Kim Kardashian Reveals What It Was Like To Sit In On Rodney Reed HearingThe main criminal appeals court in Texas halted the scheduled execution of inmate Rodney Reed, whose sentence is being challenged by new evidence that, according to his supporters, raises serious questions about his guilt.
The suspension of the execution by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals came a few hours after the Texas Board of Pardons and Probation recommended delaying the lethal injection.
Reed, 51, was scheduled for a lethal injection Wednesday night for the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites, 19. Prosecutors say Reed raped and strangled Stites as he headed to work at a supermarket in Bastrop, a rural community about 30 miles (50 kilometers) southeast of Austin.
Reed's efforts to stop his execution have received support from celebrities such as Beyonce, Kim Kardashian, and Oprah Winfrey. Lawmakers from both parties, including Texas Senator Ted Cruz, have also asked officials to more closely analyze the evidence in the case.
In its four-page order, the appeals court said that Reed's case should be returned to the trial court in Bastrop County so he could examine his claims that he is innocent and that prosecutors suppressed the evidence and presented false testimony.
Bryce Benjet, a lawyer for the Innocence Project, who represents Reed, said defense attorneys were "extremely relieved and grateful" to the appellate court.
"This opportunity will allow for adequate consideration of the powerful and growing new evidence of Mr. Reed's innocence," Benjet said in a statement.
The Texas attorney general's office declined to comment Friday on whether it would appeal the order to suspend Reed's execution.
The previous Friday, the parole board had unanimously recommended a 120-day postponement for Reed. The board rejected Reed's request to commute his sentence to life imprisonment.
The parole board decided to go to the side of Governor Greg Abbott, who has not said whether he would accept or reject or do nothing.
The suspension is likely to make Abbott's decision debatable. Since taking office in 2015, he has stopped only an impending execution, in 2018.
Since Texas resumed executions in 1982, only one governor has commuted his life sentences to three inmates sentenced to death within a few days of their scheduled executions.
Reed has other pending appeals, even with the United States Supreme Court. His supporters have made demonstrations, including a vigil on Thursday night in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, DC. It was not clear if there would still be a rally planned for Sunday in front of the Texas governor's mansion.
Reed has always maintained that he did not kill Stites and that his fiance, former police officer Jimmy Fennell, was the real killer. Reed says that Fennell was angry because Stites, who was white, was having an affair with Reed, who is black.
Fennell's lawyer has said his client did not kill Stites. Fennell was released on parole last year after spending time in prison for sexual assault.
In their most recent motion before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Reed's lawyers alleged that prosecutors suppressed evidence or presented false evidence related to Fennell.
Prosecutors say Reed's semen was found in the victim, his claims of an affair with Stites were not proven at trial, Fennell was acquitted as a suspect and Reed had a history of committing other sexual assaults.
Reed's lawyers say his conviction was based on imperfect evidence. They have denied the other allegations of sexual assault made by prosecutors.
Reed's lawyers filed a federal lawsuit in August to force DNA evidence of the crime scene evidence, including the murder weapon. His lawyers say the test, which prosecutors have fought for years, could identify another person as the murderer. The demand is still pending.
In recent weeks, Reed's lawyers filed affidavits in support of their innocence claims, including one from a former inmate who claims that Fennell boasted of killing Stites and referred to Reed for a racial insult. Reed's lawyers say other recent affidavits corroborate the relationship between Stites and Reed and show that Fennell was violent and aggressive towards her. Read More news: Kim Kardashian Reveals What It Was Like To Sit In On Rodney Reed Hearing
|
