QUOTE OF THE DAY: “The hearing that will give us a chance to emit some of the mounds of evidence medical and forensic science that proves his innocence that they have been denying for the past 20 something odd years,” said Rodrick Reed. (Rodney's brother.)
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Tuesday morning, there was a pre-trial hearing in Bastrop County, ahead of that evidentiary hearing. The judge in the case heard motions for the July 19th hearing, when we expect the court to decide if there's enough evidence to grant Rodney Reed a new trial, or if the Bastrop County prosecutors didn't turn over evidence -- or even if it’s too late for the defense to submit evidence. Defense attorneys submitted a list of witnesses they want to call. There are 23 people who might be called, and 18 that they intend to call to the stand. Among them is Stacey Stites’ former fiancé and Giddings police officer Jimmy Fennell, who was an original person of interest in the case."
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STORY: "Rodney Reed Attorneys prepare to present evidence, witnesses say missing in original trial," by Reporter Adela Uchida, published by CBS Austin on July 6, 2021.
GIST: "Rodney Reed will have his next day in court on July 19, more than 23 years after a jury convicted him of capital murder.
Reed is on death row for the rape and murder of Stacey Stites in 1996, but he says he is innocent. Back in November of 2019, the Texas court of criminal appeals granted reed an indefinite stay of execution just five days before he was scheduled to be executed. Then the pandemic hit, and a hearing to decide the next steps was delayed... Until this month.
Tuesday morning, there was a pre-trial hearing in Bastrop County, ahead of that evidentiary hearing. The judge in the case heard motions for the July 19th hearing, when we expect the court to decide if there's enough evidence to grant Rodney Reed a new trial, or if the Bastrop County prosecutors didn't turn over evidence -- or even if it’s too late for the defense to submit evidence.
Defense attorneys submitted a list of witnesses they want to call. There are 23 people who might be called, and 18 that they intend to call to the stand. Among them is Stacey Stites’ former fiancé and Giddings police officer Jimmy Fennell, who was an original person of interest in the case.
Arthur Snow’s name also appears on the list. He was a fellow inmate during Fennell's ten years in prison for sexual misconduct. Snow swore in an affidavit that Fennell confessed to killing Stites because she was having an affair with a black man.
“To my knowledge, there was nothing for Arthur Snow to gain from revealing that confession to him to the innocence project. He had nothing to gain from it, but he just felt it had to be out there,” Rodrick Reed told CBS Austin. He says the evidentiary hearing is to show that there is evidence that wasn’t presented at the original trial
Another name on the witness list is a man who spoke exclusively to CBS Austin in October of 2019. He did not want to show his name or face on TV. But here is what he said then: “I was down at the funeral home when Stacey was down there,” he explained. “I was standing in the hallway and Jimmy himself come up beside me he said something to me to the effect, she more or less got what she deserved,” he said.
“The hearing that will give us a chance to emit some of the mounds of evidence medical and forensic science that proves his innocence that they have been denying for the past 20 something odd years,” said Rodrick Reed.
I reached out to the Bastrop County District Attorney's office for comment, but he did not respond."
The entire story can be read at:
