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Rodney Reed has been on Texas death row since 1998. He was convicted of killing Bastrop woman Stacey Stites in 1996. In 2005, a new evidentiary hearing in front of the Bastrop trial judge was ordered by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. In March of 2006, Judge Reva Towslee-Corbett (daughter of the original trial judge) heard testimony from several witnesses which linked Stacey's fiancée and former police officer Jimmy Fennell to the crime. The defense also showed how some of this eyewitness testimony was hidden from the defense at the time of trial. However, the judge declined to recommend that the CCA grant a new trial. In 2008, the CCA ruled to deny relief, sending the case back into the federal courts. Hidden eyewitness evidence is not the only problem in this case.

Rodney Fact Sheet.pdf

Louis Castro Perez has been on Texas’ death row since 1999 for the 1998 murders of Cynda Barz, Stacy Mitchell, and Michelle Fulweiler. Louis was convicted based on his DNA being found at the crime scene.  The presence of his DNA is explained by the fact that he was a guest in the home and likely interrupted the crime in progress. There were also several samples of foreign DNA and foreign fingerprints found at the scene that were never tested, and no attempt was made to match the foreign DNA to another suspect.  Like so many who languish on death row, Louis is the victim of a sinister combination of prosecutorial misconduct and crime lab incompetence.

LOUSFS2.pdf

On the night of December 4th, 2000 Rob and a friend were stealing parts from a parked car in a residential Houston area. Two police officers spotted them and Rob and his friend fled,  while the officers chased after them.  Deputy Barrett Hill caught and apprehended Rob,  put him in handcuffs and radioed in, “I have one in custody”.  Moments later, Rob's friend arrived at the scene of the arrest, pulled his weapon and shot Deputy Hill several times, killing him. During the shooting, Rob was also shot in the hand.

Kenny Collins is on Maryland’s death row. He claims he is innocent. No physical evidence, eye-witnesses, nor confession links Kenny Collins to the crime.

Kenny Collins is on Maryland’s death row. He claims he is innocent. You decide:

No physical evidence, eye-witnesses, nor confession links Kenny Collins to the crime. Kenny Collins has always maintained his innocence and continues to do so to this day. Kenny’s conviction depended upon the testimony of three unreliable prosecution witnesses.

Thomas Arthur has been on Alabama’s death row for 30 years. He was convicted of killing Troy Wicker in 1982, but has always maintained his innocence.  Recently, a federal appeals court stayed Arthur’s March 29 execution on a lethal injection technicality – but that stay could be lifted at any time.

The real question remains however; will Thomas Arthur be executed in Alabama without being allowed to have DNA testing that could prove his innocence?