Court in Texas Blocks 'Shaken Baby' Execution

The nation's first execution over "shaken baby syndrome" won't take place next week after all. Texas' highest criminal court on Thursday granted an emergency stay in the case of 58-year-old Robert Roberson, reports NBC News. Roberson was set to be executed on Oct. 16 for the 2002 death of his 2-year-old daughter, but the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals sent the case back to trial court for review amid questions about the evidence used to convict him.

Roberson's legal team argues that advances in medical science have cast doubt on "shaken baby syndrome," the theory at the heart of his conviction. They also allege judicial misconduct on the part of the judge who oversaw his conviction. Roberson's cause has been taken up by many, including a group of bipartisan state lawmakers and none other than John Grisham.

Roberson has consistently denied harming his daughter, Nikki, maintaining that she was chronically ill and had fallen from a bed the morning she died. "I never shook her or hit her," he told the AP last week. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, however, maintains Roberson's guilt.