BASTROP, Texas — Tuesday marked the second day of the evidentiary hearing for Rodney Reed, who's hoping for a re-trial for his 1998 conviction for the rape and murder of Stacy Stites.
On Monday, the judge heard testimony from Dr. Andrew Baker, the medical examiner who ruled that the death of George Floyd last year was partly caused by the way police restrained him.
Dr. Baker noted his issues with the testimony given by the original medical examiner in the initial trial, particularly with Stites' time of death. A former Bastrop County deputy also testified, having been a former coworker of Stites' fiance - who Reed's defense claims is Stites' actual killer. Six more of the defense’s witnesses testified Tuesday, several of whom gave pretty explosive testimonies about Jimmy Fennell, Stacey Stites fiancé at the time of her murder.
It’s all part of the defense’s argument that Reed is innocent, and Fennell, who served a 10-year prison term in an unrelated case of sexual assault, is likely the killer.
The first witness was Jim Clampit, a former deputy with the Lee County Sheriff’s Department who knew Fennell from his time in law enforcement. He went to Stites' funeral and testified that he heard Fennell say “she got what she deserved,” directed at Stites' body in the casket. Clampit says it shocked him, and that moment is burned in his mind forever.
The next two witnesses, Arthur Snow and Michael Bordelon, knew Fennell from their time in prison and were subpoenaed to testify. Snow says he’s a former member of the Aryan Brotherhood, a white supremicist gang, and Fennell asked them for protection while in prison. Snow says he remembers Fennell said, “You wouldn’t believe how easily a man’s belt breaks, strangling a n***** loving wh**e.”
Snow claims his ex-wife, who still has family in the Aryan Brotherhood, is threatening and stalking him for giving his testimony. Bordelon also met Fennell in prison, and says he remembers Fennell saying a Black man killed his ex fiancé and was on death row.
When he asked Fennell more questions, he says Fennell stated, “I took care of her. And that damn n***** is going to do the time. The problem has been taken care of.”
He also testified that Fennell made a gesture as if he were choking someone when he made the statement.
The state sharply cross-examined all the witnesses, digging into their testimony and questioning why they waited to come forward. Both Rodney Reed and Stacey Stites had family in the room Tuesday, and had very different reactions to the testimony.
“It looks very positive for my brother's case, you know they're, they're presenting witnesses that come forward with testimony as to Jimmy Fennell’s character, and we're very hopeful," said Rodrick Reed, Rodney Reed's brother.
“By all means we want him to feel like he's presented all of the evidence, and so far I haven't seen anything that changes my mind that there was absolutely no reason for Rodney Reed to have any type of DNA on my sister. There was no evidence of any relationship and we still 100% believe that Rodney Reed raped and murdered my sister," said Debra Oliver, Stacey Stites' sister.
The defense also called up three other witnesses - Victor Juarez, Rebecca Randall and Paul Espinoza - who had worked at an H-E-B grocery store with Stites before she was killed. Juarez and Randall testified that they had seen Reed and Stites together on a handful of occasions before her death, while Espinoza said he once saw an interaction between Fennell and Stites end with Stites in tears. Fennell is on the defense’s witness list; Reed’s case really centers on pointing towards him as the killer.
If he is called to the stand this week, it is likely to get very tense in the courtroom.
Stites’ sister says she has been in contact with Fennell and still considers him to be her brother-in-law.
She firmly said she does not believe that he is the person who murdered her sister.
CORRECTION: One of the bullet points erroneously said the medical examiner testified on Tuesday. This has since been corrected to Monday.