John Grisham, the famed novelist and legal advocate, is once again turning his attention to the U.S. justice system’s darkest corners—this time with a real-life story that’s unfolding in real-time. His upcoming nonfiction book, SHAKEN: The Rush to Execute an Innocent Man, set for release on June 9, 2026, chronicles the harrowing case of Robert Roberson III, an East Texas man who stands on the precipice of execution, scheduled for October 16, 2025. The outcome of Roberson’s case—and perhaps even his life—remains uncertain, with a pivotal court decision still pending as the clock ticks down.
According to The Dallas Morning News, Grisham, now 70, described the situation as watching a disaster unfold in slow motion. “We’re watching in slow motion as the clock ticks, as this disaster unfolds,” Grisham said in a recent interview. “I’m just here to tell the story, and I’m doing it because we know right now what’s about to happen and we’re trying to get it stopped. Who knows if we’re going to be successful?”
Roberson, 58, was convicted in 2003 for the death of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis. The prosecution’s case centered on the controversial diagnosis of “shaken baby syndrome,” a theory that has since come under intense scrutiny. As reported by NPR, Roberson—who is autistic—has always maintained his innocence, insisting that the state relied on faulty science to convict him. “I’m still just as innocent, you know, as I was when y’all put me in there, you know?” Roberson told Texas Public Radio’s David Martin Davies in a recent interview from death row.
The diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome, once commonly accepted, has been increasingly challenged by experts over the last two decades. Katherine Judson, director of the Center for Integrity in Forensic Science, explained to NPR, “In the two decades that have passed since Mr. Roberson’s trial, evidence-based science has roundly debunked the version of the shaken baby syndrome hypothesis that was put before his jury.” Roberson’s attorneys have long argued that Nikki’s death was not the result of abuse but rather of natural and accidental causes—including severe, undiagnosed pneumonia and a fall from bed.
New evidence, unavailable at Roberson’s original trial, has emerged in recent years. Gretchen Sween, Roberson’s attorney, told NPR that an expert’s review of Nikki’s lung tissue revealed “not one but two kinds of pneumonia and very diseased lungs.” This critical detail, she said, was never presented to the jury that sentenced Roberson to death. The American Academy of Pediatrics, while not commenting directly on Roberson’s case, maintains that shaken baby syndrome is a real and devastating injury, but the scientific debate over its diagnosis in courtrooms continues to swirl.
Roberson’s legal journey has been marked by dramatic last-minute stays and shifting narratives. In 2016 and again in October 2024, he was scheduled for execution, only to have his life spared hours—once even minutes—before the lethal injection. The October 2024 stay drew national attention after a bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers subpoenaed Roberson to testify before a House committee. However, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton blocked attempts to bring him to the state Capitol, even as Grisham and other advocates spoke out on his behalf.
The state of Texas has also changed its theory of the case over time. While the original prosecution focused on shaken baby syndrome, the Texas Attorney General’s office later argued that Nikki’s death resulted from blunt-force trauma, citing extensive bruising. Roberson’s defense team counters that these bruises were caused by hospital staff during desperate efforts to save Nikki’s life. “The bruises that were noted in the autopsy report were after two days of extensive medical intervention,” Sween told NPR.
The shifting explanations have left some who were involved in the original trial questioning their own decisions. Terry Compton, a juror who voted to convict Roberson, testified before the Texas House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence that the jury was never instructed to consider blunt-force trauma as a possible cause of death. “I’m one of them that made that conviction of shaken baby syndrome,” Compton said, expressing clear doubts about the process and the evidence presented.
Grisham’s involvement in the case is more than just literary. As a board member of the Innocence Project, he has spent years advocating for those wrongfully convicted by the justice system. His first nonfiction book, The Innocent Man, detailed the wrongful conviction and eventual exoneration of Ron Williamson, and he later co-authored Framed: Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions. Speaking about Roberson’s case, Grisham told The Dallas Morning News, “Robert’s trial was grossly unfair. The science was terrible. The science has been debunked and discredited and disproven now for the past 15 years—we know it’s bad science.”
Grisham hopes that the spotlight his book brings will encourage those with the power to intervene to take a closer look at the case. “He has a very strong legal team, a very strong medical and scientific team, with plenty of new proof to get back into court and, maybe one day, have an exoneration and walk out of prison,” Grisham said. “That would be the perfect ending, and that’s what we’re aiming for.”
Roberson’s fight for a new trial is currently before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which is weighing whether the new medical evidence regarding Nikki’s pneumonia is sufficient to overturn his conviction. The stakes could not be higher: if the court does not intervene before October 16, Roberson will be executed. As Grisham put it, “Anytime you have great suffering, you have great drama and good stories. The injustice, the misery, the waste that you see in these cases—every wrongful conviction should have its own book.”
Meanwhile, the public debate over forensic science and the death penalty in Texas rages on. Groups like the Center for Integrity in Forensic Sciences argue that Roberson’s case is a tragic example of how outdated or incorrect science can lead to irreversible consequences. Supporters of the state’s prosecution maintain that shaken baby syndrome is a legitimate diagnosis and that the justice system must protect vulnerable children. The American Academy of Pediatrics, for its part, has reiterated that the syndrome is real, even as it acknowledges the need for rigorous, evidence-based application in courts.
With days left until the scheduled execution, advocates, legal experts, and the public alike are left wondering whether the Texas courts will revisit the case in time—or if Roberson’s story will end as another chapter in the long record of controversial death penalty cases in America. For now, all eyes are on Texas, and on the fate of a man whose life may hinge on a last-minute decision.
