The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has temporarily paused the execution of Robert Roberson, who was convicted more than 20 years ago of murdering his two-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis.
Roberson, now on death row, was scheduled to be executed next week for beating and fatally injuring his daughter in 2002. Jurors heard evidence that Nikki suffered extensive bruising to her head, face, and body, as well as internal injuries so severe that doctors testified her brain had shifted inside her skull. The medical examiner and six other physicians concluded she died from blunt-force trauma, not from any accidental fall or illness.
After years of appeals, the Court of Criminal Appeals issued an order on Thursday rejecting nearly all of Roberson’s latest claims but sending one issue back to the trial court in Anderson County for review.
The court’s decision reopens one old filing to examine whether a recent ruling in 2024 called Ex parte Roark based on Texas’ so-called “junk science law” could change anything in light of Texas’ statute on “new scientific evidence.”
In plain terms, the high court said most of Roberson’s new arguments were abuses of the writ—repetitive filings that don’t meet legal standards—and dismissed them.
But on its own initiative, the court decided to let the Anderson County district court take a fresh look at just one question: whether the Roark decision affects any of the forensic evidence presented at Roberson’s trial.
The judges emphasized that the remand is limited to that single issue. No other claims will be considered, and the conviction itself remains intact. Until the lower court reviews the question and reports back, the execution is stayed.
Judges Mary Lou Keel, Gina Parker, and Kevin Yeary dissented from the decision, arguing the court should not have reopened the case or delayed the execution.
The Anderson County trial court will now review the record, possibly hold a short evidentiary hearing, and then send its recommendation back to the Court of Criminal Appeals. Only after the state’s highest criminal court rules again can the stay be lifted and a new execution date set.
Roberson’s conviction has previously been upheld repeatedly by state and federal courts, including a unanimous ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court. Thursday’s order does not overturn that conviction; it simply pauses the case while a lower court determines whether Ex parte Roark has any bearing on it.
The stay was quickly celebrated by State Reps. Jeff Leach and Brian Harrison.
“While the system has failed Robert and Nikki at every turn, today — with this action by the Court — truth and justice finally win the day. Going forward, we are hopeful and expectant that Robert’s story, and the truth about what happened to Nikki, will fully and finally see the light of day in the trial court, which is what we’ve been asking for and working for all along,” said Leach.
Harrison echoed that statement, saying, “My prayer has been that truth will be revealed, that justice will prevail, and that it will become clear in time who has been on the right side of history and justice, and who has championed the execution of a potentially innocent man.”
Roberson had previously been slated to be executed last year, but had that execution delayed due to legal maneuvering from a group of Texas lawmakers.
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