Screening and Discussion of Award-Winning Documentary “State vs Reed” Friday September 3 in Austin

Film Presents Case for Innocence of Texas Death Row Inmate Rodney Reed

The documentary film “State vs. Reed”, directed by Ryan Polomski and Frank Bustoz, will be screened at Cherrywood Coffeehouse, 1400 E. 38 ½ Street in Austin, on Friday September 3 at 8 PM. The 60-minute film documents the questionable murder conviction of Bastrop resident Rodney Reed for the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites. Rodney Reed’s mother and brother, Sandra Reed and Rodrick Reed, will attend the screening and answer questions after the film.

“State vs. Reed” presents a shocking case of racism, police corruption and prosecutorial misconduct that serves as an indictment of the Texas death penalty system. Hidden DNA evidence and eyewitness testimony all point away from Rodney Reed and toward another suspect – former Giddings Police Officer Jimmy Fennell, who is now in prison after being convicted of an unrelated kidnapping and sexual assault. Reed’s supporters say Fennell, who was engaged to Stites, was enraged after finding out that Reed and Stites were having a romantic affair. Fennell failed two polygraph tests denying Stites’ murder. Fennell is white, as was Stites. Reed is African-American.

The directors received a SXSW Film 06 jury prize for “State vs Reed”. Beginning in 2003, Polomski and Bustoz conducted extensive interviews with attorneys, investigators, journalists, and, during dozens of trips to Bastrop County, several of Reed's relatives. The filmmakers also traveled to Huntsville, where Reed sits on death row.

“We are screening “State vs Reed” to continue a dialog with the people of Austin about the injustice of the Texas death penalty. Todd Willingham was executed in 2004 based on forensic science that the Texas Forensic Science Commission said at their last meeting was “seriously flawed”. We do not want Rodney Reed to be the next Todd Willingham, an innocent person executed before he was able to prove his innocence. Time ran out for Todd Willingham and his family, but we do not want time to run out for Rodney Reed and his family. We invite the public to attend the screening to learn about the Rodney Reed case as well as broader issues about the injustice of the Texas death penalty”, said Scott Cobb, one of the organizers of the screening.

“This screening of “State vs Reed” will be a kick-off event for Death Penalty Free Austin’s campaign to convince the Austin City Council to pass a resolution calling for a moratorium on executions. We also want the Travis County District Attorney not to seek the death penalty in capital cases. The Texas death penalty system is riddled with problems and puts innocent people at risk of execution. Support for the death penalty may be higher in some other more conservative parts of Texas, but Austin is not like the rest of Texas. We are asking the people of Austin to reject the death penalty based on its many problems and especially because Texas has a system that cannot reliably sort out the guilty from the innocent”, said Jamie Bush of Death Penalty Free Austin.

Admission to the screening is free. Donations for Death Penalty Free Austin are gratefully accepted. A petition will be available at the screening for people to sign to urge the Austin City Council to pass a moratorium resolution.

Death Penalty Free Austin is a new coalition of groups and individuals in Austin working together to convince the Austin City Council to pass a resolution for a moratorium on executions. The next organizing meeting for Death Penalty Free Austin is Sept 9, contact Lily Hughes at 512 417 2241 for details and the location for the next meeting. Everyone is welcome to join Death Penalty Free Austin.

Screening of State Vs. Reed by Ryan Polomski and Frank Bustoz

Join the Austin Campaign to END the Death Penalty Wednesday, September 9th @ 7pm at UT campus, MAIN 26* for a screening of State Vs. Reed, an award winning documentary about Texas death row prisoner Rodney Reed. A Q&A will follow this event.

(*Note the room change)


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A SCREENING OF THE AWARD WINNING DOCUMENTARY ABOUT THE CASE OF TEXAS DEATH ROW PRISONER RODNEY REED.
Directed by Ryan Polomski and Frank Bustoz.

This 60 minute film documents the questionable murder conviction of Bastrop resident Rodney Reed. Hidden DNA evidence and eyewitness testimony all point away from Rodney Reed, and toward another suspect. For years Rodney's family has fought to expose the facts in this case Join the CEDP in a viewing of this important film. There will be an update on recent developments in the case and of the ongoing struggle to win justice for Rodney Reed.

Statesman: New claims in Bastrop murder appeal

Rodney Reed's lawyers have cited new allegations of sexual misconduct against Jimmy Fennel in their latest appeal. Austin American Statesman has more details about the case.

Reed was convicted in the 1996 Bastrop County murder of Stacey Stites, who was Fennell's fiancée at the time. Reed has maintained his innocence, and his lawyers have suggested that Fennell committed the crime.

The appeal continues the bid by Reed's lawyers to reveal Fennell, who is serving 10 years in prison for kidnapping and improper sexual activity with a person in custody, as a sexual predator with a history of abusing women.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has twice in recent months turned back bids by Reed for a new trial.

Filed Tuesday, the latest appeal includes fresh allegations from police reports, including that Fennell forced a woman he met during a traffic stop in July 2007 to have sex with him, that Fennell abused his wife and that he stalked a woman in Giddings in 1997.

