Join us on Saturday, November 9, 2019 in Austin, Texas. We need as many folks as possible to come to Austin and demand that Governor Abbott and the State of Texas STOP THE EXECUTION of Rodney Reed! We are inviting folks from all around Texas and the country to join us to demand justice for Rodney Reed and Stacey Stites. Please mark your calendars and spread the word!
Speakers will include: Rodrick Reed – Brother of Rodney Reed Sandra Reed – Mother of Rodney Reed Heather Campbell Stobbs – cousin of Stacey Stites Shaun King – Writer and national Black Lives Matter activist and co-founder of Real Justice PAC Lee Merritt – National civil rights attorney who focuses on cases of police brutality, hate crimes, and corporate discrimination Rep. Vikki Goodwin – Texas House Member, District 47 Mark Clements – Former juvenile Life Without Parole prisoner from Illinois Shujaa Graham – exonerated death row prisoner from California Juan Melendez – exonerated death row prisoner from Florida Robert Muhammad – Leader of Austin Nation of Islam Mike Siegel – Congressional candidate for Texas district 10 Kevin Gannon – Retired NYPD detective from A&E’S Dead Again Deke Pierce – Candidate for Travis County Constable, Precinct 2 Reverend Byron Green – Pastor at Mount Carmel Baptist Church in Elgin, TX Delia Perez Meyer – sister of TX death row prisoner Louis Castro Perez
A mountain of evidence shows Reed’s innocence; new sworn testimony further implicates victim’s fiancé in the murder
Sandra Reed, the mother of death row inmate Rodney Reed, shows her continued support of her son by carrying this placard around the parking lot during a break in a hearing in Bastrop County District Court. (Ralph Barrera/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
(Bastrop, TX – October 21, 2019) Today, Rodney Reed, who is set to be executed on November 20, 2019, for a crime he did not commit, called upon Texas Governor Greg Abbott to exercise his authority to grant a 30-day reprieve to spare Reed’s life. The letter to Gov. Abbott, sent by Reed’s attorneys with the Innocence Project, also asks the governor to order the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to investigate whether a commutation of Reed’s death sentence should be granted in light of the mounting evidence pointing to his innocence. Reed has been on death row for over 21 years.
In the decades since Rodney Reed’s conviction and death sentence for the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites, ample evidence has not only contradicted every aspect of the state’s case against him, but also strongly implicated Stites’ then-fiancé, Jimmy Fennell, who was both a local police officer and a suspect in the murder at the time.
Mr. Reed did not sexually assault or murder Stacey Stites that night in 1996.
“It is clear to anyone who looks at the evidence in this case that, quite simply, Mr. Reed did not sexually assault or murder Stacey Stites that night in 1996,” says Bryce Benjet, a senior staff attorney at the Innocence Project. “Medical and scientific evidence confirm this and multiple new and credible witnesses not only confirm Reed’s intimate relationship with Stites, but also implicate Fennell in her murder. If the great state of Texas puts Mr. Reed to death, it will be a miscarriage of justice that will destroy even more innocent lives in this case and do irreparable damage to public confidence in the accuracy and fairness of the criminal justice system in Texas.”
In the past few weeks, a substantial amount of new information demonstrating Reed’s innocence has come to light. Three new witnesses, who knew Fennell at the time of Stites’ murder, have come forward with information corroborating the already substantial evidence of Reed’s innocence and establishing a violation of due process. In order to further investigate this newly discovered evidence, the withdrawal of the impending execution date is required under the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure.
Most recently, an affidavit providing sworn testimony from former Bastrop Sheriff’s Officer Charles Wayne Fletcher, a colleague and friend of Fennell at the time of Stites’ murder, establishes motives of both racial animus and revenge for Fennell against Stites. Fennell, who was an early suspect in the Stites’ rape and murder, later pleaded guilty to kidnapping and sex charges after he was indicted for abducting and raping a different woman who he encountered while on-duty as a Georgetown police officer.
“I was so disturbed by his behavior that it caused me to question whether he was involved in Stacey’s death.”
In the new affidavit, Fletcher describes the deteriorating relationship between Fennell and Stites in March 1996 and recalls that Fennell made a disturbing and bigoted statement that Stites was having an affair: “… I remember clearly that Jimmy said that he believed Stacey was ‘f***ing a n*****’.” It also notes Fennell’s “odd, emotionless behavior” at Stites’ funeral and burial services. “I was so disturbed by his behavior that it caused me to question whether he was involved in Stacey’s death,” Fletcher’s affidavit states. “I also chose to have no further interaction or communication with him.”
