AUSTIN, Texas — Rodney Reed, the man on death row for the murder of Stacey Stites, was to be executed on Nov. 20. However, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals blocked Reed’s execution on Friday, Nov. 15.
They will allow a lower court to consider Reed's claim that the State presented false testimony and that he is innocent. The stay of Reed's execution means the case will go back to a state judge in Bastrop County, where he was convicted.
Reed was sentenced to death in Bastrop more than 20 years ago for the 1996 rape and strangling of 19-year-old Stites.
DNA found in Stites' body matched that of Rodney Reed’s. He said that’s because they were having a consensual affair and that they had sex days before her body was found.
Reed denies killing Stites and his defense attorneys said they have evidence that exonerates him and allegedly implicates Stites' fiancée at the time, Jimmy Fennell.
Lawyers with the Innocence Project said they have new medical testimony that puts Stites' original time of death into question. And they have new witness statements that were not heard during the 1996 trial and in the subsequent appeals.
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To learn more about this new ruling by the Criminal Appeals Court, I spoke by phone with KVUE Senior Reporter Tony Plohetski.
Plohetski: "It was definitely huge news. It was a big news day. It was relief for Rodney Reed’s legal team but, of course, it was a disappointing development for those people who truly believe that Rodney Reed was guilty and justice had been served. Earlier this month, Rodney Reed and his defense team made a number of assertions in their application for relief, which is the legal term. They basically bring forward a number of claims. One of them is that there were Brady violations. So, under the Constitution, prosecutors must relay and provide to the defense favorable information that they have in their possession in order to help the defense side to build their case. And so, Rodney Reed’s legal team is suggesting that the State had information that they did not give over during Rodney Reed’s trial. Another of their claims is that Rodney Reed – and this is a striking one – is actually innocent, and that is a legal standard that no reasonable juror would find a defendant guilty. What they are suggesting is because of new information that has been brought forward by Rodney Reed and his defense team, that if a jury looked at that information today, they would not find him guilty. Because of that, they believe that Reed reaches the standard for actual innocence. So there are a number of claims that they bring forward, and essentially what the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has said in this ruling is not that they necessarily agree with Rodney Reed’s team, but what they are saying that Rodney Reed and his defense lawyers meet the legal standard that all the things that they have brought forward merit further development. In other words, further investigation, further exploration, by the court – and that’s what's going to be happening in the coming months."
Garcia-Buckalew: "So this now goes back to a District Court Judge?"
Plohetski: "That’s right. So what the Court of Criminal Appeals said is that we are now going to send this back to the trial court, district court in Bastrop County. And a judge will – over the next few months – be going through this information piece by piece, claim by claim, and evidence by evidence to determine whether or not the trial court agrees or disagrees with Rodney Reed’s legal team. They will submit what they call findings of facts and conclusions of law. And then the case will once again go back to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, and the Court which by the way is the State’s highest criminal court – they will then decide whether or not they agree with the trial court, or disagree. If the trial court decides that Rodney Reed is entitled to relief that could obviously be a joyous day for Rodney Reed. But the sign-off still has to come from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals."
Garcia-Buckalew: "Did this ruling surprise you?"
Plohetski: "I think a lot of observers would agree that this was not a surprising turn of events, that people who have been following this case have felt all along that there is legitimate, new evidence, that there are things that must be reviewed further before Rodney Reed faces death, and so I think for a lot of people this was not a surprising turn of events. I think the big question all along was whether or not Rodney Reed’s legal team got over that legal threshold, but again, the court has ruled that they did."
Garcia-Buckalew: "How long can process like this take?"
Plohetski: "This process is not something that is going to happen fast. I think the trial court has to set dates for possible hearings that can happen in the next few months. But then I think the trial court judge is going to be very deliberate going through all this information, writing their findings of fact and conclusions of law. And then the Court of Criminal Appeals I suspect is going to be very cautious, very deliberative about reviewing everything the trial court says. I think it will take nine months, 10 months, a year – maybe even longer until we have a final resolution on this."
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Garcia-Buckalew: "Tony, your final thoughts on this story now that the magnitude has soaked in, in what appears to be a victory for those who are supporting Rodney Reed."
Plohetski: "I think that most people agree that Rodney Reed should not be executed as long as there are these outstanding questions, and these outstanding legal questions as it relates to the case, and I think that, obviously, that people who have been following this case are very thrilled and very relieved that Rodney Reed is going to have an opportunity for all of these pieces of evidence, all this new information to be reviewed by the courts."
The stay of execution was the second of two positive legal developments for Reed and his supporters that occurred on Nov. 15.
Earlier that day, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles recommended that Gov. Greg Abbott grant a 120-day reprieve to allow for consideration of new evidence that could prove Reed’s innocence.
Also on the 15th, Kim Kardashian West visited Reed in the prison. She later tweeted : "So grateful for the commitment and passion of everyone who voiced their support, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles for their recommendation to issue a 120 day reprieve, and the courts for issuing a stay!”
This will remain a developing story in the months ahead and Texas Crime Files will continue to provide updates and interviews in the closely-followed case of Rodney Reed.
You can hear the entire Texas Crime Files podcast series on the KVUE YouTube page – or you can download our series from your favorite podcast source.
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