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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Murder |
Sentence: |
Life Imprisonment |
Years Imprisoned: |
18 |
Year Crime: |
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Year Convicted: |
1999 |
Year Cleared: |
2016 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Texas |
County or Region of Crime: |
Montgomery |
City of Crime: |
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Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Neal Hampton Robbins was wrongly convicted on February 22, 1999 of murder in the death of his girl-friends 17-month old daughter Tristen Rivet in 1998 in Montgomery County, Texas. Neal Robbins prosecution was based on the expert opinion of Assistant Harris County Medical Examiner Patricia Moore that Rivet's cause of death was homicide due to asphyxiation. After his conviction by a jury Robbins was sentenced to life imprisonment. Robbins' appealed on the basis the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction, but his conviction and sentence were affirmed in 2000 on appeal. In 2002 the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Robbins' conviction. After a re-evaluation in 2007 of the autopsy findings in Rivet's death, on May 2, 2007 Harris County, Dr. Dwayne Wolf concluded that Moore's observations during the autopsy did not support a finding that her death resulted from asphyxiation by compression or from any other specific cause. On May 2, 2007 Wolf amended Tristen's autopsy report to reflect that both the cause and manner of death was "undetermined." In light of Wolf's finding, Moore was asked by the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office to review her autopsy report. In a letter dated May 13, 2007 Moore stated: "I believe that there are unanswered questions as to why the child died, ... Given my review of all the material from the case file and having had more experience in the field of forensic pathology, I now feel that an opinion for a cause and manner of death of undetermined, undetermined is best for this case." Robbins filed a state habeas corpus petition for a new trial based on the new evidence of Moore's recantation, and the trial court made findings of fact and conclusions of law. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied Robbins' petition on June 29, 2011. In 2013 the Texas amended its Code of Criminal Procedure to allow for the consideration of new post-conviction scientific evidence unavailable at the time of trial that contradicts the relevant scientific evidence presented at trial. Robbins then filed a successive habeas petition, and on November 26, 2014 the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted Robbins petition on the basis that with Moore's recantation there was no credible evidence that a crime had even occurred. The Court's ruling stated: "Finally, we find on the preponderance of the evidence that, had this evidence been presented at trial, the applicant would not have been convicted. Moore's original trial testimony was the only evidence presented claiming conclusively that Tristen died as the result of a homicide. The State also emphasized her testimony in its closing statement when arguing to the jury that the applicant caused Tristen's death. It is hard to imagine any reasonable jury's returning a conviction when no one can even say confidently that a murder has been committed." On May 13, 2015 the Court granted the State's motion for a rehearing but on January 27, 2016 the Court reversed itself and ruled that the motion had been improvidently granted. The State declined to retry Robbins. On August 18, 2016 Montgomery County Judge Mike Mayes granted a motion by the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office to dismiss the charges against Robbins, and he was released from custody later that day." |
Conviction Caused By: |
Erroneous expert opinion as to Rivet's cause of death. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"On August 18, 2016 Montgomery County Judge Mike Mayes granted a motion by the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office to dismiss the charges against Robbins, and he was released from custody later that day." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
23 |
Age When Released: |
41 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"Man's conviction in baby's death in 1998 is overturned: Neal Robbins in jail for 17 years, By Phil Archer (Reporter), August 18, 2016" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.click2houston.com/news/charges-against-man-convicted-in-1998-babys-death-dropped |
Information Source 2: |
"Ex parte Robbins, No. WR-73,484-02 (Tex. Court of Criminal Appeals, 1-27-2016) (Affirming grant of Robbins' habeas corpus petition, and denying the State's motion for a rehearing.)" |
Information Location 2: |
"https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=3516720220498770028&q=Neal+Robbins&hl=en&as_sdt=4,44" |
Information Source 3: |
"Ex parte Robbins, 360 SW 3d 446 (Tex. Court of Criminal Appeals 2011) (Denying Robbins' habeas corpus petition.)" |
Information Location 3: |
"https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=13141207315192172183&q=Neal+Robbins&hl=en&as_sdt=4,44" |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org