Washington:

The Texas pardons board rejected a clemency attraction on Wednesday from an autistic man on dying row whose homicide conviction was primarily based on what his legal professionals say was a misdiagnosis of “shaken child syndrome.”

Robert Roberson, 57, is scheduled to die by deadly injection on the state penitentiary in Huntsville on Thursday for the February 2002 dying of his two-year-old daughter, Nikki.

The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles took up Roberson’s case on Wednesday and declined by a 6-0 vote to suggest that Texas Governor Greg Abbott grant clemency.

Abbott is unable to grant clemency with no suggestion from the board, however he can grant a 30-day reprieve of Roberson’s dying sentence.

Gretchen Sween, one in every of Roberson’s attorneys, urged the governor to grant the reprieve “so we will proceed to pursue Mr Roberson’s innocence declare.”

“We pray that Governor Abbott does every little thing in his energy to forestall the tragic, irreversible mistake of executing an harmless man,” Sween stated.

Roberson’s case has drawn the eye of the Innocence Undertaking, which works to reverse wrongful convictions, in addition to best-selling American novelist John Grisham, Texas lawmakers and medical specialists.

Additionally amongst these looking for to halt his execution is the person who put him behind bars — Brian Wharton, the previous chief detective within the city of Palestine.

“Understanding every little thing that I do know now, I’m firmly satisfied that Robert is an harmless man,” Wharton stated at a current press convention organized by Roberson’s supporters. “The system failed Robert.”

Grisham, writer of the authorized thrillers “The Agency” and “A Time to Kill,” additionally appeared on the occasion and stated: “What’s superb about Robert’s case is that there was no crime.”

Roberson’s legal professionals say the analysis of shaken child syndrome, made on the hospital the place his chronically unwell daughter died, was misguided and the reason for dying was in reality pneumonia, which was aggravated when medical doctors prescribed improper medicine.

Sween, Roberson’s lawyer, stated there’s “overwhelming new medical and scientific proof” that exhibits that the little woman died of “pure and unintentional causes, not abuse.”

In keeping with his legal professionals, Roberson could be the primary particular person executed in the US primarily based on a conviction of shaken child syndrome.

‘Unscientific’ 

In keeping with Kate Judson of the Heart for Integrity in Forensic Sciences, greater than 30 dad and mom and caregivers in 18 US states have been exonerated after being wrongfully convicted utilizing “unscientific” shaken child testimony.

Sween stated Roberson’s autism spectrum dysfunction, which was not recognized till 2018, contributed to his arrest and conviction.

“It’s fairly attainable that Mr Roberson wouldn’t be on dying row in the present day, however for his autism,” she stated.

Sween stated workers on the hospital the place his daughter was admitted didn’t know he had autism and “judged his flat have an effect on as an indication of guilt.”

A bipartisan group of 86 Texas state lawmakers has additionally urged clemency for Roberson, citing the “voluminous new scientific proof” that casts doubt on his guilt.

There have been 19 executions in the US this yr.

(Aside from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)