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THE US SUPREME Court heard an appeal today from a Texas man on death row who maintains his innocence and whose case has drawn the attention of celebrities, lawmakers and millions of Americans.
The court did not address the merits of Rodney Reed’s case, but debated a narrow technical issue, relating to delays in criminal proceedings.
Its decision, expected before 30 June, will however have a direct impact on the future of the 54-year-old Texan by authorizing the reopening of his case or, on the contrary, his execution by lethal injection.
Reed, an African-American man, was convicted by an all-white jury in 1998 of the rape and murder of Stacey Stites, a 19-year-old white woman.
Traces of his sperm were found on the victim’s body, but Reed insists he is innocent of the 1996 murder and that he and Stites had a secret consensual relationship.
Reed’s supporters believe that evidence gathered after the trial points to another suspect, Stites’s fiance Jimmy Fennell, a disgraced police officer who later served a 10-year prison sentence for a kidnapping and rape committed while on duty.
A fellow inmate says Fennell confessed to him that he had killed Stites because she was sleeping with a black man.
Fennell has denied any involvement in Stites’s murder, but police initially considered him a suspect.
Texas prosecutors claimed during Reed’s trial that he had sexually assaulted several other women before Stites’s murder.
His execution was stayed just five days before it was to be carried out in 2019 following a campaign that included reality star Kim Kardashian, the singers Rihanna and Beyonce, and Texas lawmakers including Republican Senator Ted Cruz.
Two petitions seeking to halt Reed’s execution that circulated on the internet drew more than 3.5 million signatures.
To prove his innocence, Reed asked the Texas authorities in 2014 to conduct new DNA analysis on the murder weapon, a belt that was used to strangle Stites.
His appeals for DNA testing were repeatedly denied by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, so Reed turned to the federal courts.
But they refused to intervene on the grounds the request came too late, after the two-year window allowed to challenge a state court ruling in federal court had closed.
The question before the Supreme Court is, when does the window open?
At the hearing, judges appointed by Democrats seemed to be leaning in his favor.
“Isn’t that the simplest thing just to say (that) the person isn’t harmed until the state process has come to an end and we know for a fact what the state judgment is?” asked justice Elena Kagan.
Conservative justices, who regularly denounce the delaying tactics of death row inmates, did not show their preference.
Judge Samuel Alito merely noted the issue is “case specific and really quite narrow.”
Supporters of Reed gathered in front of the Supreme Court with a large banner proclaiming “Rodney Reed is innocent!”
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I cycled by there this morning – the response from our emergency services was amazing. Especially the fire brigades.
You wouldn’t believe the amount of people stopping to take pictures/videos on their phones.
@Shane Dunne: Sad to hear that somebody has died in this fire.
@Shane Dunne: Totally agree Shane, I witnessed a fire recently. Thankfully nobody was injured but the family lost everything they owned.
A group outside a pub about half a mile away flew a drone over the fire for a good while not knowing if anyone had died or not.
It was very upsetting for the family watching their possessions and home burn.
@Shane Dunne: Even the Journal took one….
I live in a pre-63 house split into flats and if a fire started and spread quickly it would be very hard to get out. I try not to think about it too much. RIP
@Lisa Saputo: All due respect etc, but why did you choose to live there?
@Neal Ireland Hello.: what a silly question ?
@Margaret Murphy: it’s not really. If it’s a worry then why do it.
@Lisa Saputo: Contrary to the two other replies,some of us have little other choice than to rent where we can afford,with a view to buying in the future. It’s foolish for anyone to tell you to move,perhaps you could use this as an example for your landlord (if any) to review the property.Failing that you can contact you local council’s environmental department to assess your letting if you have a concern that it does not meet minimum standards. If you live in Dublin you literally just contact DCC Environmental and they will advise you further,I have used them once before and could not recommend them enough.
@Neal Ireland Hello.: maybe she has no choice. Maybe it’s a choice between that and living on the street. The rental market is insane at the moment.
@Neal Ireland Hello.: its obvious Neal she likes to live on the edge.
What a pathetic question.
@Vincent: I would imagine the views are spectacular, why would think Vincent.
@Lisa Saputo: make sure you have a working fire alarm system that is properly maintained. Also make sure the emergency lighting is functioning and regularly serviced.
@Neal Ireland Hello.: As dignified as always, take a bow.
@Neal Ireland Hello.: Suppose it was there fault for choosing to live there?
@Neal Ireland Hello.: All due respect etc, but why did you choose to ask such a stupid question?
@Vincent: it is really.
@WinSomeLoseSome: the only stupid question is the one not asked. I wouldn’t live somewhere if I thought it represented a serious risk to my safety/life.
@Tony Carberry: ah didn’t you know you can just ‘get a better job’ and live in an tower of ivory looking down on the peasents ?
@Tony Carberry: ah didn’t you know you can just ‘get a better job’ and live in an tower of ivory looking down on the peasents ?
@Neal Ireland Hello.: Budget at the time of moving in, and now we are trying to save for our deposit so options are limited unless we want to rent for the rest of our lives.
@Conor Doran: In fairness to my landlord, that all works quite well so would probably be fine but the building is the same type as the one in Rathmines.
Just heard there was a fatality. Sad news rip
This was in Grove Park,not Grove Road,I live a few doors down. The quality of the living spaces on this road vary dramatically from house to house. I hope the fire alarm wasn’t just some bog standard smoke alarm in each flat,there needs to be a proper multi unit system. Such a sad thing to happen to these people. RIP to the person who lost their life.
@Tony Carberry: Was on vieweing there for some attic room years ago. Didn’t suit me as I wanted space for my bike and there was no option to bring it there because stars too narrow. It was extremely claustrophobic place, wouldn’t image if fire occurs at bottom level – the only run was a roof probably..
Just looking at the arrangement of the outside waste pipes, gives one a few hints.
Back in the 1970s I shared a bedsitter with a friend of mine in that area for short while. I never even thought of a smoke alarm. I don’t think there was any such thing. So sorry for the man who lost his life. RIP.
And the government is considering allowing substandard bedsit accommodation as one of its solutions to the housing emergency.
I heard from my own landlord that it was said to have been a hair straightener that caused the fire on the second floor. It might be a rumour but that’s what I was told today when I asked for a full review of our fire alarm to be done this week. We are still very shocked by this incident on our road.
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