Transcript of The Reckoning

Last year, Robert Robertson was less than 2 hours away from dying when he won a last minute stay. That was a long day. He recently shared with me what hardly anyone lives to describe the choreography of an execution, the hours leading up to his own death. I had to strip, and they gave me some other fresh clothing and stuff and stuff. And then they gave me a pair of cloths, cloths, slippers for my feet, and had to put the belt of the chain around me and handcuffs and lock it in place. Officers loaded Robert into a van bound for the 50-mile drive to Huntsville, the death chamber. He was led to a tiny cell. So I was walking back and forth, pacing and stuff. I was talking to the Lord, praying to the Lord. Then they brought Brought me some supposed to be last meal and stuff. Had a choice between two of them. One of them has like a hamburger, cellsburger steak on it. The other one had some rice mixture. It was Spanish style. I picked that one and stuff. Robert was counting down the final minutes of his life, not knowing if the next footstep would be news of mercy or death.

I believe it was around 6: 00 or somewhere around there, and heard got to stay or something. But then I heard they took it back, right? Until shortly after 10: 00 PM, when the execution was called off, the Texas Supreme Court had issued a last minute stay. It was a very long day, sir. Robert's prayers were answered. That was then, but now the clock is ticking again. And now the state, of course, has a new death date for you. Yes, sir. Do you wish you would take in the plea bargain? No, I'm glad that I didn't. But look where you are. Yeah, look where I'm at. Thank you. It's about the truth. It's about the truth. Have you thought about last words, what you'll say? Well, That's a good one there. And it's a hard question, right? I'm Lester Holt, and this is The Last Appeal, a podcast from Dateland, episode 4, The Reckoning. I move as follows. In October 2024, lawmakers had successfully saved Robert's life using an unprecedented and deliberate maneuver. Robert Robertson, to provide all relevant testimony and information concerning the committee's inquiry. They had summoned him to testify, but there was a catch.

The hearing was set after Robertson's scheduled execution. Robert was eager to tell his story, but when the date came, he never made it to the Capitol. Texas attorney general Ken Paxton, blocked him, arguing to the state's top court that the subpoena violated the law. Andy said transporting Robert to the House chamber could be dangerous. Still, the legislators pressed on with the hearing. The House Committee on Criminal Church Prudence will come to order the clerk. Instead, they called other witnesses to testify. Mr. Grisham, are you able to hear me? I can hear you. Yes. Can you hear me? Okay, perfect. All right. Among them, best-selling author and lawyer, John Grisham, who spoke with a committee through a video call. It's my honor to be here to speak for Robert Roberson. He's been closely following Robert's case. I've been on the board of the Innocence Project in New York for a long, long time. For the past 15 years or so, we have been more and I'm more concerned about the shaken baby syndrome, shaken baby convictions, and I know what it takes to have a fair trial. Robert's trial was grossly unfair. It is a great honor to be here to testify before this committee.

Another witness, someone you've already heard from in this podcast. My name is Terry Compton. I was one of the 12 jurors on the case of Robert Robertson's trial, and I took that position Very seriously. Terry Compton, the juror, had gotten a visit from Gretchen Swinn, Robert's lawyer. She said she was furious after Gretchen told her details that the jurors didn't know about Nikki's medical history, about Robert's autism. Now, Terry made a stunning admission. If you had known that, would that have made a difference in how you voted in this case? Yes, sir. How big of a difference? Very much difference. I would have found him not guilty. This must have weighed on you over the last few months. Very much. When I spoke with Terry recently, she told me if Robert is killed, it's going to take a toll on her. I know is going to be something that I will have to live with for the rest of my life. It'll be a certain place of guilt that I'll have to carry around with me for the rest of my life. So what are your hopes now in this case? My My actual hopes or feelings is that they should let him go because I think he is innocent.

With so much uncertainty surrounding Robert's case, discredited science, missing evidence, the lead detective admitting he was wrong, and now a juror changing her mind, we wanted to ask the prosecutor why Texas seems so intent on killing Robert. I stopped by Allison Mitchell's office, the Anderson County district attorney. So we're just here to talk about the Robertson case? Yes, I remember he called. She's actually in a jury trial right now. I was in the car when Mitchell sent an email. I heard from Allison Mitchell. She says, Sorry, I missed you today. I was in a jury trial. She said she couldn't talk because the case is pending and suggested I reach out to the attorney general's office. The AG is currently handling the case on behalf of this office. We asked the AG, Ken Paxton, for an interview. We never heard back. But in a press release earlier this year, he called Robert Violent, said he confessed to a jailhouse informant that he sexually assaulted Nikki, allegations that have never been proven. He said all that talk of shaken baby syndrome was a red herring, that Nicki was beaten, a victim of blunt force trauma. Paxton wrote, The jury did not convict Robert on the basis of shaken baby syndrome.

