Michelle Pitcher

‘I Got a Lot of People Believing in Me’: Robert Roberson Stares Down Death, Again Set to be the first U.S. person executed based on the controversial “Shaken Baby Syndrome” diagnosis, Roberson told the Observer last week he hopes his story will mean something.

Context: www.texasobserver.org/robert-rober...

The decision came after the CCA granted relief in the Andrew Roark case—which was strikingly similar to Roberson’s—last October.

The Court of Criminal Appeals has stayed Robert Roberson’s execution, sending his case back to a lower court for reconsideration. He was scheduled to be executed in less than a week.

Robert Roberson's attorney Gretchen Sween will not petition for clemency ahead of his scheduled Oct. 16 execution. "A quest for clemency would not right the wrong...It would only divert precious time and resources from the fundamental mission: obtaining a new trial for Robert at long last."

Police ‘Secrecy Grab’ Dies After Senate Refuses Uvalde Compromise "We’re hopeful that it means it doesn’t come back again, and that we can preserve some level of transparency for all Texans."

New @michellepitcher.bsky.social: Efforts to limit police transparency by shielding some complaints from public view have failed multiple times during the 2025 legislative season—most recently in the form of House Bill 15, which died this week.

Texas Lawmakers Push ‘Massive Secrecy Grab’ to Shield Police Files As public attention has shifted away from policing reform, legislators attempt to shove information into the dark.

“This is the most massive secrecy grab in Texas since the adoption of the Public Information Act.”

New today from @michellepitcher.bsky.social: A move to "standardize" police personnel files could have devastating consequences for transparency.

Penned Poetry: A Formerly Incarcerated Activist’s Turn to Verse Longtime advocate Jorge Antonio Renaud lyricizes the grit of prison life in his first published collection of poems, The Restlessness of Bound Wrists.

New from @michellepitcher.bsky.social: Jorge Renaud, became a social justice advocate after spending years incarcerated in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice system. In his new poetry collection, out in May from Plancha Press, he trades in his megaphone for a pen.

Robert Roberson Faces New Execution Date in Controversial ‘Shaken Baby Syndrome’ Case The new date comes after Ken Paxton took over the case that could lead to the nation's first execution based on the contested diagnosis.

Full story: www.texasobserver.org/robert-rober...

Good question. The state had requested a specific date—it wasn’t the judge’s call.

“It doesn’t seem like anything is going to get resolved without a date.” -Judge Austin Reeve Jackson, who points out he doesn’t have the authority to weigh the merits of the case.

The judge ruled that the execution date will be set for October 16, 2025. #RobertRoberson

Robert Roberson has arrived at the courtroom after an hourlong delay. The hearing is official starting. #RobertRoberson

At least two Texas exonerees—Cassandra Rivera from San Antonio and Ben Spencer from Dallas—have shown up to show their support. #RobertRoberson

The AG's office under Ken Paxton is pushing for an October 16 execution date. There is still a filing in front of the Court of Criminal Appeals arguing Roberson's innocence. #RobertRoberson

Anderson County Courthouse

Reporters and TV crews are starting to trickle in to the Anderson County Court House for a 10 a.m. hearing on whether to set a new execution date for Robert Roberson. #RobertRoberson

Texas Plans to Execute Man After Courts Refuse DNA Tests Ruben Gutierrez was convicted of murder in 1999 under Texas’ “Law of Parties.” He says he had nothing to do with the killing.

Some context: www.texasobserver.org/ruben-gutier...

U.S. SUPREME COURT RULES RUBEN GUTIERREZ HAS STANDING TO CHALLENGE THE CONSTITUTIONALITY OF THE TEXAS POST-CONVICTION DNA STATUTE (Thursday, June 26, 2025, Washington, D.C.) Today, the United States Supreme Court ruled, in a 6-3 opinion, that Texas death row prisoner Ruben Gutierrez should be permitted to continue his lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Texas post-conviction DNA statute. Mr. Gutierrez was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death in 1999 even though no physical or forensic evidence connects him to the crime. The Court held that “Gutierrez has standing to bring his §1983 claim challenging Texas’s postconviction DNA testing procedures under the Due Process Clause.”

INBOX: Last summer, Ruben Gutierrez got within 20 minutes of execution before the U.S. Supreme Court stepped in. For years, he's been asking for pieces of evidence to be DNA tested. Today, #SCOTUS ruled that he has the right to challenge the Texas law that's standing in his way.

