FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Giant valentine delivered to Abbott asks “Have a Heart. Stop the Execution”
Supporters of death row prisoner Rodney Reed ask for clemency
February 14, Austin, Texas: This Valentine’s Day, supporters of Texas death row prisoner Rodney Reed will deliver a valentine to Gov. Greg Abbott asking him to stop Rodney’s execution, scheduled for March 5, 2015. Members of the Austin community, including Rev. Tom VandeStadt, will deliver a giant valentine to the Governor’s Mansion at 1:00PM reading “Have a Heart. Stop the Execution”.
Supporters will ‘spread the love’ by surrounding the mansion with smaller valentines collected from Rodney’s friends around Texas, the US, and the world. Each one represents a plea for Gov. Abbott and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to grant clemency to Rodney, stop the execution, and allow DNA testing of crucial crime scene items– including the murder weapon—for the first time. In an appeal directly to Gov. Abbott, Rodney’s mother, Sandra Reed, said, “We just want the DNA tested. We want the truth. That’s all we’re asking.”
Rodney Reed has been on Texas death row since 1998. He was convicted of the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites in Bastrop, TX. In the years since, evidence has been uncovered that points to Stacey’s fiancée, Jimmy Fennell, Jr. as the true killer. At the time of Stacey’s murder, Fennell was a police officer in Giddings. In 2008, after his transfer to the Georgetown Police Department, Fennell was sentenced to ten years in prison for “kidnapping and improper sexual contact with a person in custody” when he sexually assaulted a woman in his custody at gunpoint.
There is no DNA evidence linking Rodney to the murder besides semen inside Stacey’s body, evidence of the affair the two were having. Reed’s supporters are asking for the Texas courts to allow DNA testing of crucial items found at the crime scene, including the belt used to strangle Stacey. Although in police custody for the past 15 years, these pieces have never been tested. “Frankly, what we’re asking for is, I think, a pretty conservative thing,” says Bryce Benjet, Rodney’s attorney with The Innocence Project. “To do DNA testing of evidence before you execute someone.”
If conducted, these tests could very well prove Rodney’s innocence. New laws expanding access to DNA testing in Texas were passed 2011 and 2013, addressing the importance of both pre- and post-conviction DNA testing. Notable recent exonerations due to DNA testing include Michael Morton and Anthony Graves.
In 2013, Abbott, who was then Attorney General, supported a bill for pre-conviction DNA testing, saying, “Texans may disagree about the death penalty, but one thing all Texans can and should agree upon is that no innocent person should be executed in Texas.” Says Lily Hughes, Austin resident and National Director of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty, “We want Gov. Abbott to stand by those words. He should show compassion and make sure another innocent person isn’t executed in Texas. All the evidence must be heard and tested”
Free Rodney Reed! 
Rodney Reed deserves a fair trial. Please don’t put a innocent man to death.
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Governor Abbot, you have been given all of the evidence needed that proves the innocence of Rodney Reed. Right is Right and Wrong is Wrong. No one should ever be committed of something they didn’t do. And when there is a chance to make correction, corrections need to be made. The death penalty and any other punishment that may try to be inflicted on this innocent man should be STOPPED. You have the opportunity to save someone’s life no matter what skin color he is. You Mr. Abbott have the chance to make things right. Though you can’t give Mr. Reed the years he has lost due to an outrageous verdict, you can give him his life back. My mom and grandparents always told me to treat people the way you would want to be treated. So I’m asking/pleading that you treat this case the same way you would want it to go if You were convicted of something you didn’t do; and people were doing everything they can to help you out of the situation. It is my hope and prayer that you do everything in your power to stop this execution. God does give people the heart to do whats right. Please do the right thing..
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Dear Mister Abott
As you, I’m a Catholic woman and Mother. As you, I know, God is Love, he don’t know punisment, that’s only a bad and wrong doing of human beings. Do you remember Jesus, who asked all the men, who wanted to throw the stones against the woman? He told them, “who is without mistakes, shall throw the first stone.” -As you know, all of then did leave the place, because none of us is without mistakes. I see you like Jesus, you are careful and ask the people, who is without Mistakes, shall kill that man, Mr.Reed. Jesus knew, that we all are on this planet, to learn, to become a good man, but also to ask ourselves, when someone is doing wrong, do we have the right, to punish him and do the same or even the worst thing, to kill a part of God’s children? We all are equal. Do think about your responsibility as Governor, you have first before God, as you did swear, but also before all people. Mr. Reed is our brother of which they say, he’s innocent. Be careful for Mr. Reed, but most of all, be careful with yourself in your decisions. Please don’t kill an innocent man, but free him. Do it for your soul, remember, God is love for and in all of us. Be blessed, my dear Brother. In a next life we will meet us. Rosmarie Lehner
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