"Jimmy Fennell has been a sexual predator for years," said Bryce Benjet, one of Reed's lawyers. "What we have been asking for is a chance for a jury to hear all of the facts in this case."

Fennell's criminal defense lawyer, Bob Phillips, called the additional accusations "questionable in their reliability."

The appeal also includes a vague account of a woman who said she may have seen Reed and Stites together before the killing, potentially significant evidence given Reed's assertion that his DNA was found on Stites' body because the two had a secret relationship.

Benjet said he has not had time to investigate the woman's account.

Stites, 19, was raped and strangled on April 23, 1996, before her 3:30 a.m. shift at a Bastrop H E B. Her body was found on the side of rural Bluebonnet Drive, off FM 1441 near Lake Bastrop.

Reed initially denied knowing Stites but then at trial said the two had been in a relationship. Fennell was a Giddings police officer at the time.

Reed's lawyers have included in previous appeals accusations that Fennell asked a female driver to provide him a lap dance after a 2004 traffic stop and of keeping a MySpace page with sexually explicit and violent images. A former girlfriend accused Fennell in a court affidavit of verbal abuse, racial bigotry and stalking.

The allegations included in Tuesday's appeal surfaced after police arrested Fennell in 2007 and accused him of forcing sex on a woman he met during a domestic disturbance call. When that arrest made the news, calls came in to Williamson County sheriff's investigators and Texas Rangers on the case, said Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley.

Bradley said that the accusations were considered at sentencing but that he did not seek an indictment because they were not the strongest and most serious cases against Fennell.

Because Fennell has been sentenced and his victim last month settled her lawsuit against the City of Georgetown for $100,000, Reed's lawyers recently obtained the entire police investigation of that case, Benjet said.

Among the allegations laid out in the report:

Wendy Smith Wallace told police that in 1996 or 1997, Fennell followed her in a police car while she was riding her bike in Giddings. He stopped when she got to her house, the report said.

• Keith Tubbs, who worked with Fennell's wife, Aida Fennell, sometime before 2004, told police that she once showed up with bruises on her face that she said came after Fennell threw a phone at her.

In March 2007, Fennell brought a woman he detained during a traffic stop to the Georgetown police station and made her strip, the woman told police. He later drove her to a secluded place and forced her to have sex with him in exchange for avoiding arrest, she told police.

In August 2007, Fennell told a woman parked outside a drug house that he found drugs in her car, she told authorities. He did not arrest her but told the woman that he would be at her house at 3 a.m. for what she interpreted as a sexual rendezvous, she said, but he never showed up, the report said.

"We had investigated them thoroughly, and I was prepared to aggressively refute them in trial, and the state knew that," Phillips said. "I think they had very little confidence in the reliability of these outcries."

CCA denies another appeal by Rodney Reed

Chuck Lindell of Austin-American Statesman is reporting that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has denied a request for new trial by Rodney Reed.

The state’s highest criminal court today refused to grant a new trial to Rodney Reed, sentenced to death a decade ago in the Bastrop County murder and sexual assault of Stacey Stites, 19.

In December, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued a 100-page opinion concluding that new information raised by Reed failed to establish his innocence and could not have swayed jurors to vote for his innocence if presented at trial.

Today’s rulings denied two remaining state appeals by Reed, presumably clearing way for his case to proceed to the next level of review in the federal courts.

But one of Reed’s appellate lawyers, Bryce Benjet, said he hopes to file another state appeal containing more information about “incidents of misconduct” by Stites’ fiance, Jimmy Fennell, a former police officer serving a prison sentence for kidnapping and improper sexual activity with a woman in his custody.

“We believe this also needs to be presented to the Court of Criminal Appeals. We are preparing that, and it will be filed shortly,” Benjet said.

Reed alleges that Fennell could have killed Stites. Fennell has consistently denied the allegation.

In one appeal denied Wednesday, Reed accused prosecutors of suppressing evidence that Fennell abused and stalked an ex-girlfriend. The information, Reed argued, supports his theory that Fennell murdered Stites — a theory the Court of Criminal Appeals found unconvincing in its December opinion.

The court ruled today, however, that the information from Fennell’s ex-girlfriend should have been raised in Reed’s first appeal. Because it was not, it is ineligible to be raised at a later date, the court said in an unsigned opinion.

Reed’s second pending appeal, claiming to contain evidence of Reed’s innocence, also was denied.

“The totality of the evidence before us still supports a guilty verdict,” the court ruled.

Both appeals are addressed in a single ruling, available here.

Justice For Rodney Reed! Protest - Today

Dear Friends,

For anyone following the case of Rodney Reed, I’m sure you were as outraged as we were by the CCA’s complete disregard for any of the important evidence provided by the defense that could prove Rodney’s innocence in a new trial. Their opinion released yesterday denies him a new trial. The Austin CEDP will be protesting TODAY for Rodney and to express ourselves about the ruling. Below is a press release from us, with protest details at the top. Please spread the news and join us if you can!

--------------- For Immediate Release – December 18, 2008 ---------------

Court of Criminal Appeals Denies Relief

Reed’s Supporters Plan Protest for Monday, December 22, 2008. At 5:30 pm at the Capitol, 11^th and Congress.

