‘Shaken baby’ death row inmate Robert Roberson turns to Supreme Court to halt his execution
Ilana Panich-linsman/Innocence Project/AFP via Getty Images
(TEXAS) — Robert Roberson, the first person set to be executed in the U.S. based on the largely discredited “shaken baby syndrome” hypothesis, has filed a request for a stay of execution and a petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court.
Roberson argues that his federal due process rights were violated when Texas’ highest court refused to consider his bid to reopen the case based on “substantial new scientific and medical evidence.”
The plea comes after the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles denied his requests to either have his sentence commuted to life in prison or to have his execution delayed.
Roberson was found guilty for the murder of his 2-year-old daughter based on the testimony from a pediatrician who described swelling and hemorrhages in Nikki’s brain to support a “shaken baby syndrome” diagnosis, even though there is limited evidence that this is a credible diagnosis.
The hypothesis has come under serious scrutiny in biomechanical studies, as well as a growing body of medical and legal literature. The medical examiner at the time also suspected that Nikki sustained multiple head injuries and considered the death a homicide in the official autopsy.
Roberson is autistic, according to his legal team, which affects how he expresses emotions — a concern that also arose during the trial.
Since his conviction, newly presented evidence found that Nikki had pneumonia at the time of her death and had been prescribed respiratory-suppressing drugs by doctors in the days leading up to her death.
A medical expert who performed post-mortem toxicology reports and reexamined her lung tissue said they found that chronic interstitial viral pneumonia and acute bacterial pneumonia were damaging her lungs, causing sepsis and then septic shock, likely leading to vital organ failure.
Over 30 medical and scientific experts have written to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, asking it to reconsider Roberson’s sentence because it hinged on the “shaken baby syndrome.”
A bipartisan group of 86 Texas House of Representatives members have also spoken in support of Roberson’s clemency request, arguing that a state law enables reviews of wrongful convictions based on changes in scientific evidence. In Roberson’s case, they believe that the new evidence should have led to a new trial.
(PHILADELPHIA) — Members of the “Central Park Five” filed a defamation suit against former President Donald Trump on Monday, accusing him of spreading “false, misleading and defamatory” statements about their 1989 case during the Sept. 10 ABC News presidential debate, according to a new court filing.
Attorneys representing the five men — Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, Antron Brown and Korey Wise — filed their civil suit against Trump in federal court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, seeking monetary damages over his statements, which they say have caused them “severe emotional distress and reputational damage.”
The five men, then teenagers, were accused of the violent rape of a female jogger in Central Park in April 1989. The five, who always maintained their innocence, were convicted and served years in prison. A decade after the attack, a different man confessed to the crime, which was confirmed through DNA analysis.
During the debate, Trump was responding to a statement from Vice President Kamala Harris in which she revisited his full-page ad in The New York Times in the wake of the incident that called for the execution of the Central Park Five when he said the following: “[T]hey come up with things like what she just said going back many, many years when a lot of people including Mayor [Michael] Bloomberg agreed with me on the Central Park Five. They admitted — they said, they pled guilty. And I said, well, if they pled guilty they badly hurt a person, killed a person ultimately. And if they pled guilty — then they pled we’re not guilty.”
The lawsuit points out that Trump’s statements were false in multiple respects — noting none of the members of the Central Park Five ever entered guilty pleas in the case, none of the victims of the Central Park assaults were killed, and the mayor at the time of the assaults was Ed Koch — who did not agree with Trump’s position in the full-page ad.
“Defendant Trump’s conduct at the September 10 debate was extreme and outrageous, and it was intended to cause severe emotional distress to Plaintiffs,” the lawsuit stated.
Trump’s attorneys have not yet entered an appearance on the court docket as of Monday morning.
“This is just another frivolous, Election Interference lawsuit, filed by desperate left-wing activists,” a Trump campaign spokesperson said in response to an inquiry about the lawsuit.
According to the court filing, one of the Central Park Five members, Salaam, was actually present at the debate and sought to confront Trump over his statements in the spin room afterward.
Salaam says he repeatedly shouted questions to Trump, saying, “Will you apologize to the Exonerated Five?” and, “Sir, what do you say to a member of the Central Park Five, sir?”
Trump reportedly responded to him at one point, “Ah, you’re on my side then,” to which Salaam responded, “No, no, no, I’m not on your side.”
“Plaintiff Salaam was attempting to politely dialogue with Defendant Trump about the false and defamatory statements that Defendant Trump had made about Plaintiffs less than an hour earlier, but Defendant Trump refused to engage with him in dialogue,” the lawsuit stated.
The five men’s convictions were vacated in 2002 and Wise, who was still in prison at the time, was released early. The group sued New York City in 2003 and after a decadelong standstill, the lawsuit was settled for $41 million. The city did not admit to any misconduct by its police department or prosecutors.
Salaam was elected to the New York City Council last year, representing northern Manhattan, including Harlem, East Harlem, parts of the Upper West Side and Morningside Heights.
(NASSAU, Bahamas) — Search efforts have been suspended for a 66-year-old woman who fell overboard on a Taylor Swift-themed cruise Tuesday night, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
The Coast Guard previously said they were assisting with the search, which was being led by the Royal Bahamas Defense Force.
