On Saturday, November 30, 2024, The Texas Tribune reported that District Judge Deborah Oakes Evans recused herself from the death row case of Robert Roberson. The decision comes after she signed Roberson’s execution warrant earlier in the year. The filing for her recusal was signed on November 25 in Anderson County, though no specific reasons were provided for her decision.
Gretchen Sween, Roberson’s attorney, expressed uncertainty regarding the circumstances that led to Judge Evans’ recusal, noting that she had not yet received official notification about the order. Roberson, who was convicted of capital murder in 2003 for the death of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis, has consistently maintained his innocence. Prosecutors alleged that he violently shook Nikki, leading to her death, but Roberson was diagnosed with autism after his conviction, which has raised questions about his culpability.
Judge Evans first became involved in Roberson’s case in 2016 when she presided over a legal challenge following a stay of his initial execution. After a lengthy nine-day hearing, she recommended denying all relief to Roberson. Evans retired from her judicial role in 2022, but in 2024, she was reassigned to Roberson’s case around the same time the state sought a new execution date. She set the execution for October 17, a move that raised concerns among Roberson’s legal team.
Following her reassignment, Roberson’s attorneys quickly requested a hearing before Evans, which was denied. On September 25, they filed motions to have the execution warrant set aside and requested that Evans recuse herself voluntarily. In their arguments, they highlighted the “opaque process” surrounding her sudden return to the case after retirement, as well as her personal relationships with key figures in the prosecution, including the original prosecutor and the current district attorney of Anderson County.
When Evans initially declined to recuse herself, the matter was heard by an administrative judge on October 15, just days before Roberson’s scheduled execution. The recusal motion was denied, and the following day, Evans also denied a motion to recall the execution. However, on October 16, the Texas House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence intervened, which led to a delay in Roberson’s execution by subpoenaing him to testify about his claims of innocence.
On November 12, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that the committee’s intervention could not halt an execution, allowing the state to set a new execution date. As of now, no new execution date has been established, and the committee continues to pursue testimony from Roberson regarding his conviction and appeals.
Source: The Texas Tribune
