An autistic Texan is on death row.
Alyxaundria Sanford at The Innocence Project:
When Robert Roberson brought his unresponsive daughter to the hospital, medical staff became suspicious of his flat affect and interpreted his response to his daughter’s condition as lacking emotion. Former Detective Brian Wharton, who later led the investigation of the child’s death, testified that Mr. Roberson seemed “not right” because he did not display the expected emotional reactions, like anger or sadness, like a “typical” parent.
In fact, Mr. Roberson’s lack of visible emotion, or his “flat affect,” is a typical trait of autism. During the 2003 trial for the death of his chronically ill two year old daughter, Nikki, his affect, along with other autism-related behaviors he displayed during the course of the investigation, was used to paint him as cold and remorseless. In fact, he was a loving, dedicated father who simply could not express emotion as neurotypical, or non-autistic, people do. It was not until 2018 — well after he was wrongly convicted — that Mr. Roberson was evaluated and officially diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
To date, Mr. Roberson has spent more than 20 years on death row. Convicted on the basis of a now discredited shaken baby syndrome hypothesis, he faces execution in Texas on Oct. 17, for a crime that never occurred. His case illustrates how the criminal legal system’s failure to understand autistic behavior can contribute to devastating, life-threatening consequences.
“Robert’s disability directly contributed to his wrongful conviction when investigators assumed his flat demeanor during pronounced stress (a manifestation of his Autism) was a sign of culpability,” Mr. Roberson’s attorneys wrote in their Sept. 17 clemency petition.
