On Thursday, October 9, 2025, The Dallas Express reported that attorneys for Robert Roberson, a Texas death row inmate, are seeking a new trial based on evidence unearthed in a “Dateline” podcast.
Roberson is scheduled to be executed on October 16 for the 2002 death of his two-year-old daughter, Nikki. The defense argues the podcast reveals judicial misconduct, specifically bias on the part of the now-deceased Anderson County Judge Bascom Bentley.
The legal team filed a motion with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, citing an interview between “Dateline” anchor Lester Holt and Nikki’s maternal grandfather, Larry Bowman. According to the filing, Bowman’s statements suggest Judge Bentley violated Roberson’s right to an impartial trial. Bowman stated that Bentley instructed hospital staff to contact the Bowmans to authorize the removal of Nikki from life support, as reported by NBC 5 DFW.
Roberson’s attorneys contend that Bentley misrepresented the Bowmans’ authority, given that Roberson had sole custody of Nikki since November 2001. Furthermore, Bentley signed Roberson’s arrest warrant based on the initial “shaken baby syndrome” diagnosis and presided over almost all proceedings in the 2003 trial, which resulted in a death sentence for Roberson.
The defense argues that Bentley should have recused himself from the case to maintain impartiality. They assert that any objective observer, aware of these new facts, would reasonably conclude that Judge Bentley had prejudged Roberson’s guilt.
Gretchen Sween, Roberson’s attorney, expressed her concern about the timing and manner of the discovery. She stated that it was shocking to uncover this undisclosed evidence of bias by chance, through a podcast, just days before Roberson’s scheduled execution for what she describes as a tragedy mislabeled as a crime, according to NBC 5. Sween also told FOX 4 KDFW that a judge should not be involved in circumventing the law to end a life, arresting the individual, and then presiding over the trial.
The defense recounts that in January 2002, Roberson found Nikki unconscious with blue lips after she reportedly fell from bed. He rushed her to an emergency room in East Texas. He was arrested within days for capital murder based on the “shaken baby syndrome” diagnosis, which is now being disputed.
The defense maintains that recent scientific advancements indicate that other medical conditions could explain Nikki’s death, thereby undermining the conviction. A separate appeal to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals asserts that Roberson’s imprisonment is illegal due to what they describe as “overwhelming evidence” of discredited science.
Last year, bipartisan Texas lawmakers, including Representative Rhetta Bowers, secured a last-minute stay of execution through a legislative subpoena. Bowers stated that they fought until the very end to obtain the stay of execution for Roberson, according to Fox 4. She emphasized the importance of a fair process and adherence to the rule of law to avoid the risk of innocent people ending up on death row.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has characterized Roberson’s actions as a brutal murder, is advocating for the execution to proceed. Neither Paxton’s office nor Governor Greg Abbott’s office responded to requests for comment or participation in the “Dateline” podcast.
If the execution is carried out, it would be the first in the U.S. tied to a “shaken baby syndrome” conviction. According to ProPublica, thirty-five individuals convicted based on a “shaken baby syndrome” diagnosis are listed on the National Registry of Exonerations.
Source: The Dallas Express
