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In Texas--of course--a man faces execution for a crime he probably didn't commit
Reed faced two nearly impossible hurdles in small-town Texas. Multiple sources confirm that Reed, an African-American, was having an affair with Stacey Stites, a white woman. This is dangerous enough in a small Southern town, but Stites was engaged to a white police officer, which sealed Reed’s fate. He was convicted primarily on the strength of two pieces of evidence. Reed’s DNA was found in the form of active semen in Stites. The other damning evidence was provided by medical examiner Roberto Bayardo’s testimony on the time of death. Bayardo testified that Reed had been killed sometime after 3 a.m., which fit perfectly with the prosecution’s assertions. Bayardo also testified that the active sperm found in Stites had to have been deposited no longer than 26 hours prior, which contradicted Reed’s claim that he had last had sex with Stites two days before. An all-white jury took only four hours to convict Reed. Two weeks later the same jury sentenced him to death.
Bayardo has since recanted this testimony. Investigative reporter Jordan Smith, who has covered the case for longer and in more depth than anyone, first as a reporter for the Austin Chronicle and now as a staff writer for the Intercept, Glenn Greenwald’s investigative website, reports:
In a declaration for the court, Bayardo, the same medical examiner who testified for the state at Reed’s trial, said that it had been incorrect to assume that “spermatozoa can remain intact in the vaginal cavity for no more” than 26 hours. The fact that Bayardo saw “very few” such sperm were found in Stites suggests they had been there for a longer period of time. Moreover, while he still concluded that there was evidence that Stites had been sodomized, he said that her injuries were “more consistent with penetration by a rod-like instrument, such as a police baton.”
Based on video and photographic records of the crime scene, Bayardo has also recanted his time of death estimate. He now says he cannot pinpoint the time of death. In addition, in this latest appeal three eminent medical examiners have said Bayardo’s time of death estimate is off by several hours. All three believe Stacey Stites must have been killed sometime before midnight. This is crucial, as Jimmy Fennell, the police officer engaged to Stites, has testified that she was alone with him up until 3 a.m. Fennell, who has a history of violence against women, also failed two polygraph examinations, specifically when asked if he strangled Stacey Stites. Investigators had considered Fennell the prime suspect, but dismissed this suspicion when DNA evidence linked Rodney Reed to Stacey Stites. This new testimony clearly incriminates Fennell, who is currently serving a 10-year prison term for beating and raping a woman he had taken into custody, on the hood of his police cruiser.
http://www.salon.com/2015/02/28/abolish_the_death_penalty_here_are_8_good_reasons_why/
Bayardo has since recanted this testimony. Investigative reporter Jordan Smith, who has covered the case for longer and in more depth than anyone, first as a reporter for the Austin Chronicle and now as a staff writer for the Intercept, Glenn Greenwald’s investigative website, reports:
In a declaration for the court, Bayardo, the same medical examiner who testified for the state at Reed’s trial, said that it had been incorrect to assume that “spermatozoa can remain intact in the vaginal cavity for no more” than 26 hours. The fact that Bayardo saw “very few” such sperm were found in Stites suggests they had been there for a longer period of time. Moreover, while he still concluded that there was evidence that Stites had been sodomized, he said that her injuries were “more consistent with penetration by a rod-like instrument, such as a police baton.”
Based on video and photographic records of the crime scene, Bayardo has also recanted his time of death estimate. He now says he cannot pinpoint the time of death. In addition, in this latest appeal three eminent medical examiners have said Bayardo’s time of death estimate is off by several hours. All three believe Stacey Stites must have been killed sometime before midnight. This is crucial, as Jimmy Fennell, the police officer engaged to Stites, has testified that she was alone with him up until 3 a.m. Fennell, who has a history of violence against women, also failed two polygraph examinations, specifically when asked if he strangled Stacey Stites. Investigators had considered Fennell the prime suspect, but dismissed this suspicion when DNA evidence linked Rodney Reed to Stacey Stites. This new testimony clearly incriminates Fennell, who is currently serving a 10-year prison term for beating and raping a woman he had taken into custody, on the hood of his police cruiser.
http://www.salon.com/2015/02/28/abolish_the_death_penalty_here_are_8_good_reasons_why/
So a black guy is sentenced to death essentially for having an affair with a white woman engaged to a white cop. It's stories like this that make it mind-boggling for me that any liberal continues to support the death penalty.
26 replies
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when asked did he kill his fiance...but the black guy did it. Yeah they probably will execute an innocent man. I remember reading about that shithead raping a women on the hood of his car...but yeah the black guy did it. 
That is completely fucked up, but I don't expect to see justice served here. Reed is as good as dead. And the animal will get out of jail in 10 years and rape and kill another women. 
How can the law be that fucking stupid?
