Entries tagged with “Rodney Reed”

United States Supreme Court

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Innocence

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Oct 09, 2024

A ​“Meaningless Ritual”? U.S. Supreme Court Agrees to Decide Whether Ruben Gutierrez Can Challenge Texas DNA Testing Procedures to Prove His Innocence

On Friday, October 4, the Supreme Court agreed to hear argu­ments in Gutierrez v. Saenz, a case regard­ing death-sen­tenced Texas pris­on­er Ruben Gutierrez’s abil­i­ty to sue the state for DNA test­ing in sup­port of his inno­cence claim. The Court had issued a stay to Mr. Gutierrez on July 16, just twen­ty min­utes before his sched­uled exe­cu­tion. Mr. Gutierrez was con­vict­ed and sen­tenced to death in 1999 for the mur­der and rob­bery of an 85-year-old woman but has long main­tained his innocence.

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Jul 08, 2024

Significant Developments in Cases of Innocent Prisoners on Death Row

On Wednesday, July 3rd, the 200th death row exon­er­a­tion was announced. But an unknown num­ber of pris­on­ers with com­pelling inno­cence claims remain on death row, unable to secure relief either because they lack access to com­pe­tent legal rep­re­sen­ta­tion for their appeals, are barred from access­ing the courts because of pro­ce­dur­al legal bar­ri­ers, or due to the incal­ci­trance of elect­ed offi­cials. For some of these pris­on­ers, exe­cu­tion dates have been set. Significant devel­op­ments have occurred…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Prosecutorial Accountability

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Jun 30, 2023

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Rejects Rodney Reed’s Brady, False Testimony, and Actual Innocence Claims

On June 28, 2023, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (TCCA) denied Rodney Reed’s (pic­tured) appli­ca­tion for habeas relief and reject­ed Mr. Reed’s claim that pros­e­cu­tors at his 1998 tri­al ille­gal­ly pre­sent­ed false tes­ti­mo­ny and with­held excul­pa­to­ry evi­dence that could have exon­er­at­ed him. His case gained inter­na­tion­al atten­tion in 2019 when a bipar­ti­san group of law­mak­ers urged Republican Governor Abbot to stop his exe­cu­tion. Throughout his incar­cer­a­tion, he has con­tin­ued to main­tain his…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Race

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United States Supreme Court

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Apr 20, 2023

Supreme Court (6 – 3) Allows Death Row Prisoner’s Bid for DNA Testing to Proceed

On April 19, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled (6 – 3) in Reed v. Goertz that a Texas death row pris­on­er could con­tin­ue his pur­suit of DNA test­ing that a low­er court had blocked. The Court held that Rodney Reed’s (pic­tured) civ­il rights claim was filed in fed­er­al court in a timely…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Race

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United States Supreme Court

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Oct 12, 2022

Supreme Court Hears Argument on Deadline for Texas Death-Row Prisoner to Challenge State Court’s Denial of DNA Testing

The U.S. Supreme Court heard argu­ment on October 11, 2022 on whether a Texas death-row pris­on­er was time-barred from obtain­ing fed­er­al review of the state’s refusal to grant him DNA test­ing that could prove his inno­cence because he wait­ed for the state appeals process to fin­ish before fil­ing his federal…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Race

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United States Supreme Court

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May 05, 2022

Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Case of Texas Death Row Prisoner Rodney Reed

In a case legal experts say could redress a mis­car­riage of jus­tice or insti­tu­tion­al­ize it, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review the Texas fed­er­al courts’ refusal to per­mit DNA test­ing of crime-scene evi­dence that could poten­tial­ly exon­er­ate death-row pris­on­er Rodney…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Race

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Nov 02, 2021

Texas Judge Recommends Denying Death-Row Prisoner Rodney Reed’s Innocence Claim

A Texas dis­trict court judge has rec­om­mend­ed that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (TCCA) deny death-row pris­on­er Rodney Reed​’s inno­cence claim and allow his con­vic­tion and death sen­tence to stand for the 1996 mur­der of Stacey Stites. In a November 1, 2021 deci­sion after ten days of tes­ti­mo­ny in July and clos­ing state­ments in October, Bastrop County District Court Judge J.D. Langley issued Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Recommendations…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Race

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Oct 22, 2021

Attorneys Present Closing Arguments in Rodney Reed Innocence Hearing

A Bastrop, Texas tri­al court heard clos­ing argu­ments October 18, 2021 on whether Texas death-row pris­on­er Rodney Reed should be grant­ed a new tri­al in the April 1996 mur­der of Stacey Stites. The argu­ment con­clud­ed the adver­sar­i­al por­tion of an extra­or­di­nary evi­den­tiary hear­ing ordered by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (TCCA) to review Reed’s claims that pros­e­cu­tors secured his con­vic­tions for rape and mur­der by sup­press­ing excul­pa­to­ry evi­dence and pre­sent­ing false…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Race

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Jul 23, 2021

Texas Court Holds Innocence Hearing for Rodney Reed, as Advocates Rally in Support

