TEXAS (WBAP/KLIF News ) – As the clock winds down for a condemned Texas death row inmate, lawmakers and a former detective on the case made their final pitch to save him on Wednesday.
57-year-old Robert Roberson is scheduled to be executed on Thursday at 6 p.m.. He was convicted for the murder of his 2-year-old daughter Nikki Curtis in 2003 but there’s a growing coalition who argue that he’s innocent.
Prosecutors said she died of “shaken baby syndrome.”
Roberson’s attorneys tried unsuccessfully to use the 2013 junk science law which allows the court to overturn a conviction when the scientific evidence at the heart of a case has been discredited or changed.
They argued that the science used to convict Roberson was based on a faulty diagnosis.
Less than 24-hours before Roberson’s execution, Brian Wharton, the lead detective on Roberson’s case, told a Texas House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence, that he made a major mistake.
“I am ashamed that I was so focused on finding an offender and convicting someone that I did not see Robert. I did not hear his voice. He’s an innocent man,” he said.
Roberson was also subpoenaed to testify before the committee. The order was issued by State Representatives Brian Harrison of Midlothian and Jeff Leach of Plano.
The two lawmakers were part of a myriad of medical, forensic science and legal experts who gave testimony in an attempt to prove Roberson’s innocence.
The Innocence Project attorneys are representing Roberson.
“There has been such an outpouring of support. Bipartisan members of the Texas Legislature went and prayed with Robert. So, he feels enormously hopeful that something is going to happen,” said attorney Vanessa Potkin.
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles voted unanimously not to recommend clemency for Roberson or commute his sentence to life in prison on Wednesday.
Governor Greg Abbott has been asked to stay the execution.
Copyright 2024. WBAP/KLIF News. All Rights Reserved.
