Update

Rodney Reed was days away from execution, 5 days in fact, until he was finally given a glimmer of hope. On November 15th, the Court of Criminal Appeals in Texas granted Mr. Reed a stay of execution. What this means is that Rodney will not be executed. Rodney is now 51 years-old and has been on death row since 1998. That's 21 years.

The Court's ruling came just hours after the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles had also supported halting the execution. Granting the indefinite stay and sending the case back to a trial court is a big win for Rodney and his team. His lawyer said "I have tears streaming down my cheeks" after he learned of the court's ruling.

Although this ruling did not free Rodney from prison, there was still a positive side. Not only is he now safe from execution, but he has been awarded a new trial where he can present his new evidence and bring in his witnesses. Reed's lawyer stated "It is extremely rewarding that we can finally have a chance to fully present his case in court, so it can be determined that he did not commit this crime."

If Reed had not been rescued, and had his execution gone as scheduled, I fully believe that a major protest would of ensued from the event. This case has gained major traction with the media, and many more people who hear about the case believe in his innocence. Had they executed a clearly innocent man, many people would lose what little faith they had left in the justice system. Not to mention the PR nightmare that would be facing the Trump administration and his attorney general.

 I am happy Rodney will finally get his day in court to show his innocence, my only hope is that it is a fair trial free of bias and prejudice.

If you want to know more, please visit www.nytimes.com.

Donald Trump

Our current President, Donald Trump, is in favor of the death penalty. He makes this opinion very known through speeches and tweets. Most recently, he has been calling for the execution of the whistleblower who brought up parts of the President's call with Ukraine. For Trump, capital punishment is more than a form of justice. It's a way to get votes. At many of his rallies, he talks about how he has always supported the death penalty and doesn't understand why others don't. During a campaign rally, Trump talked about Bowe Bergdahl, a U.S. soldier who deserted his post and was taken hostage by the Taliban. Trump says he should be executed by firing squad for deserting his post.

While in office, Trump has looked for reasons to expand the use of the death penalty. Trump has talked about a deal he struck with Xi to expand China’s death penalty to manufacturers of fentanyl. On multiple occasions, Trump has endorsed other countries’ use of the death penalty for some drug crimes. During Trump's remarks in March of 2018 about the opioid crisis, he suggested that the U.S. implement the death penalty or drug related crimes. Trump’s Department of Justice recently asked the Federal Bureau of Prisons to revive the federal death penalty, which has been dormant since 2003.

Trump's love for the death penalty was around long before he became President. Four black males and one Latino male, aged 14 to 16, were on trial in 1989 for the assault and rape of a white female who had been jogging in Central Park. Donald Trump spent $85,000 to run a full-page advertisement in four New York City newspapers, calling for their executions via the reinstatement of the death penalty. The ad read “BRING BACK THE DEATH PENALTY. BRING BACK OUR POLICE!” in bold capital letters. The five men were later exonerated by DNA evidence, but Donald Trump has never retracted or apologized for his demand to have them put to death.

Trump is not pleased with "how easy" some people get it when they are put to death. He has talked in disgust about lethal injections. He disagrees with the use of the midazolam, the drug used so there is no pain. Trump feels as though the inmates do not deserve this drug. He wants them to feel the pain, because they put others in pain with their criminal acts.

Trump very much has an "eye for an eye" approach. When a woman in Oklahoma was beheaded, he suggested that the guilty party be sentenced to death, and should be executed by being beheaded.

Celebrity Influence

This week many celebrities, including Kim Kardashian, Dr. Phil, The EU, and Rihanna, are calling for the freedom of Texas death row inmate Rodney Reed. Many feel that there is overwhelming evidence proving Reed's innocence, and hope to to stop his execution which is scheduled for November 20th of this year.

Reed is convicted of the murder of Stacey Stites. Police say Reed assaulted, raped, and strangled Stites. He was arrested after his sperm was found on Stites, but Reed maintain's his innocence. He claims to have had a mutual sexual affair with Stites, explaining the sperm.

Throughout the years many things have come to light about this case, destroying the prosecution's original case against Reed. One thing that is majorly important is the fact that the states forensic experts have admitted to errors in their testimony, saying their original estimated time of death was incorrect. They originally estimated Stites time of death between 3 and 5 am, helping convict Reed of the murder. However, in a sworn affidavit they now say the time of death was around midnight. This is important because it makes it impossible for Reed to have commited the murder according to the timeline. At this time Stites was with her fiancé Jimmy Fennell.

Another things to note is that Reed was not a suspect in the case for a long time. The original person of interest was actually Fennell. The main reason for this was because of Stites relationship with Reed. Fennell was aware of the affair. Many witnesses have come forward to support the idea that Fennell is actually the killer. An insurance salesperson says that in November of 1995, they remember hearing Fennell saying to Stites "If I ever catch you messing around on me, I will kill you and no one will ever know it was me that killed you." Another witness, a former Lee County Sheriff's deputy, says that at Stites funeral Fennell looked at the body and said "You got what you deserved."

Perhaps the most incriminating evidence against Fennell, despite the fact that he was with her at the time of the murder, is what his friend from jail says he has heard from Fennell. Arthur Snow, the leader of the prison's white supremacist gang, says he recall's  "Jimmy said confidently, 'I had to kill my n----r-loving fiancée.'" It is also important to note that Fennell was in prison for a 10-year sentence for a sex crime and kidnapping. He also has a record of patterned violence against women. 

For an interview conducted by Dr. Phil with Rodney Reed, visit www.innocenceproject.org.