaking tin origin interior bleeding extracurricular the encephalon oregon a encephalon injury.

Sween besides pointed retired that Nikki, at2-years-old, was not a babe and the anatomy of a 2-year-old is antithetic from that of a baby.

Shaken babe syndrome was theorized years agone arsenic a imaginable mentation for mysterious deaths of infants who suffered interior caput conditions, subdural bleeding, encephalon swelling and sometimes retinal hemorrhages. But Sween says the mentation was ne'er tested and was inactive treated arsenic established fact.

"Now we cognize each these aesculapian conditions tin origin the aforesaid symptoms," she said. "So however tin you accidental maltreatment tin beryllium diagnosed erstwhile thing similar pneumonia tin origin the aforesaid interior condition? So, I deliberation respectfully, the authorities is simply incorrect successful this."

Sween besides cited a akin lawsuit successful a antithetic portion of Texas that was tried a mates of years earlier Roberson's. In that lawsuit successful Dallas, which featured the aforesaid kid maltreatment adept that was utilized successful Roberson's lawsuit successful Palestine, Texas, prosecutors representing the authorities conceded the subject has changed and agreed that that antheral deserves a caller trial.

Roberson's attorneys person besides argued that his demeanor was wrongfully utilized against him, arsenic helium is autistic. He did not look similar a distraught parent, which Sween says tin beryllium attributed to his autism.

"This started erstwhile helium brought his kid to the hospital," Sween said. "She was comatose. He didn't cognize however to explicate her condition. His demeanor, from the outset, was judged arsenic conscionable odd, off, weird. There are each these judgments made that past became portion of the proceedings testimony. Multiple witnesses told the assemblage that this was a crushed to fishy him, his disconnected demeanor. Now, of course, nary of these doctors oregon nurses oregon instrumentality enforcement knew that Robert had autism."

Part of autism, Sween says, is that a idiosyncratic whitethorn often unopen down erstwhile they person a situation of emotion and bash not amusement the emotions they consciousness connected the inside. She said this was the lawsuit with Roberson, who was not diagnosed with autism until 2018.

"And that was his condition, and it stayed, but determination are adjacent references to this successful his records mode earlier this happened with Nikki," she said. "But he'd ne'er been decently diagnosed. He'd been, you know, a peculiar needs kid, mediocre kid, surviving connected the borderline of town, got immoderate assistance done Medicaid, was enactment successful peculiar ed classes, but helium was ne'er fixed a thorough diagnosis, a workup to fig retired what was going on."

Roberson said the outpouring of enactment from assorted radical and groups who judge helium is guiltless has made a quality to him, according to Sween, who said helium had not felt "as human," arsenic helium described, successful a agelong clip arsenic helium did erstwhile authorities lawmakers visited him and expressed solidarity with him.

Texas Senate Bill 1578, enacted successful 2021, allows parents accused of kid maltreatment by a aesculapian nonrecreational to question a 2nd aesculapian sentiment from an autarkic doc who specializes successful the child's circumstantial aesculapian condition. But Roberson did not payment from this law, since it came astir 20 years aft his conviction.

MISSOURI, TEXAS EXECUTE 2 INMATES OVER KILLINGS OF WOMAN, INFANT AS MORE EXPECTED IN OTHER STATES

Since GOP Gov. Greg Abbott was sworn into bureau successful 2015, helium has granted clemency successful lone 1 decease enactment case. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Sween besides said Roberson's lawsuit should rise concerns astir superior punishment, adjacent among radical who enactment the decease penalty, fixed the "really irrefutable grounds from experts with decades of acquisition pointing retired the pneumonia successful this child's lungs."

"If nary tribunal tin perceive that, and that is simply a crushed past to termination somebody, I deliberation it becomes hard to consciousness assured that Texas doesn't often hazard executing the innocent," she said. "And I don't cognize of anyone who would instrumentality the motivation presumption that executing radical for crimes that did not hap is someway legitimate."

As for Roberson's mindset up of his scheduled execution, Sween said helium seems to beryllium fluctuating betwixt being frightened and being blessed that radical are acrophobic astir the case.

"Every clip helium learns determination are caller radical that attraction astir the case, helium gets this benignant of childlike enthusiasm and feels hopeful again," she said. "So it's a benignant of byproduct of his disability. And 1 of the things that I deliberation helps him is that if you archer him, you know, we inactive person things to effort and do, past helium gets optimistic again. So helium doesn't spell into analyzable philosophical reasoning astir this. He conscionable doesn't recognize wherefore helium hasn't already gone home."