PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Democratic Texas Attorney General candidate Lee Merritt was also at Saturday’s rally. He spoke with Reed on the phone. Merritt said Rodney Reed has endorsed his campaign. "Our demand is that they free Rodney Reed and that he will be the tipping point in the abolition of the death penalty in Texas,” Merritt said."
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STORY: "Family, supporters speak to Rodney Reed on phone at rally ahead of evidentiary hearing," by Reporter Austin Lewis, published by CBS Austin, on July 17, 2021.
GIST: Supporters of Rodney Reed will gather Sunday for a vigil counting down the hours until the death row inmate's evidentiary hearing on Monday.
Rodney Reed was convicted of the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites and was sentenced to the death penalty, but Reed and his attorneys maintain he is innocent. They are pointing the finger at Stites' then-fiancé, former Giddings Police Officer Jimmy Fennell. Fennell served 10 years in prison in an unrelated sexual misconduct case.
This week, defense attorneys are looking to introduce evidence and witnesses they say will show Reed is innocent. Supporters filled the Kerr Community Center to speak with Rodney Reed on the phone.
"Being able to reach out and touch base with my family and friends have been a blessing,” Reed said.
It was the first time family and supporters had heard Rodney Reed's voice in years.
“Everything is going at a slow pace. We’ll get there when we get there but we must continue to struggle to get there,” Reed said.
Family and supporters chanted in support of Reed Saturday to call for his exoneration of murdering Stacey Stites. They gathered outside of the Bastrop County Courthouse where he was convicted in 1998.
“We're feeling very optimistic because we have the eyes of the world looking in Bastrop,” Rodney’s brother Rodrick Reed said.
Rodrick Reed is leading the charge to demand justice.
"From day one all we ever wanted was a fair trial. We didn't necessarily want Rodney Reed free per se, we wanted to free the hands so that we could present evidence and testimony so he could have a fair trial and free himself," Rodrick Reed said.
Rodney Reed said he’s feeling “very optimistic.” His family said it’s a “miracle” he’s even getting the chance to present more evidence.
Since Reed was granted an indefinite stay of execution in 2019, his attorneys have been preparing to present evidence to prove his innocence. Supporters hope this will lead to a new trial.
One of Stacey Stites’ family members support Reed's bid for freedom.
“I just pray that the things that have been done to perpetuate this injustice that has happened to you [Rodney Reed] and that has happened to Stacey, that people will see it and that their eyes will be opened about it,” Stites’ cousin Heather Campbell Stobbs said.
But Stites' mother maintains she thinks Rodney Reed is her daughter's killer.
Democratic Texas Attorney General candidate Lee Merritt was also at Saturday’s rally. He spoke with Reed on the phone. Merritt said Rodney Reed has endorsed his campaign.
"Our demand is that they free Rodney Reed and that he will be the tipping point in the abolition of the death penalty in Texas,” Merritt said."
The entire story can be read at:
The hearing is set for Monday, July 19 in Bastrop County.
