Trial judge in Robert Roberson’s death row case agrees to recusal

Senior state District Judge Deborah Oakes Evans presides over a hearing in Palestine on Aug. 14, 2018, as Robert Roberson's attorneys seek a new trial. Roberson was convicted and sentenced to death in 2003 for the murder of his 2-year-old daughter Nikki Curtis. Evans, who initially set an execution date of Oct. 17, 2024, has since agreed to recuse herself. (Credit: Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune)

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A retired Texas judge who signed death row inmate Robert Roberson’s execution warrant earlier this year has recused herself from his case.

The court filing was signed on Monday by senior state District Judge Deborah Oakes Evans in Anderson County. No specific reason was given for her decision.

“I have not yet been served with this order and do not know anything about what prompted Judge Evans to sign this order soon before Thanksgiving,” Gretchen Sween, Roberson’s attorney, told The Texas Tribune.

Roberson was convicted of capital murder in 2003 for the death of his chronically ill 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis. At his trial, prosecutors accused Roberson of shaking Nikki so violently that she died. But Roberson, who was diagnosed with autism after his conviction, has maintained his innocence.

Evans’ involvement in Roberson’s case began in 2016, when she oversaw Roberson’s legal challenge after his first execution was stayed and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals sent his case back to the trial court. After a nine-day hearing, Evans recommended that all relief be denied.

She then retired from the bench in 2022. But in 2024, it was disclosed after the state of Texas sought a new execution date that Evans had been assigned to Roberson’s case, and she set his execution for Oct. 17.

Actually, she arranged to be assigned--and was assigned months before the state sought an execution date--but the fact of her assignment was not disclosed until after the State sought the execution date.

Roberson’s attorneys, including Sween, quickly requested a hearing before Evans but those requests were denied.

On Sept. 25, his lawyers asked to have the execution warrant set aside and they asked that Evans voluntarily recuse herself.

In filings seeking the recusal, defense attorneys cited “the opaque process” in which Evans suddenly returned after retirement to preside over the case. The motion also mentioned the “deep personal relationships” the judge has with the original prosecutor in his case, the judge who terminated Roberson’s parental rights and the current Anderson County district attorney, who opposed Roberson’s habeas relief.

When Evans declined to step aside, the argument was heard by an administrative judge on Oct. 15, two days before Roberson’s scheduled execution. The recusal motion was denied.

The next day, Evans denied a motion to recall the execution.

But the day before his execution, the Texas House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence intervened, airing his claims of innocence and lack of due process. The panel’s surprise move to subpoena Roberson on Oct. 16 then successfully forced a delay in his execution.

On Nov. 12, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that the committee’s subpoena cannot block a death row inmate’s execution. The state can proceed with a new execution date, but the House committee, whose members believe Roberson was convicted based on junk science, still expects him to provide them with testimony about his conviction and appeals.

A new execution date has not been set.

Correction, Dec. 1, 2024 at 4:29 p.m.: A previous version of this story misspelled the name of Robert Roberson.