THE TEXAS Court of Criminal Appeals yesterday denied relief in the case of Texas death row prisoner Rodney Reed, as his family members and supporters decried the ruling.

Sandra Reed, Reed’s mother, responded to the court's decision by saying, "A great injustice has been done today. I looked to the Court to consider all the new developments. And with all these developments how could they deny my son?"

Reed was accused of raping and murdering of Stacey Stites in 1996, and was convicted and sentenced to death on 1998. Reed is an African-American man, Stites a white woman. A number of witnesses have corroborated Reed’s claim that he and Stites were having a consensual sexual relationship, although these witnesses were not called to the stand during his trial.

Much of the evidence presented by the defense, both new and old, points toward another suspect: former Georgetown police officer Jimmy Fennell. Fennell’s recent conviction on sexual assault and kidnapping charges further substantiates the defense's theory.

Fennell was engaged to Stites at the time of her death. He failed two lie detector tests when asked "Did you strangle Stacey Stites?" Fennell's truck, which Stites was driving at the time, contained only her and Fennell's fingerprints.

This and a vast array of other forensic evidence, eyewitness testimony, alibi witnesses, etc. is outlined in the court's decision. However the Court deemed the evidence presented by the defense as unreliable, while considering most the evidence presented by the prosecution as wholly reliable.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA), recently the subject of much public criticism, acted on the recommendation of Judge Reva Towslee-Corbett, who presided over 2006 hearings in Bastrop on the case and is the daughter of the judge in Reed’s original trial. Many observers of the hearings, which were mandated by the CCA, noted a bias towards the State and the original conviction.

“This is one-sided justice at its worst,” said Lily Hughes of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty. “Rodney deserves a new trial.”

The Campaign to End the Death Penalty and the family of Rodney Reed plans to continue our grassroots campaign for justice for Rodney Reed, including protests, petitions and more. We will continue to pressure any and all courts and public officials involved in this case to grant a new trial where evidence of Reed’s innocence can be presented.

"A Great Injustice" in the Rodney Reed Case

Court of Criminal Appeals Denies Relief

Reed’s Supporters Plan Protest for Monday, December 22, 2008. At 5:30 pm at the Capitol, 11^th and Congress.

THE TEXAS Court of Criminal Appeals yesterday denied relief in the case of Texas death row prisoner Rodney Reed, as his family members and supporters decried the ruling.

Sandra Reed, Reed’s mother, responded to the court's decision by saying, "A great injustice has been done today. I looked to the Court to consider all the new developments. And with all these developments how could they deny my son?"

Reed was accused of raping and murdering of Stacey Stites in 1996, and was convicted and sentenced to death on 1998. Reed is an African-American man, Stites a white woman. A number of witnesses have corroborated Reed’s claim that he and Stites were having a consensual sexual relationship, although these witnesses were not called to the stand during his trial.

Much of the evidence presented by the defense, both new and old, points toward another suspect: former Georgetown police officer Jimmy Fennell. Fennell’s recent conviction on sexual assault and kidnapping charges further substantiates the defense's theory.

Fennell was engaged to Stites at the time of her death. He failed two lie detector tests when asked "Did you strangle Stacey Stites?" Fennell's truck, which Stites was driving at the time, contained only her and Fennell's fingerprints.

This and a vast array of other forensic evidence, eyewitness testimony, alibi witnesses, etc. is outlined in the court's decision. However the Court deemed the evidence presented by the defense as unreliable, while considering most the evidence presented by the prosecution as wholly reliable.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA), recently the subject of much public criticism, acted on the recommendation of Judge Reva Towslee-Corbett, who presided over 2006 hearings in Bastrop on the case and is the daughter of the judge in Reed’s original trial. Many observers of the hearings, which were mandated by the CCA, noted a bias towards the State and the original conviction.

“This is one-sided justice at its worst,” said Lily Hughes of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty. “Rodney deserves a new trial.”

The Campaign to End the Death Penalty and the family of Rodney Reed plans to continue our grassroots campaign for justice for Rodney Reed, including protests, petitions and more. We will continue to pressure any and all courts and public officials involved in this case to grant a new trial where evidence of Reed’s innocence can be presented.

Rodney Reed's request for new trial denied

Andrea Lorenz of the Austin American-Statesman is reporting that Rodney Reed's request for a new trial has been denied.

The request for a new trial by attorneys for Rodney Reed, who faces the death penalty for the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites, has been denied. We will have a story up soon.

In the meantime, read details here on this fascinating case.

Reed had requested the new trial in July based on what his attorneys said was evidence Stites' fiance, Jimmy Fennell, should have been investigated as a suspect. Read our July story here.

City of Georgetown Statement Concerning Jimmy Fennell Plea

The following is Georgetown's response to the civil lawsuits filed yesterday by one of Jimmy Fennel's victims:

The City of Georgetown is shocked and saddened by the events that occurred on October 26, 2007, involving former Sergeant Jimmy Fennell. While no profession is immune from unlawful or unethical conduct from its members, we recognize the badge of the police department as a symbol of public faith and trust and believe our officers should be exemplary in obeying the law as well as the regulations of the police department.