Fletcher’s statement comes on the heels of two other new affidavits implicating Fennell in the murder: one from an insurance salesperson who stated that Fennell threatened to kill Stites while applying for life insurance, and the other from Jim Clampit, a deputy in the Lee County Sheriff’s Office at the time of the murder, to whom Fennell made an alarming and inculpatory statement at Stites’ funeral regarding Stites’ body. This new evidence could not have been discovered or presented in any of Reed’s prior pleadings and supports his actual innocence.
“After watching the movie I opened up my computer & opened up my email about a case I had recently been investigating, @FreeRodneyReed. I have been hearing about him and his story for the last week. On Nov. 20, Texas will execute Rodney Reed. I believe he is innocent.” Kim Kardashian West✔@KimKardashian
Previously, Stites’ cousin has affirmed that Reed and Stites were romantically involved, while Fennell’s best friend at the time, Bastrop Sheriff’s officer, Curtis Davis, has revealed that Fennell gave an inconsistent account of where he was on the night of the murder.
Forensic experts who implicated Reed at trial have recanted their opinions, and leading forensic pathologists have since concluded that the state’s theory of Reed’s guilt is medically and scientifically impossible. Despite overwhelming evidence of Reed’s innocence, Texas courts have consistently refused to consider the forensic evidence proving Reed did not commit the crime and denied access to DNA testing that can confirm Fennell’s guilt.
Especially in light of the new evidence that has continued to emerge, a reprieve will afford the Board of Pardons and Paroles the time it needs to fully investigate this voluminous and compelling case and provide recommendations to the governor that are the product of a thorough and orderly process.
Reed’s call for justice, commutation and exoneration has recently been taken up by high-profile individuals, including Dr. Phil McGraw, Kim Kardashian West and Mark Cuban. This month, Dr. Phil featured Reed’s case on his television show. Dr. Cyril Wecht, a forensic pathologist who has examined Stites’ autopsy report, insisted, “without hesitation, that this is one of the clearest, unequivocal cases of gross misjudgment – of a travesty of justice – that I’ve ever seen.”
Reed is represented by Innocent Project Senior Staff Attorney Bryce Benjet and Andrew MacRae of Levatino Pace PLLC. The Innocence Project, founded in 1992 by Peter Neufeld and Barry Scheck at Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University, exonerates the wrongly convicted through DNA testing and reforms the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice.
“With execution just weeks away, Dr. Phil stepped inside the Livingston, Texas prison to interview Reed. #DrPhil“ Dr. Phil✔@DrPhil
October 18, 2019 Updated October 22, 2019 with photos
Supporters of death row inmateRodney Reedplan to rally at the Texas Capitol on Saturday in hopes of stopping Reed’s scheduled execution next month.
They are expected to gather at the south steps of the Capitol at 2 p.m. for the20th Annual March to Abolish the Death Penaltyevent, where Reed’s mother and brother — Sandra Reed and Rodrick Reed — plan to speak about their fight to prove Reed’s innocence in the 1996 strangulation of 19-year-old Stacey Stites in Bastrop County.
Scott Cobb, president of the Texas Moratorium Network, an anti-death penalty nonprofit, said rally organizers expect to see an increase in attendees after Reed’s case received national attention this monthon the “Dr. Phil” talk show. About 50 marchers have attended the event in recent years, according to Cobb.
“We hope that when people hear from Sandra and Rodrick that it will continue to educate people about the risk that an innocent person is on death row,” Cobb said. “Texas has continued to lead the country in capital punishment. It’s a really compelling issue, especially for families like Rodney Reed’s.”
Reed, along with his family, has maintained his innocence in Stites’ death. Police say Reed assaulted, raped and strangled Stites to death while Reed, however, says he and Stites had a consensual affair.
Two new witnesseswere brought forward by Reed’s attorneys this month in a final attempt to halt the execution set for Nov. 20. Both witnesses claim to have known Stites’ fiancéJimmy Fennell,who was a suspect until investigators found Reed’s DNA in her body.
A motion filed this monthin Bastrop County District Court by Reed’s attorneys says the witness accounts blame Fennell.
Sandra Reed speaks at the 20th Annual March to Abolish the Death Penalty. Photo by Texas Moratorium Network Rodrick Reed out the Governor’s Mansion. Photo by Texas Moratorium Network Print copy of coverage in the Austin American Statesman. Protesters march down Congress Ave. in the 20th Annual March to Abolish the Death Penalty. Photo by Texas Moratorium Network
AUSTIN — Gov. Greg Abbott, A man’s life now lies in your hands. Spare him.
On Nov. 20, Rodney Reed is to be executed by the state of Texas for a crime we can no longer be confident he committed. Twenty one years ago, he was convicted in the 1996 rape and murder of 19-year old Giddings resident Stacey Stites. Ever since, evidence has mounted that Reed neither raped nor killed her. Now, his defense claims it has new witnesses pointing to the man who did.
