Robert Roberson is again approaching execution in Texas in shaken baby case

LIVINGSTON, Texas (AP) — Robert Roberson was calm and hopeful as he pondered his mortality and whether he could again avoid becoming the first person in the U.S. executed for a murder conviction tied to the diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome.

With days to go before his scheduled Oct. 16 execution, Roberson maintained his innocence in the 2002 death of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis, in the east Texas city of Palestine. He is set to die by lethal injection nearly a year to the day after a group of Texas lawmakers, who say he is innocent, secured an extraordinary last-minute postponement as Roberson waited outside the death chamber in Huntsville.

Roberson said he was placing his hopes for another execution stay in the hands of his lawyers, his supporters and God.

“I’m not going to stress out and stuff because I know God has it, you know. He’s in control. No matter what, God’s in control, you know, and he does have the last say, you know,” Roberson, 58, told The Associated Press last week as he sat behind a glass partition in the visiting area of the Polunsky Unit in Livingston, where Texas' male death row inmates are housed.

During an hourlong interview, Roberson said he thinks about his daughter every day and what kind of life she would have today.

Prosecutors at Roberson’s 2003 trial argued he hit his daughter and violently shook her, causing severe head trauma and that she died from injuries related to shaken baby syndrome. Roberson’s lawyers and some medical experts say his daughter died not from abuse but from complications related to pneumonia. They say his conviction was based on flawed and now outdated scientific evidence.

The diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome refers to a serious brain injury caused when a child’s head is hurt through shaking or some other violent impact, like being slammed against a wall or thrown on the floor.

Roberson’s attorneys have argued his undiagnosed autism helped convict him as authorities and medical personnel felt he didn’t act like a concerned parent because his flat affect was seen as a sign of guilt.

Last year, Roberson was on the verge of being put to death when a flurry of last-minute legal maneuvering on the night of his scheduled execution, including an unprecedented intervention by a bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers, stayed his lethal injection. In July, a judge set the new execution date, Roberson's third.

During his interview with the AP, Roberson often would not keep eye contact and would repeat words or phrases — behaviors that experts say are associated with autism.

“They assumed (guilt) because of the way I was acting, you know. And I didn’t know I was autistic, you know, until years and years later, you know,” said Roberson, who wasn’t diagnosed with autism until 2018.

Roberson’s supporters and his legal team are again holding rallies and asking state and federal appeals courts and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to halt his execution. His supporters include both liberal and ultraconservative lawmakers, Texas GOP megadonor and conservative activist Doug Deason, bestselling author John Grisham and Brian Wharton, the former police detective who helped put together the case against him.

“The whole world is watching. Texas, do not kill this innocent man,” Wharton said during a rally Saturday outside the Texas Capitol in Austin.

On Wednesday afternoon a bipartisan group of four lawmakers met with Roberson for an hour at the Polunsky Unit. State Rep. Jeff Leach, a Republican, said he believes Roberson deserves a new trial.

“Doing that strengthens the system and will save what I believe is an innocent life in Robert Robertson,” Leach told reporters outside. “What a blessing it was to just spend an hour with him. And I’m hopeful and prayerful that the right thing will happen between now and next Thursday.”

The office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, as well as some medical experts and other family members of Nikki, maintain the girl died because of child abuse and that Roberson had a history of hitting his daughter.

“It’s been a long time coming. … In my opinion he did it, 100%,” Matthew Bowman, Nikki's half brother, told reporters in July. Bowman declined to speak with the AP.

Abbott's office did not immediately reply to emails seeking comment. Abbott has the power to grant a one-time 30-day reprieve.

Roberson said he never hurt his daughter and had been working to turn his life around and take care of Nikki after spending time in prison for burglary and theft by check.

“I never shook her or hit her,” Roberson said, adding he never disciplined his daughter “because she was so tiny.”

Shaken baby syndrome has come under scrutiny in recent years as some lawyers and medical experts have argued the diagnosis has wrongly sent people to prison. Prosecutors and medical societies say it remains valid.

“It’s no longer a mystery what happened to Nikki. It was not shaking. It was her chronic, serious health conditions," Gretchen Sween, one of Roberson’s lawyers, said at Saturday’s rally. "A crime didn’t occur.”

But in a Sept. 26 op-ed in The Dallas Morning News, three pediatricians, including two with the Yale School of Medicine, said they reviewed the case and “are convinced that Nikki was a victim of child abuse.”

Roberson was arrested after he took Nikki to a hospital when she became unresponsive following a fall off their bed. He said he had never heard of shaken baby syndrome.

“It was bad enough losing my little girl. And then when they accused me of it, I couldn’t believe it,” Roberson said.

In a press release issued after Roberson’s execution was delayed last year as well as in recent court filings, Paxton’s office has stressed that “this was no mere shaken baby case but involved a child who was beaten and received multiple blows to the head.” Paxton’s office said the jury “did not convict Roberson on the basis of ‘Shaken Baby Syndrome.’”

Yet one of the jurors who convicted Roberson, Terre Compton, told lawmakers last year that, “everything that was presented to us was all about shaken baby syndrome. That is what our decision was based on.”

Grisham, who is writing a book about the case, said Roberson's trial “was grossly unfair” because his autism contributed to people believing he was guilty and his defense lawyers told jurors it was a case of shaken baby syndrome.

Roberson said he remains optimistic he will one day get a chance to prove his innocence with a new trial.

“I’m not scared to die, but I’m not ready to die, you know. I would like to believe God has more for me to do and stuff, you know,” Roberson said.