We asked Terry, the juror, about that. Do you remember what the essence of the state's case was? It was all about shaken baby syndrome. I remember them just keep going over and over that it had to be from this shaken baby. Despite all the controversy and pleas for mercy, this past June, Paxton asked a judge to set Robert's new execution date. Gretchen pleaded with the judge not to, pointing out Robert has an appeal pending, and the courts have not been responsive. Why now, she asked, when there was no legal reason to do so. The judge told Gretchen he was sympathetic about the lack of response, but said, A justice system that doesn't move is unjust. The judge said it was time to move and scheduled Robert's third date with the death chamber. A judge has set a new execution date for the Texas man who... October 16th, 25. Nicki's brother, Matthew Bowman, says it's time. Do you think that Robert's execution will bring closure or simply start another difficult chapter? To be honest with you, it would If they do go ahead and do this, yes, my family will be finally able to breathe. If Texas kills him, Robert will be the first person in the United States to be executed because of a shaken baby diagnosis.

So Now, if Robert is about to be killed, his supporters want to know why others, convicted under the same outdated medical theory, have been exonerated. How could it be that you were exonerated in the state of Texas, and Robert Robertson is now facing death? That's what we're all asking, Lester. Hey there. We're Corinne Vian and Sabrina Diana-Roga here to introduce our newest crimehouse show, Crimes Of. Crimes Of is a weekly series that explores a new theme each season from Crimes of the Paranormal, Unsolved Murders, mysterious Disappearances, and more. Our first season is Crimes of Infamy, the true stories behind Hollywood's most iconic horror villains. Crimes Of is a crime house original. Listen wherever you get your podcasts or find us on YouTube. New episodes out every Tuesday. Every mystery has an answer, but some have way more than one possibility. I'm Yvette Gentile. And I'm her sister, Rasha Pet Carrero. Every week on our podcast, So Supernatural, we invite you to explore the unknown and to consider the many theories behind each Unsolved The mystery. We'll guide you as you question the world you think you know through investigations into spine-chilling hauntings, unexplainable encounters, strange disappearances, and so much more.

So if you're ready to be haunted by stories of the unsolved and of the unknown, listen, if you dare, to So Supernatural every Friday, wherever you get your podcast. Friday, an all-new dateland from Palm Springs. It was almost like being in a daytime soap opera. And the first thing he would do is throw down hundreds and buy everybody a drink. And everyone knew that the Prince was at the bar. They were going to kidnap him and get all this money. Where does this rank on the weirdness scale? This case is number one for everything. An all-new dateland at 9: 8 Central, only on NBC. In Texas, science, faith, and justice are colliding. Do not execute an innocent man, please. With just 12 days left for Robert to live, his supporters gathered at the Texas State Capitol. One of them was Josh Burns. I learned about Robert Robertson, who is a father on Texas death row and now scheduled to be executed under the same scientifically unsound shaken baby syndrome hypothesis that has caused my family so much harm. In 2014, Josh, a commercial pilot from Michigan, called 911 after his two-month-old daughter became listless and unresponsive.

At the hospital, he told doctors that a couple of days earlier, she may have bumped her head. He came and did a bedside eye exam and found retinal hemorrhages. One leg of the triad that once defined the shaken baby syndrome theory. The doctor said retinal hemorrhages are diagnostic of child abuse. We're referring your daughter to a child abuse pediatrician who then accused us of shaken baby syndrome. It was just a theory from the child abuse pediatrician. She says that the only thing this could be is shaken baby syndrome. Based on that, Josh was charged with second-degree child abuse, convicted, and served a year in jail. His appeals were denied. But a decade later, the Michigan Attorney General's Conviction Integrity Unit reviewed Josh's case. Last year, he was exonerated. There had been no crime, just a bad medical diagnosis. Josh Burns isn't alone. Across the country, a reckoning is underway. According to the National Registry of Exonérations, more than 40 people have been exonérated due to a shaken baby diagnosis. Courts have taken notice. In Illinois, a federal district judge wrote, that new developments arguably suggest shaken baby syndrome is more an article of faith than a proposition of science.

A New Jersey appellate court held that shaken Baby syndrome lacks scientific reliability. And last year in Texas, where Robert Robertson is on death row, a man was exonerated in a shaken baby case. Andrew, can you just please introduce yourself? Yes, my name is Andrew Rourke. Robert supporters say the two cases are strikingly similar. In 1997, Andrew Rourke was home alone watching his girlfriend's 13-month-old daughter, Brooklyn. Like Robert, who said Nicki had fallen from a bed, Andrew said Brooklyn had also fallen a short distance. She had slipped and hit her head in the tub very lightly. Andrew put broke down for a nap, only to later find her on the floor. She's gasping for breath, and and unresponsive. So I picked her up, ran to the phone, called 911. Like Nikki, broke ended up at Dallas's Children's Medical Center, where she was evaluated by a pediatric specialist who diagnosed her with shaken baby syndrome. That specialist was the same one who saw Nikki, Dr. Janet Squires. She declined our request for an interview. Unlike Nikki, broke survived. Andrew was arrested for child abuse while leaving the hospital. We end up at an elevator bank, and there's five Tessuto police officers jump me and arrest me right there in the hospital.

