News: Judge to consider new evidentiary hearing in Robert Roberson’s “shaken baby” innocence case
Regan Bowlby
News: Judge to consider new evidentiary hearing in Robert Roberson’s “shaken baby” innocence case
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KYTX: Judge to consider arguments for new evidentiary hearing in Robert Roberson's death row case
KETK: Court to review how recent Texas ‘Shaken Baby’ precedent applies to Robert Roberson’s case
KLTV: Judge to determine if Robert Roberson should get new evidence hearing
Judge to consider arguments for new evidentiary hearing in Robert Roberson's death row case
Robert Roberson, on death row since 2003, may get a new evidentiary hearing as legal teams argue if new scientific evidence could affect his conviction.
Jude Ratcliff, April 10, 2026
Robert Roberson's attorneys appeared in an Anderson County courtroom Friday over Zoom for a status conference discussing the next steps in his death row case.
On Friday, both the state and Roberson's defense team met with the presiding judge, 114th District Court Judge Austin Reeve Jackson, over Zoom to talk about scheduling for the case going forward. Roberson's legal team has pushed for a new evidentiary hearing based on developments in science used to convict Roberson.
After discussion over what evidence would be addressed in that potential evidentiary hearing, both the state and defense agreed to submit written arguments on how new legal precedent addresses developments in science used to convict Roberson. On May 29, Jackson will consider those written arguments and determine whether they warrant an evidentiary hearing in Roberson’s case.
The request for a new evidentiary hearing relies on precedent set in Ex parte Roark, a Dallas County habeas case in which the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted relief after concluding that new and evolved scientific evidence—had it been available at trial—would more likely than not have changed Andrew Wayne Roark’s conviction, entitling him to a new trial.
Austin will address evidence admitted in Roberson’s 2003 trial and consider both the state and defense's written arguments on how that evidence applies to the precedent set in Ex parte Roark.
On Oct. 9, 2025, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted Roberson a stay of execution, and remanded his case back to the 3rd Judicial District Court Anderson County to consider whether his case warrants relief.
Roberson, who has faced execution multiple times but maintained his innocence, has been on death row since his 2003 capital murder conviction in the 2002 death of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis, in Anderson County.
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Court to review how recent Texas ‘Shaken Baby’ precedent applies to Robert Roberson’s case
Ashlyn Anderson, April 10, 2026
A Smith County judge will review evidence in Robert Roberson’s case to see if the previous Dallas-based Shaken Baby ruling would warrant a new trial.
The state and the defense met on Zoom with Smith Co. judge, Austin Reeve-Jackson, on Friday for a status hearing.
Judge Jackson ruled to move forward to re-evaluate evidence from the 2003 trial, 2004, and 2005 appeals.
Roberson is challenging his 2003 conviction for the killing of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki.
“We’ll take that already admitted evidence, get admitted, considered and where we are now and then let’s hash out how Roark does or doesn’t change things,” Smith County judge, Austin Reeve-Jackson said.
This hearing stems from an early 2000s Dallas-based case that let Andrew Roark go free because new scientific discoveries debunked the shaken baby theory that convicted him to 35 years in prison.
“I do feel a bit morally affronted that the state’s answer seems to be about trying to inject bias against Mr. Roberson based on a completely bogus representation of record when this is supposed to be about science,” Roberson’s attorney, Gretchen Sween, said.
Judge Jackson will review evidence presented in the original trial, 2004- 2005 appeal, and determine if the Roark precedent applies to Roberson.
“The science has changed since the time of trial. This court even recognized that in the ’03, that’s in the findings that were adopted by the court. The ‘oh five’05 application does not rely on new changes in science, since the 2003-2004 applications were filed,” Texas Attorney General’s Office, Travis Bragg said.
Roberson’s legal team argues that the Shaken baby theory that put him away has been discredited.
“The evidence that might be relevant to an actual innocence claim is almost all still relevant to the change science claim,” Sween said.
In Roak’s case, he was released on bond in 2012 and fully exonerated in 2024. In the case of Roberson, how Judge Jackson rules could be the difference between life outside of a prison cell and his deathbed.
The state and defense will send in their arguments to Judge Jackson by May 29.
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https://www.kltv.com/2026/04/10/judge-determine-if-robert-roberson-should-get-new-evidence-hearing/
Judge to determine if Robert Roberson should get new evidence hearing
Alex Weister, April 10, 2026
Robert Roberson’s quest for a new trial continued Friday with attorneys arguing how to apply changed science into an old record.
Roberson, of Palestine, was convicted in 2003 for the 2002 murder of his daughter Nikki.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals paused Roberson’s execution in October 2025, days before he was set to be the first person in the U.S. to be put to death for a conviction tied to shaken baby syndrome. This was the third execution date that Roberson’s lawyers have been able to stay since 2016.
Attorneys argued over whether Roberson’s conviction should be re-evaluated due to shifting science. The state’s attorney argued there was plenty of other evidence outside shaken baby syndrome to convict Roberson.
Attorneys largely agreed there is a big evidentiary record from prior hearings and they can submit written briefings using that evidence and how a newer case changes the analysis.
Roberson’s attorneys are working to find a correlation between Roberson’s case and a 2025 Dallas County case involving a man named Andrew Roark, who was set free after spending 24 years in prison for a shaken baby conviction, in which the victim survived.
District Judge Austin Reeve Jackson will review written arguments, which are due by May 29. He will then decide whether another hearing is needed.