Photo by Ralph Barrera / Austin American-Statesman
Reed, 51, is scheduled to die. Of this, there is no doubt. Nor of this: Stites was strangled and killed on April 23, 1996, her body found on a country road in neighboring Bastrop County. Reed became a suspect a year later when another woman accused him of sexual assault; the prosecution showed semen found on both women belonged to Reed.
Reed maintained that was because he and Stites, engaged to Giddings police officer Jimmy Fennell, Jr., had been having an affair, but the jury convicted him anyway.
Over time, facts have emerged that were never part of Reed’s trial and as a result, the prosecution’s case has fallen apart.
The medical examiner who claimed that Reed raped Stites has recanted. DNA evidence that pointed to Stites’ fiance was never shared with Reed’s defense. Other physical evidence, including the murder weapon — her belt — was never subjected to genetic testing. Now, Reed’s defense at the Innocence Project claims it has new evidence, including two signed affadavits from individuals who knew Fennell. One says he threatened to kill Stites if he ever caught her with another man, and another says he heard Fennell tell her corpse at the viewing that she had deserved to die.
On Oct. 4, lawyers for the Innocence Project filed a motion in state court to have the execution date withdrawn, citing the new evidence that they say was not available at trial.
All along, the state courts have denied Reed’s one repeated request: that evidence collected where Stites’ body was found be genetically tested. Just two years ago, Fennell’s old boss, Giddings’ former chief of police, told CNN that Fennell had confessed to being out later than he’d said at trial and that he’d been drinking the night before his fiance’s body was discovered, too.
Of course, Fennell’s guilt is not the urgent question right now. It’s Reed’s life that hangs in the balance.
His guilt is not remotely beyond a reasonable doubt. A man should not die as long as a believable question of innocence hangs over him.
Which brings us to you, governor.
The case of Rodney Reed is not a case against the death penalty, which still has the support of many in this law-and-order state. It is a case against a potentially wrongful execution.
Your predecessor, Rick Perry, stood by during the frequent executions of his tenure. On Perry’s watch, 279 inmates were put to death — nearly half of the state’s total since Texas resumed executions in 1982. While on your watch, Governor Abbott, 46 people have been executed, you have also already done something Perry rarely did: You’ve exercised discretion to stop an execution.
Minutes before Thomas Whitaker was set to die, at 6 p.m. on Feb. 22, 2018, you granted him clemency. He will spend life in prison for the murder of his mother and brother in Fort Bend County over an inheritance. There was no question of Whitaker’s guilt, just whether it was fair to put him to death when the triggerman got a lighter sentence.
How much more compelling, then, is Reed’s case: Whitaker, who is white, was unquestionably guilty; Reed, who is black, may well be innocent. Study after study, including work by University of Michigan researchers, has found that black and Latino convicts are far more likely to wind up on death row, wrongfully, than white convicts.
Now the case rests beforethe Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and it may soon send you a recommendation in Reed’s case. But you can signal your own preference now. You aren’t bound by arcane rules of the appellate courts. Both you and the board have the documented flaws in the case. You have the Bastrop County prosecutor steadfastly refusing DNA testing on an old murder. You have the fact that Reed has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court. And even if the board doesn’t recommend you commute his sentence, you have the authority to spare his life for 30 days as he pursues his remedy at the Supreme Court.
You should use that authority and give the courts time to fully evaluate the new evidence.
As you mull your options, remember our history: Texas has a tarnished record of convicting and executing the wrong people. In 1863, San Patricio County hanged Chipita Rodriquez for a murder she did not commit, as made clear 120 years later when the state legislature absolved her. In 2000, Claude Jones was put to death because a single strand of his hair was found at a liquor store that had been the scene of a robbery-turned-murder. A decade later, researchers tested that hair and found it very likely came from someone else.
There are many recent cases of wrongful convictions leading to death row in Texas. Since 1987, 13 death row prisoners in Texas have been exonerated. Most were not white, according to data kept by the Innocence Project. False accusations and official misconduct have been at the root of most exonerations in the United States. Right now, though, Rodney Reed is scheduled to be executed at 6 p.m. on Nov. 20 in Huntsville.
There is so much wrong with his case there is hardly anything right with it. Do not execute this man, governor. Spare Rodney Reed’s life.
Rodney Reed,who maintains his innocence, has been on death row for the past 21 years for the murder of Stacey Stites in Bastrop, Texas. Since his trial, there is substantial evidence that exonerates Reed and implicates Stites’ fiancé Jimmy Fennell, a local police officer. Reed is scheduled for execution on November 20, 2019, despite an enormous amount of evidence that supports his innocence.