Andrew was convicted of injury to a child and sentenced to 35 years in prison. He served 13 before being released. Last year, the same week Texas was preparing to kill Robert, Andrew's conviction was vacated. In a statement, the Dallas County DA said, Current advancements in medical and scientific understanding would no longer support the state's theory at trial. How could it be that you, going through a situation like this, were exonerated in the state of Texas, and Robert Robertson is now facing death. That's what we're all asking, Lester. Had the child died in my case, I would be in the same position he's in because they sure as hell would have put me on death row for this, for sure. Robert has never wavered. Brian Wharton, the Detective Turn Minister, who once helped build the case against Robert, is again fighting to stop the clock. Robert is my friend. I care about him deeply. I wouldn't go so far as to say I love Robert. I wasn't surprised. Brian was at that rally on the steps of the Capitol, begging the state for time and the crowd for faith. Robert is a very good man, full of grace and joy and forgiveness.

Can his life be saved at this point? Gosh, I pray it can. If we If we could save someone like Robert, who is so clearly innocent, then truly we're lost. How will you feel if he does not receive a stay? I will die a little myself. I thank you for braving the really brutal sun. Gretchen Swinn was there, too. She climbed the steps and addressed the crowd. It's a perfect metaphor for what we need. We need the sunlight. We need noise. Reason, judicial process has failed us, has failed Robert. And I have nothing but righteous rage on behalf of my client, Robert, because I know he's in the thing. She is still furiously working to save Robert. We have countless appeals. It feels pending, trying to plan out what happens if a door slams, what other door can be opened. She thinks this podcast may have opened a door. I called Gretchen to find out why. Thanks for doing this on short notice. First of all, describe the significance of what you heard and how it figures into your case. I listened to the first episode of your podcast on Monday morning, and quite shockingly, is a revelation about an unknown fact.

What caught her ear was a detail Nikki's grandfather, Larry Bowman, told me about the final hours of Nikki's life in the hospital. Did you have to make the decision to take her off support? Yeah, we did. Larry told me that a judge spoke with the hospital and informed them that he and his wife, not Robert, would make decisions about Nikki's medical care. Gretchen knew that. What she didn't know was the judge's name. Matter of fact, Judge Bentley told them that we were the parents. Judge Bascom Bentley, the same judge who presided over Robert's murder trial. He passed away in 2017. Now you have a name. Now we have a name. It's a big name. I'm sorry if I sound agitated, but it was quite the shock to realize he was the judge that signed the arrest warrant and went on to preside over the entire trial. To Gretchen, that was proof of something powerful that Judge Bentley had decided Robert was guilty before he'd been arrested. I find it hard to imagine how someone wouldn't believe that this information shows that this judge had already made a decision that Robert was guilty. Over the summer, Gretchen filed a motion about the parental rights issue.

The state responded, arguing it was speculation that no judge ever spoke with the hospital. Within 24 hours of listening to the podcast, Gretchen raced a court and amended her motion with the name of the judge that Larry had given us. The trial itself should be null and void. The attorney general has yet to respond to the filing. Gretchen won't give up, and Robert knows it. To me, she's perfect. She's real compassionate, real kind, and real committed to this type of work. Robert, where and how does this story end in your mind? How does it end? I'm hoping and praying that they would do the right thing, that I'd be fully exonerated. When we talked last time, I think we talked a little bit about hope. Yes, sir. Is it harder to be hopeful now? No, actually, I'm still hopeful. I still got a lot of hope. Once again, Robert is counting down the hours of his life. The whole world is watching. Texas, do not kill this innocent man. October 16th is nearly here, Robert's third date with death. Will it be his last? The Last Appeal is a production of Dateland and NBC News.

It is written and produced by Dan Slepian, Liz Brown-Kurloff, and Lynn Keller. Our field producers are nick McElroy and Rachel Yang, with production help from Sam Springer. It's edited by Colin Dow, Greg Smith, Deb Brown, and David Varga. From NBC News Audio, Sound Mixing by Rob Byers, Joe Plourd, and Rich Cutler. Head of Audio Production is Bryson Barnes. Paul Ryan is executive producer, and Liz Cole is senior executive producer of Dateland. This week on Meet the Press. As President Trump threaten to send troops into US cities and tensions rise over the government shutdown, Kristen Welker sits down with Speaker Mike Johnson, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffrey, and Schiff. This week on Meet the Press. Listen to the full episode now wherever you get your podcasts.