Bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers visit death row inmate Robert Roberson days before execution

LIVINGSTON, Texas (KETK) — A bipartisan group of state representatives is currently visiting the Polunsky Unit in Livingston to show support for death row inmate Robert Roberson, just days before his scheduled execution.

Those in attendance include State Reps. John Bucy (D-Austin), Jeff Leach (R-Allen), Lacey Hull (R-Houston) and Rhetta Bowers (D-Rowlett), all of whom have publicly expressed concerns about Roberson’s conviction and the evidence used against him.

Roberson was convicted in 2003 of killing his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis, a case that has since drawn national attention and renewed scrutiny from lawmakers, medical experts, and criminal justice reform advocates.

The lawmakers’ visit comes amid new revelations brought to light by NBC’s Lester Holt’s podcast Last Appeal, which reported that Anderson County Judge Bascom Bentley — who presided over Roberson’s trial — also authorized the removal of Nikki Curtis from life support.

Roberson’s attorney, Gretchen Sween, said that Bentley’s dual role represents a serious conflict of interest that was never disclosed to the defense.

“It is now indisputable that Robert’s case was infected by egregious judicial misconduct from the outset,” Sween said. “That the Anderson County judge who presided over Robert’s trial never disclosed that he is the one who authorized circumventing Robert’s parental rights and violating Texas law so that Nikki’s removal from life support could be hastened—and then her father was charged with capital murder—is very disturbing. It’s shocking that we are discovering the truth about this glaring, undisclosed evidence of bias only by chance, from a podcast, days before Robert is scheduled to be executed for a tragedy that has been mislabeled as a crime.”

What to know about the Roberson case:

On January 31, 2002, Roberson brought his daughter to the Palestine Regional Medical Center after she suffered extensive injuries, including bruises to her chin, face, ears, eyes, shoulder and mouth. A nurse who testified at trial said Nikki had a handprint on her face and her skull was bruised and “mushy.”

She died the following day.

Roberson had a history of violent tendencies to the point that witnesses testified they were afraid to leave him alone with Nikki, as he would whip her whenever she cried. He would hit her with his hands, a board, a paddle, and in at least one instance, he threw her off the bed.

A statement from Ken Paxton’s office indicated that Roberson’s mother has said, “One of these days, he’s going to kill her, and it will be too late for anyone to do anything about it.”

In February 2003, an Anderson County jury found Roberson guilty of capital murder, concluding he fatally shook his daughter, a finding based largely on the now-disputed “shaken baby syndrome” theory.

Prosecutors pointed to Roberson’s calm demeanor as evidence of guilt, while his defense argued that his autism diagnosis and limited education affected his ability to express emotion.

Roberson’s legal team explained that he was a special education student who dropped out of school in the ninth grade and has been diagnosed with autism, which can impact a person’s ability to communicate and show emotion. The defense said that Roberson was convicted under a “now-debunked shaken baby syndrome theory” for the death.

Roberson’s legal team now contends that new medical evidence shows Nikki died from pneumonia and related complications, worsened by improperly prescribed medications and a short fall from bed, not from abuse.

Second Execution date set for Roberson

In October 2024, Roberson’s execution was halted by the Texas Supreme Court just hours before the order was set to expire. By July 2025, Smith County Judge Austin Reeve Jackson ordered Roberson’s execution to be set for Oct. 16 at 6 p.m.

If he is put to death, it will be the first execution in the U.S. based on a shaken baby syndrome diagnosis.

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