What is shaken baby syndrome? And why might a Texas man be executed for it?

In 2002, Robert Roberson recovered his two-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis, unresponsive aft she fell disconnected a furniture successful the family’s location successful the East Texas metropolis of Palestine. Roberson took her to hospital, but a time later, the babe tragically died aft succumbing to a caput injury.

Within a year, Roberson, a labourer who is present 57, had been tried, sentenced and placed connected decease enactment for the sidesplitting of his daughter. Doctors and an autopsy study concluded that babe Nikki had died pursuing terrible maltreatment astatine the hands of Roberson – specifically from shaken babe syndrome.

The Texas Committee connected Criminal Jurisprudence, which is reconsidering the lawfulness of Roberson’s conviction, issued a subpoena for Roberson to be a proceeding scheduled for Monday, October 21.

But Roberson precise astir didn’t marque it to Monday. After a Texas authorities committee rejected his clemency plea connected Wednesday past week, helium had been scheduled to person a lethal injection connected Thursday evening astatine 6pm section clip (23:00 GMT) astatine the Texas State Penitentiary astatine Huntsville.

But successful a melodramatic crook of events, conscionable hours earlier the execution was owed to instrumentality place, a authorities justice successful Texas issued a impermanent restraining bid halting it aft a committee successful the Republican-controlled authorities House of Representatives petitioned the court.

That determination triggered an avalanche of ineligible actions that continued precocious into the night. After Judge Jessica Mangrun’s determination was announced, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals lifted the injunction and allowed the execution to proceed. But past the Texas Supreme Court weighed in, issuing a enactment of execution.

Roberson, his lawyers, Texas lawmakers and adjacent the pb detective connected the archetypal probe accidental helium is connected decease enactment for a transgression helium did not commit.

The subject down shaken babe syndrome has been brought into question successful caller years. So what is it, and what happened successful the lawsuit of babe Nikki?

Who is Robert Roberson and what was the grounds against him?

Originally from Wood County successful Texas, Roberson had antecedently worked arsenic a cook, operation worker, welder and labourer, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

The parent of Nikki, who has not been named, was reported to person been denied custody of the babe aft her birth. The baby’s maternal grandparents granted Roberson custody.

The autopsy study for the babe cited bruises connected her head, encephalon swelling and bleeding down her eyes. Ultimately, the autopsy determined that Roberson’s girl died of blunt-force caput trauma, which doctors and constabulary claimed was caused by shaking.

At his trial, witnesses including Roberson’s ex-girlfriend, her girl and her niece, testified that they had seen him smack and shingle his babe girl “in anger”.

The infirmary unit besides reported that erstwhile Roberson brought his girl to the section hospital, Palestine Regional Medical Center, helium showed nary absorption oregon emotion, further stoking suspicions of abuse.

“They viewed his inability to explicate Nikki’s information arsenic a motion that helium indispensable beryllium lying,” according to the website of the nonprofit ineligible organisation the Innocence Project, which is portion of Roberson’s ineligible team. Roberson was diagnosed with autism aft helium was convicted, which his lawyers accidental explains his deficiency of reaction.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals halted his execution successful 2016 but, successful 2023, allowed the lawsuit to proceed with a caller execution day aft ruling that caller grounds astir his autism and different illnesses the babe was suffering astatine the clip was not capable to overturn the conviction.

On Wednesday, Texas’s Board of Pardons and Paroles voted unanimously – 6-0 – against commuting his decease condemnation to beingness successful prison.

The Texas State Penitentiary astatine Huntsville, wherever the State of Texas execution enclosure is located [Todd Spoth for The Washington Post via Getty Images]

Why bash immoderate radical judge helium is innocent?

Roberson’s supporters reason that his condemnation was based connected incomplete grounds and that accusation astir the baby’s underlying wellness conditions was not decently considered.

Several radical are campaigning for Roberson to beryllium granted clemency – which covers thing from a afloat pardon to the condemnation being commuted from decease to beingness successful situation – including Brian Wharton, the pb detective successful Roberson’s case, who testified against him astatine trial.

When explaining wherefore helium changed his caput astir Roberson’s guilt, Wharton has spoken astir Roberson’s autism diagnosis, and said his squad should person investigated further to regularisation retired different reasons for the baby’s death.

In a video published connected the New York Times YouTube transmission connected July 30 this year, Wharton spoke to Roberson for the archetypal clip successful astir 20 years done Plexiglass astatine the Texas State Penitentiary astatine Huntsville.

“I’m truthful atrocious that you are inactive here. It’s our failure,” Wharton said to Roberson successful the film.

“I helped enactment him here, and helium didn’t merit it,” Wharton’s voiceover played successful the video against visuals of the men inactive talking successful the prison’s gathering area. “No different possibilities for her wounded were considered. I regret profoundly that we followed the easiest path.”

Roberson has maintained his innocence for the 2 decades helium has spent connected decease row. His lawyers reason that astatine the clip of her death, babe Nikki had pneumonia that had turned septic. Court records besides authorities that she was battling a slew of different wellness problems astatine the clip of her death.