Upon learning of the allegation against Sgt. Fennell, the Georgetown Police
Administration requested that the complaint against the Sergeant be investigated by the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office and the Texas Rangers. Sgt. Fennell resigned from the Georgetown Police Department on January 10, 2008.

The City is facing civil litigation arising from the October 26, 2007 incident and is
represented on that matter by Richard South of the law firm of Wright & Greenhill.
Because of the pending litigation, the City of Georgetown and the Police Department will not be making any additional comments and will not be doing on camera interviews.

Fennell gets 10 years

By Isadora Vail | Friday, September 26, 2008, 10:58 AM

Former Georgetown Police Sgt. Jimmy Lewis Fennell Jr. showed little emotion this morning as state District Judge Burt Carnes sentenced him to 10 years behind bars.

Fennell pleaded guilty in May to felony charges of kidnapping and improper sexual activity with a person in custody. The charges come from an Oct. 26 incident in which Fennell responded to a domestic disturbance call at a woman’s home, and according to court documents, he forced the woman to come with him in his patrol car, dance for him and have sex with him.

Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley said today despite what he calls a flawed investigation by the Georgetown Police Department, he was satisfied with the case.

“I think this case shows that officers are not above the law in Williamson County and they do not get treated differently from other offenders,” Bradley said in a press conference after the sentencing.

Bob Phillips, Fennell’s defense attorney, said his client chose not to say anything for the duration of the near year-long case because of a pending federal lawsuit against Fennell and the Georgetown Police Department.

“My client made some horrible and inexcusable mistakes,” Phillips said during closing arguments, though he chose not to expand on what those mistakes were.

Outside of the courtroom, Phillips added that he does not expect Fennell to appeal the judge’s decision since he pleaded guilty to the charges.

Jimmy Fennell Pleaded Guilty

KXAN is reporting that Jimmy Fennell has pleaded guilty to "improper sexual activity and kidnapping" and his sentencing his set for Friday, Sept. 26th at 9 a.m

GEORGETOWN, Texas (KXAN) -- Jimmy Fennell pleaded guilty and that is the verdict the judge handed down to the former Georgetown police officer.

"Jimmy Fennell decided to plead guilty and open to the judge this morning," said Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley. "The judge found him guilty of improper sexual activity and kidnapping."

In May 2008, Fennell admitted to taking a woman to a secluded area, making her dance for him and then sexually assaulting her. Fennell entered a guilty plea, but Judge Burt Carnes rejected a plea agreement. That agreement would have given Fennell a two year prison sentence, ten years of probation and a $5,000 fine. A jury trial was set for this month.

"Mr. Fennell saw that a jury trial was going to make for a very difficult trial for himself and decided to waive a jury trial and plead guilty to the judge," said Bradley.

Fennell's attorney would not give many details because of the upcoming sentencing. He said that both the defense and prosecutor came to what they call a "compromise settlement". In that agreement, both sides waive a jury trial. The prosecutor will not seek a lengthy sentence and his client agrees to plead guilty. Fennell faced a 200 year sentence, if a jury had found him guilty.

With the new deal, he faces 10 years in prison for kidnapping and two years for the improper sexual activity charge.

His sentencing his set for Friday, Sept. 26th at 9 a.m

KXAN: Officer's guilty pleas could affect death row inmate's appeal

Spring Break in the Belly of the Beast

Alternet has published an article by UT's Bryan McCann about the 2008 Anti-Death Penalty Alternative Spring Break.


By Bryan McCann, AlterNet. Posted March 19, 2008.
At the Anti-Death Penalty Alternative Spring Break in Texas, students learn what it takes to fight state killing -- against all odds.

It's easy to pity the Texas death penalty abolitionist. The Lone Star State is widely recognized as the "belly of the beast" when it comes to capital punishment. Since 1982, Texas has executed 405 individuals, more than the rest of the nation combined. Harris County, which includes Houston, would rank second in the nation for executions if it were its own state. Quite simply, no state in the union is more willing to administer lethal injections to the convicted. This would not be possible without broad statewide support for capital punishment, and an accompanying sense of "frontier justice" infused with the specter of Jim Crow.

Organizing against this state killing machine can be grueling -- even devastating. Yet there are reasons to press forward. Take the recent victory in the case of Kenneth Foster, Jr., a man sentenced to death for driving the car occupied by a man named Mauriceo Brown when he shot and killed Michael LaHood, Jr., in 1996. (Yes, sentenced to death for driving a car. Welcome to Texas). We saved Kenneth's life by building a vibrant and well-organized movement that left Gov. Rick Perry with no other choice than to, for the first time in Texas history, grant a commutation on the basis of grass-roots pressure.

Another reason for hope in Texas comes every March in the form of the Anti-Death Penalty Alternative Spring Break. Since 2005, high school and college students skip drinking on the beach with their friends to travel to Austin to participate in workshops, lectures and direct actions, all designed to train them to be better advocates for abolishing the death penalty. The annual event was founded by the Texas Moratorium Network and is currently run by Texas Students Against the Death Penalty, with the sponsorship of Campus Progress. Over the years, it has also enlisted the tactical support of legislative aids, lawyers, lobbyists and grassroots activists to help build and run events.

