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THE TOP CRIMINAL appeals court in Texas has halted the scheduled execution of inmate Rodney Reed, whose conviction is being questioned by new evidence that his supporters say raises serious doubt about his guilt.
The stay of execution by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals came just hours after the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles had recommended delaying the lethal injection.
The 51-year-old Reed had been set for lethal injection on Wednesday evening for the 1996 killing of 19-year-old Stacey Stites.
Prosecutors say Reed raped and strangled Stites as she made her way to work at a supermarket in Bastrop, a rural community about 50 kilometers south-east of Austin, Texas.
Reed’s efforts to stop his execution have received support from such celebrities as Beyoncé, Kim Kardashian and Oprah Winfrey.
Lawmakers from both parties, including Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz, have also asked that officials take a closer look at the evidence in the case.
‘Extremely thankful’
In its four-page order, the appeals court said Reed’s case should be returned to the trial court in Bastrop County so it could examine his claims that he is innocent and that prosecutors suppressed evidence and presented false testimony.
Bryce Benjet, an attorney with the Innocence Project, which is representing Reed, said defence lawyers were “extremely relieved and thankful” to the appeals court.
“This opportunity will allow for proper consideration of the powerful and mounting new evidence of Mr Reed’s innocence,” Benjet said in a statement.
The Texas Attorney General’s Office declined to comment yesterday on whether it would appeal the order staying Reed’s execution.
Earlier Friday, the parole board had unanimously recommended a 120-day reprieve for Reed. The board rejected Reed’s request to commute his sentence to life in prison.
The parole board’s decision was to go next to Governor Greg Abbott, who hasn’t said whether he would accept or reject it or do nothing.
The stay likely makes Abbott’s decision moot. Since taking office in 2015, Abbott has halted only one imminent execution, in 2018.
Since Texas resumed executions in 1982, only three death row inmates have had their sentences commuted to life in prison by a governor within days of their scheduled executions.
Appeals pending
Reed has other appeals pending, including with the US Supreme Court.
His supporters have held rallies, including an overnight vigil on Thursday in front of the Supreme Court in Washington DC. It was unclear if a rally planned for tomorrow in front of the Texas governor’s mansion would still take place.
Reed has long maintained he didn’t kill Stites and that her fiance, former police officer Jimmy Fennell, was the real killer. Reed says Fennell was angry because Stites, who was white, was having an affair with Reed, who is black.
Fennell’s attorney has said his client didn’t kill Stites. Fennell was paroled last year after serving time in prison for sexual assault.
In their most recent motion to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Reed’s lawyers alleged prosecutors suppressed evidence or presented false evidence related to Fennell.
Prosecutors say Reed’s semen was found in the victim, his claims of an affair with Stites were not proven at trial, Fennell was cleared as a suspect and Reed had a history of committing other sexual assaults.
Reed’s lawyers say his conviction was based on flawed evidence. They have denied the other sexual assault accusations made by prosecutors.
Reed’s attorneys filed a federal lawsuit in August to compel DNA testing of crime scene evidence, including the believed murder weapon. His lawyers say the testing, which has been fought for years by prosecutors, could identify someone else as the murderer. The lawsuit is still pending.
In recent weeks, Reed’s attorneys have presented affidavits in support of his claims of innocence, including one by a former inmate who claims Fennell bragged about killing Stites and referred to Reed by a racial slur.
Reed’s lawyers say other recent affidavits corroborate the relationship between Stites and Reed and show Fennell was violent and aggressive toward her.
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Anyone who sees stuff like this and still believes in a death penalty is loopy.
The legal system in any country is not just imperfect, but *often* wrong. Having a system that allows state-sanctioned murder will ALWAYS kill innocent people, and even one innocent put to death is too grave a miscarriage of justice to maintain such a barbaric system.
@ihcalaM: In fairness, removing the death penalty will just result in the same innocent people bring locked up for life in a high security prison. In the US I know which option I’d prefer
@ihcalaM: and legal systems can also be skewed depending on how much money you have for your legal team
@ihcalaM: @ihcalaM: im in favour of the death penalty for pedophiles. If DNA evidence is present there can be no doubt of the person’s guilt. Time money and resources would be saved and a sentence of death may help to dissuade these people as apparently prison sentences are not.
@Alan Seag: himAlan, can you link to any evidence which demonstrates that capital punishment is an effective deterrent to paedophiles please? Thanks very much.
@James Brady: very effective in ensuring they don’t re-offend
@Alan Seag: “If DNA evidence is present there can be no doubt”
Utter rubbish, I’m afraid. DNA evidence is amazing but no technique will ever provide 100% certainty, human error in sample collection and fraud on the part of police departments/suspects are always potential confounding factors.
@Alan Seag: “Time and money will be saved”
No, death penalty cases take an outrageous amount of money to prosecute, and often cost more than locking someone up for the remainder of their natural life.
@ihcalaM: Oba Chandler would have been delighted had you been on his defense team
Too late unfortunately
@ihcalaM: Often? Wise up!
America is so backward. The rest of the civilised world ended legal execution decades ago.
@bopter: You are being sarcastic hopefully.
@bopter: should be reintroduced for paedos
@Roverandout: 100%, in you go now for your injection! Bye now.
@bopter: You actually believe USA is most backward? Get a grip you fool.
@bopter: except for babies in the womb, that is.
@Roverandout: cut their knobs off and force feed it to them first, then a nice tight rope…. injection is too easy for them.
Amazing that it seems the vast majority on death row are African American
@Digdeepradioucc: and innocent
@Digdeepradioucc: statistically in USA they account for 10% of the population but 50% of the crimes. Perhaps if they didn’t commit crimes they wouldn’t be in jail.
@The Upside-down Triangle: statistically “they”, the demographic of which you speak, perhaps if not subjected to social outcasting then less crimes would be committed.
@The Upside-down Triangle: when you say 50% of crime do you mean charges or convictions? Are you taking into consideration plea deals? Are you using the 100% proven fact that a black man and a similarly situated white man convicted of comparable crimes will have very different outcomes?
@Digdeepradioucc: No genius it is not at all amazing. If you had any clue, any knowledge whatsoever, you could not possibly make such a stupid statement. Please learn before you spout such silly statements.
The same thing is happening in Ireland everyday
@John Murt: eh no.
@Fr Romeo sensini.: Eh ya
@John Murt: what same thing? State executions? Executions being halted? Rape? I have no idea what you mean
@Conoroconnor: innocent men going to jail everyday in Ireland
@John Murt: change yours meds bud or get yourself a tinfoil hat
@John Murt: Put up the evidence??? Or you’re just spouting nonsense.
@SteoG: spouting obviously,
@John Murt: No, Ireland uses DNA testing. Can’t figure out why a wealthy North American state wouldn’t avail of it in the interest of justice. It is almost as if they have a scapegoat for a crime and it’s easier to roll over him than amend anything.
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