“We were informed by @TheRBDF this afternoon that they are suspending the active search efforts pending further developments & were no longer requesting further @USCG assistance,” the U.S. Coast Guard wrote on X.
The missing passenger fell off the Royal Caribbean ship Allure of the Seas about 17 miles north of Nassau, Bahamas, the Coast Guard said.
The woman has not been publicly identified.
The four-night Swift-themed voyage, known as “In My Cruise Era,” set sail from Miami for the Bahamas on Monday. It was not officially affiliated with Swift.
About 400 people registered for the cruise, which was scheduled to include karaoke, a dance party and friendship bracelet trading.
In a statement from the cruise company, Royal Caribbean said it initiated search efforts as soon as the woman fell overboard.
“Our crew immediately launched a search and rescue effort and is working with local authorities We are also providing support and assistance to the guest’s family during this difficult time. To respect the privacy of our guest’s family, we have no additional details to share,” a Royal Caribbean spokesperson said.
(MEMPHIS, Tenn.) — The federal trial of three former Memphis police officers charged in connection with the January 2023 beating death of Tyre Nichols continued Monday, with the cross-examination of a Memphis Police Department (MPD) lieutenant who trained the defendants.
Kevin Whitmore, who is representing ex-officer Tadarrius Bean, cross-examined Second Lt. Larnce Wright on training methods at the police academy, noting that Wright did not train Bean in several courses, so he could not speak to what Bean was taught, according to WATN-TV, the ABC affiliate in Memphis covering the case in the courtroom.
Wright did not teach the officers how to write reports, provide medical classes for them or teach them about the duty of an officer to intervene if another officer engages in misconduct, according to WATN.
Last Thursday, Wright testified that the scenario of the initial traffic stop involving Nichols should have been low-risk, according to WATN. Wright said during the initial stop, Nichols voicing that he was trying to do what was asked should have led officers to deescalate the situation. Wright claimed officers were not following training for several reasons and described Nichols’ behavior as human nature, according to WATN.
The former officers — Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith — were charged on Sept. 12, 2023, with violating Nichols’ civil rights through excessive use of force, unlawful assault, failing to intervene in the assault and failing to render medical aid — charges that carry a maximum penalty of life in prison, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The officers have pleaded not guilty to all charges.
On Monday, Whitmore showed Wright several presentation slides he uses in training, which the attorney said denoted that there is no such thing as a routine traffic stop, which “could turn violent in an instant,” according to WATN.
The defense argued that training is only as good as the trainer.
Wright claimed that if a violent felony was not committed, pursuit is not allowed, according to WATN. Body-camera footage shows Nichols fled after police initially pulled him over for allegedly driving recklessly, then shocked him with a Taser and pepper-sprayed him. Officers allegedly then beat Nichols minutes later. Nichols, 29, died on Jan. 10, 2023 — three days later. Footage shows the officers walking around, talking to each other as Nichols was injured and sitting on the ground. The beating triggered protests and calls for police reform.
Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis said she has been unable to substantiate Nichols was driving recklessly.
Whitmore asked Wright if an officer could have tunnel vision during an arrest, alluding to the possibility that Bean was focused on handcuffing Nichols and didn’t see what was happening to the suspect, according to WATN.
Desmond Mills Jr. and Emmitt Martin III, the two additional officers who were also charged in this case, have pleaded guilty to some of the federal charges.
Martin pleaded guilty to excessive force and failure to intervene, as well as conspiracy to witness tamper, according to court records. The other two charges will be dropped at sentencing, which has been scheduled for Dec. 5, according to the court records. Mills pleaded guilty to two of the four counts in the indictment — excessive force and failing to intervene, as well as conspiring to cover up his use of unlawful force, according to the DOJ. The government said it will recommend a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, based on the terms of Mills’ plea agreement.
The prosecution told ABC News in a statement Thursday that they will not have any statements until after the trial. The defense attorneys did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
After the police encounter, Nichols was transferred to the hospital in critical condition where he later died. The medical examiner’s official autopsy report for Nichols showed he “died of brain injuries from blunt force trauma,” the district attorney’s office told Nichols’ family in May 2023.
Michael Stengel, Haley’s attorney, officially asked for a mistrial on Friday due to the forms — known as response to resistance — that were submitted as evidence for the trial, according to WATN. The ex-officers were required to fill out these forms to explain their use of force against Nichols. Stengel argued the documents were protected by Garrity. Garrity rights protect public employees from being compelled to self-incrimination during investigative interviews conducted by their employers, according to a Tennessee attorney general legal document. Stengel argued that the response to resistance forms the ex-officers filled out could not be used as evidence to protect the ex-officers’ Garrity rights.
Judge Mark Norris decided the documentation forms do not violate the ex-officers’ Garrity rights and ruled in favor of keeping them as evidence, according to WATN. Norris said on Monday that there are 37 witness testimonies left in the trial, and that a juror has potentially been lost due to illness, according to WATN.
Martin, one of two ex-officers who plead guilty to charges connected to the death of Tyre Nichols, was called to the stand after Wright was finished with questioning. Martin began his testimony Monday, towards the end of day.
The five former officers charged in this case were all members of the Memphis Police Department SCORPION unit — a crime suppression unit that has since been disbanded after Nichols’ death. All the officers were fired for violating MPD policies.
