Paxton reveals sexual assault allegations against Robert Roberson that prosecutors dropped

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton resurfaced the sexual abuse allegation against Robert Roberson III in his first public statement about the case, in an effort to “set the record straight” about the death row inmate’s guilt.

The allegation Paxton cited appears to have come from a former jailhouse informant who said Roberson admitted to sexually abusing his 2-year-old daughter before his death, but prosecutors did not address that allegation in the capital murder case for more than 20 years. According to the examination of court records by Dallas Morning News.

In his statement, Paxton released two graphics that included an autopsy report, an affidavit from the Dallas County medical examiner who performed the autopsy, and the attorney general’s official seal. This report contained evidence showing that Roberson was guilty of murdering his daughter, Nikki.

News’ The review found that Paxton’s affidavit and recent court filings by lawmakers deviated from the trial record by making allegations that were dropped at trial, not presented by prosecutors, or discussed when the jury was out of the courtroom.

Roberson, who maintained his innocence even though his conviction was upheld through multiple appeals, was scheduled to die by lethal injection in Huntsville on Oct. 17 until a bipartisan House committee subpoenaed him to testify four days after his scheduled execution date.

The subpoena drew last-minute objections before the Texas Supreme Court, which handles civil matters, halted the execution. The high court’s decision sparked a separation of powers dispute that is scheduled to be litigated in the coming weeks.

Roberson’s appellate attorney, Gretchen Sween, said Paxton’s rehash of sexual assault allegations — which she said unfairly biased the jury and raised the odds against Roberson at trial — was aimed at discrediting both Roberson and lawmakers who advocated for the courts to reconsider his case. He said it was a tactic. .

The attorney general’s office has not responded to emails or returned phone calls seeking comment since Friday.

Lawyers for Roberson, a former Palestinian detective who investigated the case, and a bipartisan group of lawmakers advocating on his behalf have dismissed the allegations as false.

“It deeply saddens me that such material is irresponsibly highlighted and treated as factual information,” said former detective Brian Wharton, who worked to convict Roberson but now believes he is innocent.

Whether or not testimony about sexual assault was present at trial hinged on a Palestinian nurse who said she found evidence of sexual assault after evaluating Nikki, but during cross-examination it was revealed that the nurse was not a certified sexual assault examiner. The Dallas County medical examiner who performed Nikki’s autopsy testified that he found no evidence of sexual assault.

In addition to the documents released by Paxton’s office, Sween in recent weeks has released a trove of court records and hearing transcripts that are inaccessible without extensive and costly public information requests. News We reviewed more than 1,000 pages from the guilt-innocence and sentencing phases of Roberson’s case.

‘Inflammatory nature’

Roberson was not charged with sexual assault, but his indictment alleged that he killed Nikki “in the course of committing or attempting to commit the crime of aggravated sexual assault.”

During the trial, prosecutors withdrew the sexual assault element from the indictment, and one of Roberson’s defense attorneys, Steve Evans, asked the judge to declare a mistrial, arguing that the “provocative nature” of the sexual assault allegations could sway the jury.

“(Jurors) were promised evidence of sexual assault would be presented. “This is essentially an irrelevant issue,” Evans told the judge, according to the transcript.

The judge denied Evans’ request for a mistrial.

During the trial, prosecutors called nurse Andrea Sims, who testified that she performed a sexual assault examination on Nikki at the hospital at the direction of the Palestinian police and saw signs of sexual abuse.

On cross-examination, Evans asked Sims if she was a certified sexual assault nurse examiner. He said it wasn’t, but said the lack of certification didn’t change his abilities, according to the transcript.

The Dallas County medical examiner who performed Nikki’s autopsy testified that he did not observe any injuries to her genitals. No evidence of sexual assault was found in samples taken by Sims as part of a sexual assault examination and tested at the Department of Public Safety crime laboratory, according to a copy of the test results provided by Sween.

Sween and lawmakers who called on the courts to reconsider Roberson’s case said Sims lied about her qualifications at the hearing and raised the issue of sexual assault despite a lack of evidence.

Sims declined to comment Monday News He reached him by phone. He asked a reporter to send him comments on the lawmakers’ involvement in the case, but he later did not respond to any messages or phone calls.