Scott Cobb of the Texas Moratorium Network has compared Spring Break to the Freedom Summers of the Civil Rights era. Like the northern activists who traveled south to fight segregation, Alternative Spring Break participants travel from across the country to ground zero in the death penalty fight, to both learn and contribute to the struggle. The death penalty has been shown time and again to disproportionately impact the poor and ethnic minorities, punish the innocent, and fail to deter crime. As I have told students in the debating workshops I have run in the past couple years, the death penalty is a microcosm of far deeper social problems and should be targeted as such.

Life and death lessons

I first hopped onboard the Alternative Spring Break in 2006. My group, the Campaign to End the Death Penalty (CEDP) accompanied the students to Huntsville, Texas, where a man named Tommie Hughes was scheduled for execution. On the bus down to Huntsville, where all Texas executions are carried out, members of the CEDP engaged the students in a debate about the value of vocal and political protest versus the traditional silent vigils that often take place outside the execution chamber. We all eventually agreed to lead the small crowd outside the Huntsville unit in protest chants up until the moment Hughes was to be killed. When the execution started, we would fall silent out of respect.

Across from the "Walls Unit," where executions are carried out, is the "hospitality" building. This is where the families of the condemned and their witnesses spend the day awaiting the 6 p.m. execution. We watched as Tommie Hughes' family left the small building for the much larger facility where they would watch their loved one die. Less than half an hour later, we watched them walk back. Tommie Hughes was dead. Texas had killed another. The students of the 2006 Alternative Spring Break had seen the reality of state killing up close.

The next year, the 2007 Alternative Spring Break coincided with Senate committee hearings on Texas' "Jessica Law," which would extend the death penalty to convicted child sex offenders. A number of high-profile death penalty opponents, including exonerated prisoners Kerry Max Cook and Shujaa Graham, helped out with the Spring Break and testified before the committee. Students also testified. Though Jessica's Law was eventually passed, the opportunity to speak truth to power in such a way, plus a rally downtown that concluded the spring break, were not in vain. The students who participated gained a real lesson in grassroots struggle through losses and victories.

Spring Break 2008: The case of Rodney Reed

This year's spring break took place between March 10 and March 14, coinciding with important developments in a high-profile Texas death row case. Rodney Reed is a black man who has lived on Texas' death row since 1998, convicted of the rape and murder of a white woman named Stacey Stites. Though a semen DNA sample connects Reed to Stites' body, other evidence in the case strongly implicates a former police officer named Jimmy Fennell, who was engaged to Stites at the time of her death. Several witnesses -- none of whom were called to that stand during the trial -- claim that Reed and Stites were having a consensual sexual affair (explaining the semen sample) at the time she was killed. Fennell, who failed two lie detector tests when asked if he strangled his fiancé, is believed by many to have lashed out at Stites in a jealous rage and then framed Reed for the crime.

The CEDP has organized alongside the family of Rodney Reed for years to win a new trial -- and an upcoming hearing before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals may result in just that. Fennell was recently indicted for kidnapping and raping a woman in his custody. The charges have shined new light on the Reed case and bolstered the defense's claim that Fennell is an explosive, misogynistic and potentially violent individual. For all these reasons, the CEDP and the Alternative Spring Break organizers saw fit to build the week's events around Rodney Reed's case.

On March 12, the spring breakers held a "people's tribunal" in front of the Texas State Capitol. A theatrical event that adopted the form of a court hearing -- complete with a "judge" in a gown and a "prisoner" in stripes -- participants took the microphone and spoke out against capital punishment. People talked about racism, the opposition to state killing by murder victims' families, international human rights standards, and the myth of deterrence, as passersby stopped to listen in. We described the conditions and dimensions of a death row prison cell (six-by-seven feet) to show how "cruel and unusual" begins well before the condemned enters the death chamber.

That night, the students, along with several local activists, made signs and banners for a rally in support of Rodney Reed. Starting in front of the Capitol, the March 13 rally included the Spring Break participants and several local activists. After a march downtown, the group returned to the Capitol to speak some final words into the bullhorn and display their signs for passing traffic. "The turnout wasn't the biggest we've ever seen, but it was vibrant and inspiring," said CEDP activist Lily Hughes. Hooman Hedayati, of the CEDP and Texas Students Against the Death Penalty, called the 2008 Spring Break a success. "A group of energetic students came to Austin to learn to be better activists and were able to pull off a direct action for Rodney Reed."

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals hears the Reed case on March 19, after which it may take as long as it pleases to make a decision. Whether Reed wins a new trial or not, one thing remains certain: The struggle will continue. As I write this, the Supreme Court is determining whether Kentucky's method of lethal injection constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. Nationally, more individuals than ever prefer life without parole to the death penalty. We are living in exciting times in the history of American capital punishment. If the students who came to this and previous years' Alternative Spring Breaks left with one lesson, it was hopefully that such change is in no way automatic. Through each loss and victory, a growing number of committed activists do the unglamorous work of attending meetings, making pickets, and fretting about strategic choices. As the students bid goodbye to Austin, one can only hope that they left the belly of the beast with a sense of not only what is possible, but what is necessary to wage an uphill battle against a particularly macabre expression of state power that will not leave the stage of history without a fight.

A letter from Howard Guidry

This is a letter from Howard Guidry that was read today at the Rodney Reed protest in Austin.

Rodney Reed is a friend. Rodney Reed is a friend of mine. He is a solid brother who has weathered a decade of racially profiled prosecution. Living in the crushing hands of Texas death row he has not only persevered, he fought tooth and nail the whole way. It is a crime that this man has spent the prime of his life confined to one cage or another fighting a crime he did not commit. His children have become adults without their father and Rodney has become more determined to return to them with each passing day.

The Rodney Reed case is a glaring reminder that the ghost of Jim Crow law and mob justice still exist in the state of Texas.

Despite overwhelming evidence of Rodney's innocence, the fact remains that he is a Black man accused of killing a white woman.

In Texas, that constitutes capital murder. One won't find that article of law under the capital murder statute of the state's penal code but countless incarcerated Black men can attest to its existence.

I’d like to thank all of you who are here today and all of the people who have carried on the struggle to save my brother's life for so many years.

Stand up against this modern day attempt to lynch another Black man. Stand up against the racist police officer who set up Rodney Reed. Stand against the judicial system that allowed this frame-up to happen. Stand up and fight with the same determination and fortitude that Rodney Reed has displayed for the last 10 years End the racist death penalty!

Free Rodney Reed!

Howard Guidry,

Another innocent man on Texas’ death row.

Five Minutes for Rodney Reed!

Its been a while since we sent out a "five minutes for Rodney" action alert, but we hope to make alerts much more frequent.

We have a march for Rodney coming up in Austin on February 2nd. Rodney needs us to promote this march far and wide- we need a big crowd to send a powerful message to the Court of Criminal Appeals that we want a new trial now! Keep in mind, more publicity not only means a bigger march -- it means that more people get exposed to Rodney and the facts of his case.

What can you do? Please use the action alert pasted below to promote the march. How? - take it and paste it on your myspace page and then post it as a comment on your friends' myspace page. Please do this for as many of your friends that you can- especially your friends that live in Austin. The code for the banner is included below so that the banner can be part of the event announcement (for your friends that allow html code in their comments!).

Thanks! Please take a minute to let us know how its going so we can track how much publicity we are generating.

Free Rodney Reed!

Stefanie Collins

We Demand a New Trial for Rodney Reed!
March and Rally in Downtown Austin
Saturday February 2,
Starting at 12PM at South Congress and Monroe, Northeast Corner March to
City Hall Plaza Rally at City Hall at 1PM (Lavaca and Cesar Chavez)

Featuring speeches from the family and supporters of Rodney Reed.

Texas death row prisoner Rodney Reed’s case is in a critical phase, with the possibility of a new trial greater than ever. His case sits before the Court of Criminal Appeals (over which Texas' killer judge Sharon Keller presides) and oral arguments on the case are scheduled for March 19.

We need your help now to draw Austin's attention to this case and send a clear message to the Court: New trial for Rodney Reed!

In recent weeks, there has been a lot of media around the case. Rodney's defense has long posited that another suspect in the initial investigation is responsible. That suspect, Georgetown police officer Jimmy Fennell was recently indicted for rape and other charges.

Here is a good article on recent developments:
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/01/07/0107fennell.html

Rodney's case is currently in the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, and one goal of the CEDP has been to win a new trial. Your participation in the march is needed to bring us one step closer to winning justice for Rodney Reed!

This Week: State vs. Reed Film Screening and Fundraiser Party!

As we began 2008, all executions in the U.S are on hold. New Jersey recently abolished the death penalty. Here in Texas, were able to win the commutation of Texas death row prisoner Kenneth Foster, Jr. In recent weeks, there has been a lot of media around the case of Texas death row prisoner Rodney Reed Rodney's defense has long posited that another suspect in the initial investigation is responsible. That suspect, Georgetown police officer Jimmy Fennell was recently indicted for rape and other charges. Here is a good article on recent developments:
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/01/07/0107fennell.html

Rodney's case is currently in the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, and one goal of the CEDP has been to win a new trial. Rodney's lawyers will present oral arguments to the court on February 6th. Sandra Reed, CEDP member and mother of Rodney, has asked folks to attend.

New trials will get underway this year for Yogurt Shop defendants Michael Scott and Robert Springsteen. The CEDP has been involved in this case for years, along with longstanding CEDP member Jeannine Scott. We maintain that these men are innocent and will be doing support work throughout the trials. Below are some important events in the next two weeks. So come out!

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STATE VS. REED: A SCREENING OF THE AWARD WINNING DOCUMENTARY ABOUT THE CASE OF TEXAS DEATH ROW PRISONER RODNEY REED.

Directed by Ryan Polomski and Frank Bustoz.

This 60 minute film documents the questionable murder conviction of Bastrop resident Rodney Reed. Rodney was convicted of killing Stacey Stites on a single piece of DNA evidence, which was explained by the romantic relationship the two had. However, defense lawyers failed to establish this connection at trial. In addition, strong evidence exists that points to the initial prime suspect, Stacey's fiancée, then Giddings police officer Jimmy Fennell. Hidden DNA evidence and eyewitness testimony all point away from Rodney Reed. For years Rodney's family has fought to expose the facts in this case Join the CEDP in a viewing of this important film. There will be an update on recent developments in the case and of the ongoing struggle to win justice for Rodney Reed.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16TH AT 7PM
AT MONKEYWRENCH BOOKS
110 E North Loop Blvd
$5 Donation Requested

www.freerodneyreed.org
www.myspace.com/statevsreed

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CAMPAIGN TO END THE DEATH PENALTY FUNDRAISING PARTY
Saturday, January 19th at 9PM
Pearl Street Co-op, 2000 Pearl St.

With the death penalty on the defensive, the CEDP has plans to push all the way to abolition! Although we are far from done, this last year has shown that our hard work does pay off--we saved Kenneth Foster, the death penalty was abolished in New Jersey, and all executions have been temporarily halted! Come celebrate these victories and help us work towards new ones with a party at the Pearl Street Co-op. Keg provided. $5-10 donation requested.

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Annual MLK Day March & Festival
Monday, January 21st at 9:00 AM

This annual march honors the legacy of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., while celebrating diversity and multi-culturalism in Austin. The Campaign to End the Death Penalty has long looked the the civil rights movement for inspiration in our struggle for abolition. Join the CEDP as we march together under an anti-death penalty banner, and raise awareness about Rodney Reed, about prison conditions and about the death penalty in general.

The 2008 MLK Community March starts at 9 a.m. with a short program at the MLK Statue on the University of Texas campus. Thereafter, we will march to the Captiol for a program at 10 a.m., and then to historic Huston-Tillotson University, where there will also be a Cultural Festival after the March and last until 3 p.m. Look for the CEDP banner to march with us!
More details: http://www.mlkcelebration.com

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New Trial for Rodney Reed!
March and Rally in Downtown Austin
Saturday February 2, Starting at 12PM
Locations TBA

Rodney’s case is in a critical phase with the possibility of a new trial greater than ever. Join us in spreading the word about the case and demanding justice for Rodney Reed!

Jimmy Fennell to resign after being briefly reinstated

Austin American-Statesman is reporting that Jimmy Fennell who was fired by the George Town Police Department, and then reinstated because of the technical error is planning to resign from the police force.

Bob Phillips, Fennell's criminal defense attorney, said Fennell plans to send a letter of resignation to the department today.

Earlier this week Austin American-Statesman published an interesting article about Fennell's past wrongdoings, complaints, and how it might affect the case of death-row inmate Rodney Reed. According to the article,

Fennell has been accused of being violent multiple times during his career in law enforcement, though he has also been praised by his supervisors for his hard work and reliability.

When Fennell joined the Giddings Police Department in 1995, he became part of a department that had often been accused of roughing up suspects. In a 1998 lawsuit that claimed the department condoned the use of excessive force by its officers, five people said police officers, including Fennell, had beaten them up or injured them.

In that lawsuit, Fennell was accused of bruising and bullying a man while arresting him on what the man claimed were false charges of speeding through town on his motorcycle. In a separate 1997 lawsuit, he was accused of harassing a 19-year-old Giddings man, Mario Murillo, and beating him in front of his family.

Also Fennell has background of mistreating a woman he dated for 13 month.

Pamela Duncan, who said she and Fennell started dating soon after Stites' death, said Fennell stalked her for months after the relationship ended. She made those allegations in a 2006 affidavit submitted by Reed's lawyers supporting his appeal.

After the couple broke up, Fennell stalked and harassed Duncan for months, she said in the affidavit. Fennell often shined a spotlight into her house and swore at her, she said. He pulled over and ticketed men he suspected of dating her and sat in his car infront of the convenience store, shining his headlights into the building, night after night, she said.

Once, he came into the store and wouldn't let her leave her office, she said in the affidavit.Duncan and her co-workers had to call the police to get someone to escort him out, she said.

Duncan filed a report with the police about the incident, she said in the affidavit. But when a friend of hers asked the police for a copy, officers said none existed, the affidavit said. There is no mention of the incident in Fennell's Giddings personnel file.

Phillips, Fennell's lawyer, declined to discuss Fennell's relationship with Duncan.

STATE VS. REED: A SCREENING OF THE AWARD WINNING DOCUMENTARY ABOUT THE CASE OF TEXAS DEATH ROW PRISONER RODNEY REED.

Directed by Ryan Polomski and Frank Bustoz.

This 60 minute film documents the questionable murder conviction of Bastrop
resident Rodney Reed. Rodney was convicted of killing Stacey Stites on a
single piece of DNA evidence, which was explained by the romantic
relationship the two had. However, defense lawyers failed to establish this
connection at trial. In addition, strong evidence exists that points to
the initial prime suspect, Stacey's fiancée, then Giddings police officer
Jimmy Fennell. Hidden DNA evidence and eyewitness testimony all point away
from Rodney Reed. For years Rodney's family has fought to expose the facts
in this case Join the CEDP in a viewing of this important film. There will
be an update on recent developments in the case and of the ongoing struggle
to win justice for Rodney Reed.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16TH AT 7PM
AT MONKEYWRENCH BOOKS
110 E North Loop Blvd
$5 Donation Requested

www.freerodneyreed.org
www.myspace.com/statevsreed

Save Rodney Reed

By Hooman Hedayati

About 11 years ago, on a Sunday morning before sunrise, someone dumped the body of 20-year-old Stacey Stites off the side of a road in the small town of Bastrop, Texas. Rodney Reed, a black man from Bastrop, was convicted of her murder by an all-white jury, despite the strong evidence linking other people, including Stites' fiance Jimmy Fennell, to the murder. Last week, Fennell, who is now a police officer in Georgetown, Texas, was indicted by a grand jury on a charge of sexually assaulting a woman in custody at gunpoint, and he was placed on administrative leave from his job. At the time of Stites' death, Fennell was a police officer in Giddings, a town just east of Bastrop.

The amount of evidence pointing to Fennell in Stites' murder case is overwhelming. In two polygraph tests taken after Stites's murder, Fennell failed the question, "Did you strangle Stacy Stites?" According to a May 13, 1998, Department of Public Service report, fresh beer cans found at the crime scene contained DNA from Stites and two of Fennell's friends, police officers David Hall and Ed Salmela (the original investigator for the case). Furthermore, the truck alledgedly used to transport Stites' body contained fingerprints from only Fennell and Stites and was handed over to Fennell the day it was discovered. Fennell sold the truck the next day.

But it was Reed who was charged with Stites's murder. Reed's case is anything but unique in a criminal justice system marked by race and class bias. The racial tension in Bastrop was so intense during the trial that Reed's original trial lawyers, who were also black, were afraid to stay in Bastrop overnight. Reed's case also highlights the consequences of interracial dating in the South, decades after end of segregation. The main evidence linking Reed to the murders is a semen sample containing Reed's DNA, which was taken from the scene of the crime. That can easily be explained by the sexual relationship he and Stites allegedly had before her death.

Today, black men constitute little more than 12 percent of the nation's population but occupy nearly half of the spots on U.S. death rows. Nearly all of those sentenced to death can't afford to hire lawyers and thus rely on notoriously inadequate court-appointed attorneys or public defenders who don't have the necessary resources to investigate and defend capital cases.

Reed has been sitting on death row for more than 10 years for a crime he very likely did not commit. The Bastrop County prosecutors should open the case and start a new investigation into his claims of innocence. In the meantime, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which has Reed's case in their hands, should order a new trial in which the jury can hear all of the new evidence.

Visit www.freerodneyreed.org for more information about the case and how to get involved with the campaign to save Rodney Reed.

Hedayati is a government junior and member of Campaign to End the Death Penalty.

Is Jimmy Fennell guilty of Stacey Stites' muder?

The news is that Sgt. Jimmy Fennell, who was placed on administrative leave for the last few weeks is now charged with sexually assaulting a woman at gunpoint last October. KEYE TV has a good report (video below) about Jimmy Fennell's possible involvement in Stacey Stites' murder. Rodney Reed who has been convicted of her murder is currently waiting for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to rule on his appeal.

Some say the cop's arrest could help set another man free from death row.

It was 1996 when 19-year-old Stacey Stites was found strangled on the side of a road in Bastrop.

A jury convicted Rodney Reed of murder and sentenced him to death. Supporters have long insisted police have the wrong man behind bars.

The appeal seeking a new trial suggests Stites' live-in boyfriend, Jimmy Fennell -- then a Giddings police officer -- was to blame.

The motive? The defense claims Fennell was jealous when he found out Stites was having an affair -- with Reed, whose DNA was found on the body.

RODNEY REED: Rally in Bastrop, Texas

RODNEY REED: INNOCENT ON TEXAS DEATH ROW! Gather with Rodney's family and friends for and evening of solidarity and struggle. WITH AUSTIN BAND DIASPORIC!

Starting with a march through Bastrop, followed by music & spoken word, and ending with a screening of the documentary State vs Reed. With food and drink.

NEW TRIAL NOW! NO EXECUTION!

IN BASTROP, TEXAS
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13TH
STARTING AT 3 PM
KERR COMMUNITY PARK
AT MLK AND WALNUT

To carpool from Austin, meet at 1:30PM in the LBJ Parking Lot. Off Red River between Manor and Dean Keeton.

To drive from Austin take I-35 South and take Hwy 71 East toward Bastrop. About 25 miles. Take the Hasler/Childers and Loop 150 exit. Take a left at the second light (Loop 150). Go through downtown Bastrop and after you cross the railroad tracks, take a right on Martin Luther King. Go one block and take a right on Walnut to park.

SPONSORED BY THE CAMPAIGN TO END THE DEATH PENALTY
For more info contact 512-494-0667 or cedpaustin@gmail.com
www.freerodneyreed.org

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