Here are key facts you should know about his case:
The murder weapon has never been tested for DNA evidence.Requests for DNA testing of crime scene evidence, including a belt that was used as the murder weapon has been repeatedly denied by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. In 2018, the United States Supreme Court declined to directly review the Texas courts’ denial of DNA testing
The state’s three forensic experts have admitted on the record to errors in their testimony, which led to Reed’s conviction and death sentence. The three forensic experts from Reed’s original trial have submitted affidavits that the original time of death is inaccurate, which makes the timeline for Reed killing Stites implausible.
Renown forensic pathologists including Michael Baden, M.D., Werner Spitz, M.D., LeRoy Riddick, M.D., andCyril Wecht, M.D. have all concluded that Reed’s guilt is medically and scientifically impossible.The prosecution’s only forensic evidence linking Reed to the crime was semen taken from Stites’s body, which was attributed to the consensual relationship between them. The prosecution used this to connect him to the murder and refute this consensual romantic relationship, butsupporting testimonyhas since been recanted and completely discredits the state’s case.
Rodney Reed and Stacey Stites were having a consensual sexual relationship.At the time of the trial, no one came forward to corroborate their relationship. Today, new witnesses including Stites’s own cousin and co-worker have corroborated Reed’s claim that they knew that Reed and Stites were romantically involved.
For months after the murder, Jimmy Fennell was the prime suspect in the case. A recording of one of thepolice investigators indicates that Fennell was suspectedin the murder of Stites, motivated by her relationship with another man.
Fennell’s best friend at the time of the crime, Bastrop Sheriff’s Officer Curtis Davis, has now revealed that Fennell gave an inconsistent account of where he was on the night of the murder.Fennell had told his friendhe was out drinking on the night Stites was murdered. Contradicting this claim, he later stated he was with Stites in their apartment during what we now know was the actual time of her death, based on Dr. Michael Baden’s updated testimony. When asked to explain this discrepancy, Fennell declined to testify because his answers might further incriminate him.
Two witnesses have come forward in recent weeks and submitted signed affidavits that add to the mounting evidence against Jimmy Fennell.These affidavits include testimonyfrom an insurance salesperson who stated that Fennell threatened to kill Stites while applying for life insurance. The second witness was a Deputy in the Lee County Sheriff’s Office at the time of the murder, who Fennell made an alarming and incriminating statement to at Stites’s funeral regarding her body.
Fennell later served a10-year prison termfor a sex crime and kidnapping. Law enforcement records also document a pattern of violence against women perpetrated by Fennell.
Rodney will appear in a special two-part episode of The Dr. Phil Show on October 10 and 11. Check your local listings for channel and time. Many thanks to Dr. Phil and his crew for traveling to the Death Row in Livingston, Texas, to interview Rodney!
Austin’s KXAN reports that Rodney’s lawyers filed a motion this Friday requesting a withdrawal of Rodney’s execution date, citing new evidence.
picture by Blaine Young for the Daily Texan
“According to The Innocence Project, two new witnesses have come forward with information they say supports the idea that Reed is innocent of the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites in Bastrop. They say the new witnesses provide evidence connecting Stites’ former fiancé Jimmy Fennel to her murder.
The first witness is a life insurance salesperson who claimed Fennell threatened to kill Stites while she was applying for life insurance.
The salesperson said his company would frequently rent out lodge halls for events and would hire outside security. He said Fennel was often part of the hired security teams. The man said he met Stites on several occasions when Fennell would work security. The witness claims while filling out a life insurance application Stites made a joke about not needing life insurance because she was so young, to which Fennell replied, “If I ever catch you messing around on me I will kill you and no one will ever know it was me who killed you.”
The witness said he attempted to contact Reed’s lawyers in the early 2000s about his experience with Fennell, but was not able to get in contact with the right people. He claimed he did not come forward earlier because he thought Reed was going to be exonerated.
In 2015 after seeing continuing media coverage about Reed’s execution date the witness said he sent letters to both Gov. Greg Abbott and Texas AG Ken Paxton about his interaction with Fennell. He said he also wrote a similar letter to Judge Doug Shaver, who presided over Reed’s case.
The second witness is a Lee County sheriff’s deputy who said Fennell made an alarming statement at Stites’ funeral. The deputy claims during the service for Stites after her murder he was in the viewing room with Fennell. He said he distinctly remembers Fennell looking at Stites’ body in her casket and saying “you got what you deserved.”
The deputy claims in the affidavit he would frequently think about what he heard Fennell say, and said he would not be able to live with himself if he did not come forward.
The Innocence Project claims the new evidence shows a violation of Due Process under the 1963 Supreme Court Case Brady v. Maryland, since it could not have been discovered or presented in Reed’s previous pleadings.
Reed’s legal team has reached out to the Bastrop County District Court to withdraw Reed’s Nov. 20 execution date so the new evidence can fully be investigated.”
Free Rodney Reed! 