The sexual assault allegation was brought up again during the hearing, this time out of the jury’s hearing.

Under questioning by prosecutor Douglas Lowe, the psychologist said he interviewed Roberson’s girlfriend’s daughter. Lowe asked the psychologist to recall the interview, including whether Roberson touched her “in a sexual sense.”

The psychologist said the then-10-year-old girl told the psychologist that Roberson would sit her on his lap and try to watch her use the restroom, according to the court document. The jury was not in the courtroom and did not hear this testimony.

The girl took the witness stand during the hearing, but was not asked whether she had been sexually assaulted by Roberson, according to the transcript.

Lowe, who was the Anderson County district attorney at the time of the trial, did not respond to a message requesting an interview for this story. Asked by News about repel Regarding the case in August, Lowe noted that the conviction remained despite a series of appeals.

‘Unprincipled exercise’

Paxton’s statement said Roberson admitted to sexually assaulting a fellow inmate before Nikki’s death.

Paxton referred to “a police report prepared at the same time” but did not name the inmate. The Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office did not respond to our request News We are looking for a copy of the report.

Paxton’s statement is as follows: “Roberson admitted to his cellmate that he sexually assaulted Nikki. Roberson told her that he ‘put his own penis in the baby’s mouth and rubbed his penis against her vagina.’ The cellmate also said Roberson told him that when he was angry at his female partner, he would take his anger out on Nikki. “He told his cellmate that he hit the back of Nikki’s head with his hand and then dropped her on her head, leaving her on the floor.”

Neither the sexual assault allegation nor the inmate was mentioned during the 2003 hearing, according to the court transcript.

Wharton, the former detective, said the allegation came from a “notorious” jailhouse informant who told the story in the hope of a positive outcome from prosecutors.

“Those who imply that they represent the ‘truth’ by using the letters they wrote to the prosecutor’s office 22 years ago are engaged in an unprincipled practice and should not care about who will be hurt in the process, including the child in the middle of the incident. this case,” Wharton said.

Roberson’s lawyer, Sween, said: News accompanied by a photo-scanned copy of a hand-written letter signed by the ex-convict. The letter’s description of the accusation against Roberson matches that in Paxton’s statement.

Writing to a prosecutor, the inmate said he would “tell me everything and what (Roberson) said” in exchange for additional time credit. Remaining time means counting the days spent in custody at the preliminary sentencing hearing in case of conviction.

Attempts to reach the detainee for comment were unsuccessful. Court records show he was incarcerated at the Anderson County jail at the same time as Roberson, but Sween said they were not cellmates. Out-of-state records from a recent arrest show he no longer lives in Texas.

‘Everything is in my power’

The state Supreme Court’s decision to stay Roberson’s execution means another execution can be carried out by law rescheduled early 2025 at the earliest.

Top state officials and House lawmakers have clashed in court since the decision. The dispute came to the public agenda last week nine hours Testimony to a House committee that Roberson was expected to testify but did not because of the attorney general concerns With a death row inmate brought to the Capitol.

Half of the Republican-controlled House of Representatives signed a letter supporting Roberson’s call for the courts to reconsider his case, while a group of eight House Republicans, including Cody Harris of Palestine, where Roberson lives, criticized their colleagues for their involvement.

In a filing to the state Supreme Court, lawmakers condemned the House committee that issued the subpoena to delay Roberson’s execution, sparking a separation of powers dispute, and criticized the committee’s nine-hour hearing for a lack of testimony that Roberson had abused Nikki. .

Lawmakers also reiterated the ex-con’s sexual assault allegation that Paxton had resurfaced.

“Nothing I can do or say can heal the pain that Nikki’s family has experienced over the last 20 years,” Harris said in a press release about the group’s appeal to the high court. “As their representative in the Texas House, I will do everything in my power to support them and ensure that long-overdue justice is finally served.”

The Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, or RAINN, is an anti-sexual violence organization that operates a 24-hour National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-4673 and online at: helpline.rainn.org.

Staff writers Maggie Prosser, Jamie Landers, Julia James, Matt Kyle and Aria Jones contributed to this report.

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