GIST: "I’ve been summoned for jury duty only five times in more than five decades of eligibility. While I would have welcomed the experience, I’ve never been selected. The closest I came was a drug case a decade ago. The prosecutor noted my journalism background and excused me. Later, I sought him out and asked why. “You people (journalists) ask too many questions,” he answered. This was the trial of a man facing prison and the prosecutor’s concern was that a juror might ask questions. I recalled that incident recently while reviewing materials about Rodney Reed, who has been on death row since 1998 for a murder he insists he didn’t commit. As of Tuesday, he is to be executed on Nov. 20, despite evidence that casts serious doubt about his guilt. Reed was convicted of killing 19-year-old Stacey Stites and dumping her body near a rural Bastrop County road in 1996. If I had been on that jury, I would have had questions. For example, how was Reed able to commit the murder? Prosecutors theorized that Reed, a stranger on foot, somehow got Stites to stop the truck she was driving from her Giddings apartment to the Bastrop H-E-B for her 3:30 a.m. work shift. In the middle of the night he was able to stop, sexually assault and murder her, dump her body, drive the truck to where it was found near Bastrop High School, and go home unseen. Reed was convicted based on his DNA being found inside Stites. No other evidence, including fingerprints, linked him to the murder. So, Reed was careful to avoid leaving fingerprints but not his DNA? He acknowledged having an ongoing affair with Stites, which accounted for the DNA. It seems to me Reed never had a chance. He is a black man accused of murdering a pretty, young white woman in a trial by an all-white jury in a rural Texas county. The trial was fast-tracked, leaving Reed’s court-appointed defense inadequate time to prepare. Prosecutors were less than forthcoming. The criminal investigation was less than stellar. For one thing, investigators reportedly didn’t search the apartment where Stites was last seen alive. Stites shared the apartment with her fiancé Jimmy Fennell, then a Giddings police officer. I often have heard police investigators say that if a woman gets murdered, the first suspect is a husband or boyfriend. Initially, Fennell was a suspect. In fact, he reportedly failed two polygraph tests and gave differing accounts of his whereabouts the night of the murder. Subsequently, the nonprofit Innocence Project, which seeks to exonerate people believed to be wrongfully convicted, took Reed’s case. New witnesses came forward to confirm that Reed and Stites were romantically involved. The state’s expert witnesses, who provided technical testimony crucial to the prosecution about her time of death, recanted testimony. Independent national experts who reviewed the case concluded that Stites was murdered hours before prosecutors said she was – putting her in her apartment with Fennell. Meanwhile, defense attorneys say the state has refused requests to conduct DNA tests on evidence that Reed thinks could clear him, including a belt believed used to strangle Stites.
The Death Penalty Information Center reports that 166 death-row inmates have been exonerated and freed nationally since 1973. More than half were black. Thirteen were in Texas. Courts and prosecutors sometimes make mistakes. Could Rodney Reed be another one? Given the questions that continue to swirl around the murder of Stites, the right and humane thing to do is halt Reed’s execution and grant him a new trial. If you agree, please contact Gov. Greg Abbott and your state legislators. Otherwise, Rodney Reed might be the next murder victim in this long, sad story.""

The entire story can be read at:
https://www.statesman.com/news/20191023/commentary-rodney-reed-deserves-new-trial

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic"  section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com.  Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.