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Robert Roberson waits to be interviewed in a locked visitation cell at the Allan B. Polunsky Unit prison in Livingston, Texas, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. Roberson, who has maintained his innocence on death row for more than 20 years, is scheduled to be executed on Oct. 16, for the 2002 killing of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)

Robert Roberson is led to a locked visitation cell for an interview with The Associated Press at the Allan B. Polunsky Unit prison in Livingston, Texas, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)

Robert Roberson speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the Allan B. Polunsky Unit prison in Livingston, Texas, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)

The Allan B. Polunsky Unit prison in Livingston, Texas, is seen on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)

Robert Roberson speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the Allan B. Polunsky Unit prison in Livingston, Texas, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)

Robert Roberson waits to be interviewed in a locked visitation cell at the Allan B. Polunsky Unit prison in Livingston, Texas, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. Roberson, who has maintained his innocence on death row for more than 20 years, is scheduled to be executed on Oct. 16, for the 2002 killing of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)

The Trump administration denounced CNN on Thursday for airing a portion of the new Iranian supreme leader's public statement, the second time in three days that he's targeted the network for reporting on how the regime is responding to the American attacks.

The attack illustrated the care news outlets must take in reporting during wartime, and the responsibilities of American journalists to report the perspective of countries its government views as enemies. It also exposed inconsistencies. The message of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei during his first public statement since he succeeded his father, who was killed in an Israeli air strike, was widely available elsewhere.

The White House said on social media that “fake news CNN just aired four straight minutes of uninterrupted Iranian state TV, run by the same psychotic and murderous regime that prided itself on brutally slaughtering Americans for 47 years.”

Two days earlier, White House communications director Steven Cheung took issue with CNN anchor Erin Burnett's interview with Seyed Hossein Mousavian, a former Iranian nuclear negotiator. Burnett asked Mousavian what he had been hearing about the Iranian government's interest in having talks with the United States. There wasn't much, he said.

“Ever notice how CNN just regurgitates quotes and unverified information from Iranian terrorists?” Cheung wrote on X. “Total disgrace. They have become the murderous Iranian Regime's version of Pravda,” he said, referring to the official newspaper of the former Soviet Union.

CNN did not address Cheung's statement but did respond to the White House attack on Thursday. It noted that CNN, Sky News and Al Jazeera also showed portions of the ayatollah's statement live.

“The world is watching with anticipation which direction this war will take,” CNN said. “Purported remarks from Iran's new supreme leader are a critical component in helping audiences understand where this conflict is heading and were aired for their obvious news value.”

Other news outlets, including The Associated Press, sent out alerts on what Khamenei said. His vow to keep up attacks on other Arab countries in the region and plans to choke off the world's oil supply were headlines. The New York Times led its website with a story on the speech in its immediate aftermath, later writing that the speech “was an early indication of how the new supreme leader would approach the war, as well as how he would lead the country.”

CNN has long been a favored target of President Donald Trump, dating back to his first term. It's a particularly vulnerable time for the network with Paramount Global's agreement to purchase CNN's parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, raising questions about its future editorial independence.

CNN showed a news anchor reading a portion of Khameini's remarks in Farsi, with an English translation. It did not air them in full. After the speech, correspondent Nick Paton Walsh gave a debrief to anchor Kate Bolduan, noting how the non-appearance of the leader — reportedly injured in an air attack — was as important as what he said.

“We were waiting to see the face of the man to have proof of his health and survival,” Walsh said, “and they've not met that moment. Instead, a handwritten message, it seems, that mostly reiterates things we kind of already knew.”

The Tech Transparency Project has reported that several Iranian leaders and institutions maintain verified accounts on X, formerly Twitter, owned by Trump ally Elon Musk. CNBC said Thursday that Khamenei has one of them, and an X account with his portrait posted the text of his remarks, available in Farsi and in an English translation.

Even though Khamenei's father is dead, an account with his portrait was active on Thursday, mainly reposting messages from his son. “The revenge we have in mind is not just because of the martyrdom of the illustrious Leader of the Revolution,” read one message posted Thursday. “Every member of the nation martyred by the enemy is a separate case that demands we seek revenge.”

X is officially blocked in Iran, though many use a virtual private network to bypass restrictions. A message sent to the platform on Thursday was not immediately returned.

There's a long history of journalists seeking interviews with world leaders, even when they are regarded as enemies of the United States. Most notable was “60 Minutes” correspondent Mike Wallace's interview with Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1979, when that country was holding Americans hostage.

Thursday's remarks by Iran's new supreme leader were absolutely newsworthy and legitimate for CNN to air them, said Jane Ferguson, a veteran international correspondent and founder of the journalism platform Noosphere. It's not the job of government leaders to pick apart what CNN is reporting, she said.

“We've always faced this,” she said, about when reporters interview leaders or other figures hostile to American interests. “This has been a bit of low-hanging fruit for awhile.”

Historian Douglas Brinkley of Rice University said that it's unfair for CNN to be singled out in this instance. He, too, believes it is newsworthy to learn what leaders of an adversary are thinking, but it's important to make sure that journalists are careful.

“You have to be leery of being used as a propaganda tool by the Iranian regime,” he said. “On the other hand, knowing what the enemy is saying and looking for a sign of a peace offering or a nuance is important ... It's a difficult balance.”

AP correspondent Barbara Ortutay in San Francisco contributed to this report. David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social.

Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, center, attends the annual Quds, or Jerusalem Day, rally in Tehran, Iran, May 31, 2019. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

In this image taken with a slow shutter speed, President Donald Trump speaks during a women's history month event in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, March 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)