Texas Appeals Court Stays Execution of Death Row Inmate
Source: Courthouse News
A Texas appeals court on Friday stayed the execution of a black man who has been on death row for more than 20 years for the rape and murder of a white woman. His attorneys say it is “scientifically impossible” to pin the killing on him based on new evidence.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted Rodney Reed’s habeas claim, remanding his case to the trial court to vet his claims that prosecutors did not share evidence proving his innocence with his defense team and presented false testimony.
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Reed’s lead attorney, Bryce Benjet at the Innocence Project in New York, says in court filings that no DNA evidence other than Reed’s sperm connected him to the pickup or the site where Stite’s body was found. They say he was having an affair with Stites and had consensual sex with her in the days before her murder.
Reed’s attorneys also say courts have ignored evidence pointing to Fennell as the killer.
They claim three leading forensic pathologists found the state’s theory of Reed’s guilt “medically and scientifically impossible” because based on their review of crime scene photos, Stites had been murdered hours before Fennell claimed she had left their apartment to drive to work.
Read more: https://www.courthousenews.com/texas-appeals-court-stays-execution-of-death-row-inmate/
FYI Fennell was the murdered woman's husband.
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