Texas state judge orders pause for controversial ‘shaken baby’ execution

Robert Roberson was scheduled to die in a US case where experts cast doubt on the evidence used in his conviction.

A state judge in Texas has issued a last-minute decision to pause the execution of Robert Roberson, a man convicted in a controversial case of shaken baby syndrome.

Roberson is believed to be the first person ever sentenced to death in the United States for an alleged killing linked to the syndrome.

But on Thursday, with only hours to go until the sentence was carried out, Travis County Civil District Court Judge Jessica Mangrum issued a temporary restraining order halting the execution.

Roberson was convicted of murder in 2003 for the death of his two-year-old daughter Nikki Curtis a year earlier.

But he has strongly maintained his innocence. Experts have also cast doubt on the evidence used to convict him, and the last-minute order has brought relief to those who believed the execution would represent a miscarriage of justice.