Rodney Reed: Texas: Death row: Development: His longtime defence Attorney - Bryce Benjet - is exiting the case to lead the newly created Conviction Integrity Unit in New York City, the Statesman American reports..."Benjet first picked up Reed’s case in 2002, four years after Reed was convicted by a Bastrop County jury for the 1996 strangulation murder of 19-year-old Stacey Stites. Reed’s case will remain in the hands of the Innocence Project, the nonprofit confirmed Tuesday. “For the last eight years, the Innocence Project has led Rodney Reed’s defense team and will continue to represent him following Bryce Benjet’s recent departure,” the group said in a statement. The Innocence Project’s director of post-conviction litigation, Vanessa Potkin, will join staff defense attorney Jane Pucher in Reed’s case. They also will be joined by New York-based attorneys with the Squire Patton Boggs law firm. “The remaining members of Mr. Reed’s legal team will stay on, and together will work tirelessly with the mounting new evidence of Mr. Reed’s innocence until he is exonerated and free,” the Innocence Project said."

PASSAGE ONE  OF THE DAY: "Benjet has been central to Reed’s legal defense team for nearly two decades and has helped win Reed two stays of execution in recent years: once in 2015, when the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals intervened in the case 10 days before Reed’s execution date, and again in 2019, when the same court blocked his execution and sent his case back to the Bastrop County trial court. Benjet first picked up Reed’s case in 2002, four years after Reed was convicted by a Bastrop County jury for the 1996 strangulation murder of 19-year-old Stacey Stites."

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PASSAGE TWO  OF THE DAY: "Leading up to Reed’s Nov. 20 execution date, defense attorneys filed sworn statements from new witnesses supporting their claim that Reed and Stites were having an affair, explaining the presence of his semen in her body. Other statements portrayed Fennell as racist and angry that Stites was sleeping with a black man. One witness recalled Fennell admitting to killing her."

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STORY: Longtime Rodney Reed defence Attorney  exits case for NYC role. by reporter  Brandon Mulder, published by The American Statesman on January 9, 2020.

GIST: "The longtime attorney for death row inmate Rodney Reed, whose legal defense has helped keep Reed away from the execution chamber, will be stepping away from the case for a leadership position in New York City. Bryce Benjet, formerly with the New York-based Innocence Project, was tapped to lead the newly created Conviction Integrity Unit in the Queens district attorney’s office, which will review questionable convictions and dedicate staff to exonerations, according to an announcement this week. Benjet has been central to Reed’s legal defense team for nearly two decades and has helped win Reed two stays of execution in recent years: once in 2015, when the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals intervened in the case 10 days before Reed’s execution date, and again in 2019, when the same court blocked his execution and sent his case back to the Bastrop County trial court.
Benjet first picked up Reed’s case in 2002, four years after Reed was convicted by a Bastrop County jury for the 1996 strangulation murder of 19-year-old Stacey Stites. Reed’s case will remain in the hands of the Innocence Project, the nonprofit confirmed Tuesday. “For the last eight years, the Innocence Project has led Rodney Reed’s defense team and will continue to represent him following Bryce Benjet’s recent departure,” the group said in a statement. The Innocence Project’s director of post-conviction litigation, Vanessa Potkin, will join staff defense attorney Jane Pucher in Reed’s case. They also will be joined by New York-based attorneys with the Squire Patton Boggs law firm. “The remaining members of Mr. Reed’s legal team will stay on, and together will work tirelessly with the mounting new evidence of Mr. Reed’s innocence until he is exonerated and free,” the Innocence Project said.  Benjet began his legal career as an attorney with the Texas Defender Service, where he worked when he began representing Reed. He later served as a staff attorney at the 3rd District Court of Appeals in Austin and practiced civil litigation at the Hull Hendricks law firm, all while continuing to defend Reed. He joined the Innocence Project in 2012, taking Reed’s case with him, where he handled 25 to 30 cases from across the country that focused on DNA testing and other forensic science evidence. Benjet declined to give a comment this week. For years, Reed, Benjet and other defense attorneys have pushed the theory that points to Stites’ fiancé, Jimmy Fennell, as the killer. Defense attorneys say that forensic analyses determine that Stites had been killed hours before she could have encountered Reed, at a time when she was with Fennell in their shared Giddings apartment. Leading up to Reed’s Nov. 20 execution date, defense attorneys filed sworn statements from new witnesses supporting their claim that Reed and Stites were having an affair, explaining the presence of his semen in her body. Other statements portrayed Fennell as racist and angry that Stites was sleeping with a black man. One witness recalled Fennell admitting to killing her. Support for Reed’s innocence reached fever pitch in the months leading up to his scheduled execution. Kim Kardashian visited him in jail; Oprah Winfrey urged the governor to intervene in the case; Dr. Phil aired a two-part TV special focusing on Reed’s case, which heavily featured Benjet.
The momentum has given Reed’s family immense hope, despite Benjet’s departure, said Reed’s brother, Richard. “Favor’s on our side,” said Richard Reed. “Like I said all along, this is in God’s hands.""

The entire story can be read at: 
https://www.statesman.com/news/20200108/longtime-rodney-reed-defense-attorney-exits-case-for-nyc-role

 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;

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FINAL WORD:  (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases):  "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices.""

Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
 https://www.providencejournal.com/news/20191210/da-drops-murder-charge-against-taunton-man-who-served-35-years-for-1979-slaying
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