LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Robert Roberson is scheduled to be executed today by the State of Texas for a crime medical experts say never happened. Roberson was convicted of killing his 2-year-old daughter in a case that relied on a disputed diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome. Texas Public Radio's David Martin Davies reports.
DAVID MARTIN DAVIES, BYLINE: In the early morning of January 31, 2002, Robert Roberson entered an East Texas emergency room. His 2-year-old daughter, Nikki, was in his arms. She was limp, nonresponsive. Her lips were blue. The hospital staff put Nikki on life support and tried to resuscitate her, and they called the police on Roberson. They thought they had a case of shaken baby syndrome on their hands. But testifying Wednesday to the Texas legislative Committee on Jurisprudence, Dr. Roland Auer, a Canadian neurosurgeon who has testified in similar cases, said Nikki was not the victim of abuse.
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ROLAND AUER: Nikki died of consequences of pneumonia, cardiac arrest, and she was basically brain dead in a living body.
DAVIES: At that time, medical experts were told to watch out for shaken baby syndrome deaths. Auer said that medical diagnosis was wrong.
AUER: But what are you going to do when you see bleeding on the inside, but nothing on the outside? You got to make up some theory, and that's how shaking theory came about. And then it becomes a whodunit rather than a what happened?
DAVIES: The American Academy of Pediatrics says shaken baby syndrome - now called abusive head trauma - remains a significant cause of death and injury in children. The academy recommends that pediatricians remain vigilant for the signs of abusive head trauma. Roberson is on the autism spectrum. The arresting officers said the fact that he displayed little emotion to the medical crisis, and then the death of Nikki, contributed to his being arrested for her murder. That arresting officer, Brian Wharton, told the Texas lawmakers Wednesday he is haunted by what happened to Roberson.
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BRIAN WHARTON: I'm ashamed that I was so focused on finding an offender and convicting someone that I did not see Robert.
DAVIES: Since Roberson's conviction and death sentence, new research shows that shaken baby syndrome is more complex than understood 20 years ago. Nevertheless, Roberson has been on Texas' death row for over 22 years. Appeals to the courts to reexamine the new evidence have been rejected. Wharton says the appeals system was put in place with the understanding that sometimes there are bad convictions.
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WHARTON: It's all pointless if nobody will admit we got it wrong.
DAVIES: Roberson was convicted in Anderson County in 2003. District Attorney Allyson Mitchell testified on Wednesday that Roberson had a fair trial, including an adequate defense. On Wednesday, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles rejected calls for clemency. Texas Governor Greg Abbott can now only grant a one-time 30-day reprieve. Roberson's attorneys are now appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court, saying he was denied due process, and the Texas Courts refused to hear evidence of actual innocence. I spoke to Roberson recently on Texas' death row. He said he's accepting his fate. He's relying on his deep faith in God's will.
ROBERT ROBERSON: But I'm at peace if I have to go over there, you know. I don't want to go over there. Don't get me wrong.
DAVIES: Unless there is an intervention, Roberson will die this evening by lethal injection. For NPR News, I'm David Martin Davies in San Antonio.
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