HOUSTON (AP) — Texas’ top criminal court on Thursday again paused the execution of Robert Roberson, just days before he was set to become the first person in the U.S. put to death for a murder conviction tied to a diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome.
This was the third execution date that Roberson’s lawyers have been able to stay since 2016, including one scheduled nearly a year ago, due to an unprecedented intervention from a bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers who believe he is innocent.
The latest execution stay was granted by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Roberson had been scheduled to receive a lethal injection on Oct. 16 for the death of his 2-year-old daughter Nikki Curtis.
The court granted the stay based on Texas’ 2013 junk science law, which allows a person convicted of a