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Rodney Reed: Innocent on Death Row?
In 1998, Rodney
Reed was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1996 murder of
19-year-old Stacy Stites in Bastrop, Texas. His habeas corpus appeal
has been denied. But there is troubling evidence that Reed is innocent
of this crime. And there was a pattern of police and prosecutorial
misconduct that puts his conviction in doubt:
- Although semen found in
Stites’ body matched Reed’s DNA, witnesses were available to testify
that Reed, a black man, was having an affair with Stites, a white
woman. The jury never heard them. There is no evidence that he killed
her.
- The chain
of evidence was broken for DNA evidence that could have bolstered
Reed’s claim of innocence. Shipping labels that DPS says were used to
ship evidence to California for DNA testing by defense experts do not
match shipping company records. Stites’ body was missing for two hours
on the night of the murder, showing up at the medical examiner’s office
with new bruising.
- DNA that
incriminates other suspects never made it to the defense. DNA evidence
on two beer cans found near Stites’ body match the DNA of Giddings
Police officer David Hall (who had been Fennell’s partner) and Bastrop
Police officer Ed Samela. The defense thinks that the police officers
might have been involved in the murder with Stites’ fiancé, Jimmy
Fennell, Jr., a former Giddings police officer.
- Investigators never
searched the Giddings apartment shared by Fennell and Stites, and
returned Fennell’s pickup truck (which Stites had been driving the day
of the murder) to him before doing a complete forensic analysis.
- Reed had an
incompetent defense lawyer who did not call witnesses who could testify
as to his relationship with Stites or provide Reed with an alibi for
the time of the murder.
How you can help:
Rodney Reed sits on Texas’ death row never having had a fair trial. He
has a strong case for innocence, and strong evidence that police and
prosecutors either bungled his case or framed him deliberately for the
murder. Please consider supporting Reed’s demand for a new trial and
get involved with the Campaign to End the Death Penalty. For more
information, call (512) 494-0667.
Articles on his case:
"Highlights of the Struggle, Austin," November 2002
