Convicted Murderer Won't Get New Trial...

The medical examiner changed her opinion on the cause of a toddler's death, but the Supreme Court won't consider giving the man convicted in the child's death a new trial. The high court today refused, without comment, to hear an appeal from Neil Hampton Robbins, convicted in the death of 17-month-old Tristen Skye Rivet, who died on May 12, 1998. At the trial, Dr. Patricia Moore testified that Tristen's death was a homicide caused by asphyxia. But Moore later changed her opinion and said the cause of death was undetermined.

Robbins asked for a new trial, but the Texas Court of Criminal Appeal refused, saying there is no conclusive evidence of Robbins' innocence and that it wasn't proven that the state purposefully used false testimony. (More Texas Court of Criminal Appeals stories.)