July 2
TEXAS:
Death row inmate Rodney Reed’s family goes to Supreme Court after Texas appeal
denied
Anti-death penalty activists will join family and friends of Texas death row
inmate Rodney Reed in protest on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court in
Washington, D.C. Tuesday after the Texas high court denied Reed’s latest
appeal.
The family intends to plead with the Supreme Court to overturn what they say
was a wrongful conviction.
“Tonight, Rodrick and others in Rodney’s family are pleading with SCOTUS to
ensure Texas does not continue to violate Rodney’s constitutional rights by
denying him access to DNA testing of the crime scene evidence which can prove
his innocence and a new, fair trial,” the group wrote in a news release.
Stacey Stites was murdered in 1996 and her body was dumped on a rural Bastrop
County road. DNA from the Stites case matched Reed, but Reed said he had a
consensual and secret intimate relationship with her. Stites was engaged at the
time. Reed was convicted a year later in her death.
Reed has sought to overturn his conviction for years and the Court of Criminal
Appeals most recently dismissed his application for relief last week. Reed’s
lawyers argue that the scientific expert opinions used at trial more than 20
years ago have since changed.
In 2017, the appeals court denied Reed’s appeal after a hearing in Bastrop
County that included new testimony and evidence presented by the defense.
Reed’s case has garnered national attention as his defense team, led by
Innocence Project attorney Bryce Benjet, has uncovered new evidence, found new
witnesses and cast doubt on the state’s case and critical forensic evidence
used at trial.
Stites was set to marry Jimmy Fennell, a Georgetown police officer, at the time
of her murder. Fennell was later sentenced to 10 years in prison for an
unrelated crime. He was accused of raping a woman in his custody but pleaded
guilty to lesser charges. He was recently released from prison.
Reed’s attorney said a wealth of new evidence shows Fennell was the actual
killer.
(source: KXAN news)
FLORIDA:
Court hearing pace quickens for man facing death penalty in 2017 murder
A judge put Christopher Eugene Smith’s murder case on the fast track, telling
the attorney for the Dunnellon man facing the death penalty there’s enough time
to prepare.
Circuit Judge Richard “Ric” Howard on Monday set Smith’s next court appearance
for Sept. 25, when Howard ruled for 34-year-old Smith to either schedule a
trial or change his not-guilty plea.
“I’ve got nothing but time for trials,” Howard said.
Smith’s public defender, Ed Spaight, told the judge that pace is too fast for
him to line up witnesses and evidence for not just Smith’s trial but also for
his sentencing phase, if it comes to that.
“I just don’t see it being ready…60 days from now,” Spaight said.
Assistant State Attorney Pete Magrino, who filed Smith’s death penalty notice
last October, said he’s fine with Howard’s decision.
A Citrus County grand jury indicted Smith and Sara Jane Atwood in September
2018 for the April 2017 premeditated murder of James Thomas Roman and the armed
burglary of his home on West Cardamon Place in Lecanto.
Atwood, 25, of Inverness, has a court hearing on July 15 and a trial scheduled
for the week of July 22.
Atwood, a beneficiary of Roman’s will is accused of conspiring with Smith to
burglarize the 73-year-old’s house, where Smith allegedly strangled Roman to
death during the break-in, reports show.
Smith then stole Roman’s Nissan pickup truck and led sheriff’s deputies and
Florida Highway Patrol troopers on a pursuit that ended with his apprehension
in Marion County.
A Judge sentenced Smith in September 2017 to a year and six months for charges
connected with the pursuit. Authorities later extradited Smith to Citrus County
last September to face his pending charges.
Smith is also facing charges connected to May allegations he attacked a jail
inmate and held a dozen others hostage with a homemade knife.
(source: Citrus County Chronicle)
LOUISIANA:
Jury selection underway in Kevin Daigle capital murder trial
Nearly 4 years since the fatal shooting of State Trooper Steven Vincent, jury
selection is scheduled to get underway in the trial of the man accused in his
death.
Kevin Daigle, 57, is charged with 1st-degree murder and could face the death
penalty if convicted.
Jury selection is expected to take about a week. The trial is expected to last
2 to 3 weeks.
Vincent, a 13-year veteran of the Louisiana State Police, was shot on the side
of La. 14 near Bell City on Aug. 23, 2015. He died the next day.
Daigle is also accused of killing another man, 54-year-old Blake Brewer, in
Moss Bluff the same day. Daigle is charged with 2nd-degree murder in Brewer’s
death, but that charge will be tried separately.
The trial is being held in Lafayette after Judge Clayton Davis granted a change
of venue.
(source: KPLC news)
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