Lawyers for Texas death-row pris­on­er Rodney Reed (pic­tured) pre­sent­ed four days of tes­ti­mo­ny in a Bastrop County cour­t­house in an attempt to estab­lish his inno­cence of the mur­der of Stacey Stites, as activists, reli­gious lead­ers, and mem­bers of Reed’s fam­i­ly ral­lied in sup­port of his…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Intellectual Disability

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Prosecutorial Accountability

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Race

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May 06, 2020

In Case Permeated with Race Bias, Tennessee Plans to Execute Possibly Innocent and Intellectually Disabled Black Man in Murder of White Woman

Pervis Payne (pic­tured) was young, black, and, he says, in the wrong place at the wrong time. The son of a min­is­ter, he is on death row in Tennessee, con­vict­ed of the hor­rif­ic mur­ders of a white woman and her two-year-old daugh­ter and the stab­bing of her three-year-old son in 1987. His case, pro­filed by Steven Hale in The Appeal on April 29, 2020, fea­tures evi­dence of inno­cence, intel­lec­tu­al dis­abil­i­ty, pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al mis­con­duct, and racial…

Facts & Research

Religion

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United States Supreme Court

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Apr 10, 2020

U.S. Supreme Court Declines to Review Texas Judicial Bigotry Case

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to review the case of Jewish death-row pris­on­er Randy Halprin (pic­tured), who was tried and sen­tenced to death in Texas before a judge who made anti-Semitic and racist com­ments about Halprin and his co-defen­dants. The April 6, 2020 deci­sion marked the sec­ond time in less than two months that the Court has declined to review a con­tro­ver­sial Texas death-penal­ty case in the wake of stays of exe­cu­tion that left…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Prosecutorial Accountability

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United States Supreme Court

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Feb 24, 2020

News Brief — Supreme Court Declines to Review Rodney Reed Case

NEWS (2/​24/​20): On February 24, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court denied Texas death-row pris­on­er Rodney Reed’s peti­tion for writ of cer­tio­rari, declin­ing to review his case. Reed’s peti­tion raised the ques­tion, not yet addressed by the Court, ​“Does the con­vic­tion or exe­cu­tion of a per­son who is actu­al­ly inno­cent of the crime vio­late the United States Constitution?” It also asked the Court to con­sid­er the appro­pri­ate stan­dard for low­er courts to assess: (1) the prej­u­dice from the…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Clemency

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Upcoming Executions

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Nov 15, 2019

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Stays Execution of Rodney Reed

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals stayed the exe­cu­tion of Rodney Reed (pic­tured) on November 15, 2019, direct­ing the Bastrop County dis­trict court to review Reed’s claims that pros­e­cu­tors sup­pressed excul­pa­to­ry evi­dence and pre­sent­ed false tes­ti­mo­ny and that he is actu­al­ly inno­cent. The court’s action cul­mi­nat­ed a whirl­wind of activ­i­ty on the Friday pre­ced­ing Reed’s sched­uled November 20 exe­cu­tion. Earlier in the after­noon, the Texas Board of Pardons and…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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New Voices

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Oct 15, 2019

Dr. Phil Airs Two-Part Investigation of Rodney Reed Case

The case of Texas death-row pris­on­er Rodney Reed (pic­tured, right), who is fac­ing exe­cu­tion in Texas on November 20, 2019 despite pow­er­ful evi­dence of inno­cence, is attract­ing nation­al atten­tion from unusu­al sources. On October 10 and 11, the syn­di­cat­ed tele­vi­sion show Dr. Phil devot­ed two episodes to an inves­ti­ga­tion of the inno­cence claims in Reed’s…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Race

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New Voices

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Sep 17, 2019

Supporters Rally for New Trial for Rodney Reed, Sentenced to Death by All-White Jury in ​‘Jim Crow Trial’ in Texas

Supporters of Rodney Reed (pic­tured) are call­ing for a new tri­al for the Texas death-row pris­on­er sen­tenced to death in 1998 by an all-white jury in a racial­ly charged tri­al. On September 10, 2019, Reed’s fam­i­ly and sup­port­ers protest­ed Texas’ death penal­ty out­side the governor’s man­sion in Austin. Their plea for a new tri­al based on evi­dence of his inno­cence has been joined by a grow­ing cho­rus of sup­port­ers, which include the Innocence Project, the victim’s…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Feb 17, 2015

UPCOMING EXECUTION: New Evidence Raises Doubts About Texas Inmate’s Guilt

Attorneys for Rodney Reed, a death row inmate in Texas, have filed a peti­tion in a coun­ty court with new evi­dence sup­port­ing an alter­nate the­o­ry of the crime that led to Reed’s con­vic­tion. Reed is sched­uled to be exe­cut­ed on March 5 for the mur­der of Stacy…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Representation

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United States Supreme Court

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New Voices

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Jul 22, 2014

NEW VOICES: Retired Judges Support Death Row Inmate’s Appeal

In a brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, eight retired judges recent­ly asked the Court to review the case of Texas death row inmate Rodney Reed. Reed is sched­uled to be exe­cut­ed in January 2015. While the judges, who served on fed­er­al and state courts in many juris­dic­tions around the coun­try, did not take a stance on Reed’s inno­cence claims, they urged the Court to hear his appeal so that new evi­dence in the case could be exam­ined under…