Robert Roberson’s attorney gets emotional explaining East Texas death row inmate’s final legal options

TYLER, Texas (KETK)– Robert Roberson’s attorney became emotional on Thursday morning while explaining the East Texas death row inmate’s final legal options.

Roberson was convicted over 21 years ago for the death of his daughter, Nikki Curtis, who was taken to Palestine Regional Medical Center with severe trauma to her head in 2002. His execution is still set for 6 p.m. on Oct. 16 despite years of his legal team fighting for his innocence.

KETK News had the opportunity to speak with his attorney, Gretchen Sween, about her latest legal moves and hopes that enough voices will help save Roberson’s life. On Wednesday, Roberson’s legal team filed a motion for authorization in the Fifth Circuit of the Federal Court of Appeals, which Sween said is the “last resort” for this case.

“We’re just painfully close to an execution date that we’ve argued should never have been set, and the court in Texas is still deliberating, filings that were submitted in February,” Sween said. “So we have gone to the federal court and are pounding on the door, saying please give us permission to file a new federal habeas petition, which would ultimately still be seeking a new trial for Roberson based on his actual innocence and the junk science that is critical to the conviction that we say is entirely unsound.”

Sween also explained how taxing the appeal process is, especially since they are less than 15 days away from Roberson’s execution.

“The only option left is if the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denies relief, there is a means to go to the Supreme Court of the United States, but every day that’s ticking by eats into our opportunity to do that and is highly stressful because the Supreme Court does not like last-minute appeals,” Sween said. “What is frustrating is that this shouldn’t be a last-minute appeal because our habeas application has been pending since February.”

Meanwhile, a conservative coalition gathered on Wednesday at the state Capitol, where they showed their support for Roberson’s request for a new trial and stated that they saw injustice in the case.

“This is not about politics,” Sween said. “This is about the life of a man who, anyone who has looked carefully at this case, thinks is innocent, was wrongfully convicted. Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, you name it. People who have no interest in politics are concerned about how this makes Texas look, and that includes John Grisham, world-famous novelist. I just hope enough voices can amass that we can bend the arc away from a catastrophe.”

Roberson’s legal team has scheduled a visit with Roberson in the next few days, and Sween says with “all her heart” she hopes this is not the last visit with him.

Watch the entire interview with Sween here:

Previous Robert Roberson Coverage Timeline:

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