The Daily Mail reported that a week earlier her death, Nikki had been sick and was taken to a section exigency country wherever she was prescribed Phenergan, a cause utilized to dainty pain, allergies and question sickness that present comes with a informing for children her age.

The New Zealand Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Authority website warns: “Phenergan indispensable not beryllium utilized successful children nether 6 years of age, owed to the imaginable for fatal respiratory depression”, among different unsafe broadside effects.

When her information did not improve, she was fixed much Phenergan and codeine, an opioid that present tin not beryllium fixed to children nether 18.

What are Roberson’s supporters calling for?

Supporters privation clemency – which tin mean thing from a afloat pardon to a simplification successful his condemnation – for Roberson. His lawyers privation the tribunal to reassess grounds that shows that Nikki’s decease was owed to her existing wellness issues.

A petition launched by the Innocence Project, calling connected Texas Governor Greg Abbott to intervene successful Roberson’s execution, had amassed 112,851 signatures arsenic of 14:20 GMT.

Some 86 Texas lawmakers, some Republicans and Democrats, are besides calling for clemency for Roberson. Democrat authorities typical of Texas, Joe Moody, wrote successful a societal media station connected Friday, “We person to bash each we tin to pump the brakes earlier this stains Texas justness for generations.”

Others calling for clemency see parental rights groups, autism advocates, religion leaders and adjacent the best-selling transgression novelist, John Grisham. In a file for the Palestine Herald-Press, Grisham wrote: “Nikki’s decease was a tragedy, not a crime.”

Detective Wharton has besides called for the decease punishment to beryllium abolished successful Texas and successful the United States arsenic a whole. If Roberson is executed, his decease volition beryllium the 5th execution this twelvemonth successful Texas, and the 20th execution this twelvemonth successful the US, according to the Washington-based nonprofit the Death Penalty Information Center. It volition beryllium the archetypal successful a lawsuit of shaken babe syndrome.

While Texas instrumentality allows the state’s Governor Abbott to assistance a one-time reprieve from the execution for 30 days, helium cannot assistance clemency unilaterally. He requires the board’s approval.

What is shaken babe syndrome?

According to the Mayo Clinic, shaken babe syndrome is simply a superior encephalon wounded caused by forcefully shaking an babe oregon a toddler. It tin manifest arsenic a caput injury, which was the decision of Nikki’s autopsy. This tin origin imperishable wounded oregon encephalon harm oregon adjacent the decease of the infant.

Typically, wounded by shaken babe syndrome is caused erstwhile “a genitor oregon caregiver severely shakes a babe oregon toddler owed to vexation oregon choler – often due to the fact that the kid won’t halt crying”, the Mayo Clinic says, adding it is not usually caused by bouncing a kid oregon by insignificant falls.

The wounded is caused due to the fact that babies and young children often person anemic cervix muscles that cannot afloat enactment the value of their heads. When vigorously shaken, the fragile encephalon moves wrong the skull. As a result, encephalon cells tin beryllium destroyed and oxygen proviso to the encephalon tin beryllium blocked.

The proposal of shaken babe syndrome was archetypal introduced by Norman Guthkelch, a British paediatric neurosurgeon, successful a insubstantial helium wrote for the British Medical Journal successful 1971. He discovered it erstwhile patients – young toddlers – were coming to him with bleeding connected the aboveground of the encephalon but nary outer signs of maltreatment specified arsenic bruising. He wrote the insubstantial to pass parents against shaking their children.

In a database of symptoms of shaken babe syndrome, the Mayo Clinic includes: irritability, trouble staying awake, breathing problems, vomiting, paralysis oregon coma. In mild cases of the syndrome, the babe mightiness look OK soon aft the injury, but could make wellness oregon behavioural problems implicit time.

According to the National Center connected Shaken Baby Syndrome, a US-based nationalist charity, determination are astir 1,300 reported cases of shaken babe syndrome successful the US each year. It adds that the syndrome is the starring origin of carnal kid abuse-related deaths successful the US.

In 2009, the American Academy of Pediatrics changed the sanction of the wounded to “abusive caput trauma”.

Is shaken babe syndrome ‘junk science’?

While galore paediatricians see shaken babe syndrome to beryllium a morganatic origin of injury, the American Association of Pediatrics acknowledged successful an April 2020 work that immoderate successful aesculapian and ineligible circles had antecedently “misinterpreted” it.

Doctors present accidental that galore different conditions tin origin the symptoms linked to shaken babe syndrome. As a result, shaken babe syndrome is present considered a diagnosis of exclusion, which means that lone erstwhile each different imaginable reasons down the symptoms are archetypal ruled out, it tin beryllium considered. 

British paediatric neurosurgeon Guthkelch died aged 100 successful 2016. During his last years, helium worked against the misinterpretation of his work. Technical writer and writer Sue Luttner quoted him successful her blog successful 2012, saying: “I americium frankly rather disturbed that what I intended arsenic a affable proposition for avoiding wounded to children has go an excuse for imprisoning guiltless parents.”

To date, astatine slightest 32 radical successful 18 US states person been exonerated based connected the progressively discredited hypothesis, arsenic good arsenic witnesses taking backmost their testimonies, aft being convicted for shaken babe syndrome, according to the National Registry of Exonerations.