Junk Science, ‘Shaken Baby Syndrome,’ and the Fate of Robert Roberson An East Texas man could soon become the nation's first person killed by the state based on the controversial hypothesis.

Background on the case: www.texasobserver.org/death-row-sh...

Robert Roberson's attorney Gretchen Sween on the TX AG's request for a new execution date: "The AG’s unjustified rush to seek an execution date while that new evidence of innocence is before the court is outrageous."

The Texas AG has asked a judge to set (another) execution date in the case of Robert Roberson...

New Leads in an Infamous Corpus Christi Cold Case An open-source review unearths fresh details about a Texas oilman’s murder.

@texasobserver.org piece and audio by @michellepitcher.bsky.social here: www.texasobserver.org/new-leads-in...

Life After Death Row Clinton Young spent nearly two decades condemned to die. His peaceful, productive time out on bond poses questions about how Texas decides who lives long enough to get another chance.

Our top story: Clinton Young spent nearly two decades condemned to die. His peaceful, productive time out on bond poses questions about how Texas decides who lives long enough to get another chance.

Life After Death Row Clinton Young spent nearly two decades condemned to die. His peaceful, productive time out on bond poses questions about how Texas decides who lives long enough to get another chance.

Texas' death penalty doesn't allow for second chances—most of the time. Clinton Young got a rare one and tried to make the most of it: www.texasobserver.org/life-after-d...

Life After Death Row Clinton Young spent nearly two decades condemned to die. His peaceful, productive time out on bond poses questions about how Texas decides who lives long enough to get another chance.

From @michellepitcher.bsky.social in our magazine: A jury declared that Clinton Young was too dangerous to be allowed to live. His time out on bond raises serious questions about who gets a "second chance" at living and rehabilitation.

Abbott's Bail Agenda Could Swell Texas Jails, Test U.S. Constitution Republicans want to double down on a system that can keep Texans in jail for years without a trial, while attacking bail funds that try to help.

New from @michellepitcher.bsky.social: Texas jails are so overcrowded—partly because they’re often a county’s largest mental health facility—that some counties ship people awaiting trials to distant jails, sometimes out of state. Bills pending at the Lege could make overcrowding even worse.

The May/June 2025 cover of Texas Observer magazine depicts a grayscale oil derrick, exploding into the air with golden, pixelated video game-style coins. Headline: The Texas Bitcoin Boom. Cryptomining afflicts locals with noise pollution, threatens water supplies and receives generous public backing. by Candice Bernd. Other headlines: Clinton Young’s Life After Death Row. The Refugee Wrestlers of the West Side by Brant Deboer.

The May/June 2025 issue of Texas Observer magazine will be out starting May 1, featuring stories from @candicebernd.bsky.social, @michellepitcher.bsky.social, Brant Deboer and more.

Become a member to support our work, and get the best of our reporting in our magazine.

The Sordid, Unscientific Story Behind Lethal Injection A new book by a national expert explores the failures of the United States’ favored execution method.

In books, from @michellepitcher.bsky.social: Law professor, former prosecutor, and death penalty expert Corinna Barrett Lain brings us into the death chamber to bear disturbing witness to the reality of lethal injection. A look behind the curtain at our state's grim legacy in criminal justice ...

NEW: Someone asked the state to release temperature logs taken at its prisons. Some of the logs didn't exist or were defaced by staff.

So the logs were fabricated.

Those are the findings of an internal agency investigation. I got a copy.
www.kut.org/crime-justic... #txlege #TDCJ

Graphic announcing BookPeople Events: Lise Olsen, author of Code of Silence and her new book, The Scientist and the Serial Killer, in conversation with Michelle Pitcher. April 9, 7pm, Austin, Texas, bookpeople.com.

Next month: Join Texas Observer's @liseolsen.bsky.social in conversation with @michellepitcher.bsky.social, to celebrate the release of Lise's new book The Scientist and the Serial Killer.

FREE event! April 9, 7pm at BookPeople, #Austin, Texas
RSVP: www.eventbrite.com/e/bookpeople...

He Refused to Give False Testimony. Now, Can He Stop a Man's Execution? Texas plans to execute Wood in March. George Hall says police encouraged him to lie about Wood confessing six murders to him.

more on jailhouse snitches from Maurice Chammah www.themarshallproject.org/2025/02/25/t...
and more on the shaky forensic evidence from @michellepitcher.bsky.social
www.texasobserver.org/david-wood-e...