BASTROP, Texas — Ten state witnesses were called for Rodney Reed's evidentiary hearing on Wednesday as the death row inmate hopes to convince the judge someone else killed Stacey Stites in 1996.
The defense team contends the victim's fiancé, Jimmy Fennell, is the real murderer.
Reed was convicted of abducting, raping and strangulating Stites in 1998.
But Fennell's family is defending him. His sister, mother and cousin all testified that Fennell and Stites loved each other and that they couldn't wait to get married.
When Stites turned up missing and when her body was found on April 23, 1996, all three said Fennell was devastated. His sister, Crystal Dohrman said, all the life went out of him.
"It was like talking to a ghost," Dorhman said.
She also said she never asked him if he killed Stites because she knew he didn't do it.
His cousin, Mark Brown, testified that even after the former Georgetown police officer was convicted and spent 10 years in prison for kidnapping and having sex with someone in his custody, Brown said he still thought Fennell was "a real man with morals." That got some in the gallery chuckling, which triggered a warning from the judge.
OT Brandley showed up in court on Wednesday to show his support for the Reed family. His brother, Clarence Brandley, was wrongfully convicted of the brutal murder of 16-year-old Cheryl Fergeson in 1981.
Brandley spent nearly 10 years on death row before he was exonerated because of a violation of his due process rights.
"I pray for Rodney Reed. I pray for anybody that is wrongly convicted, and I have no doubt that Rodney Reed is an innocent man," Brandley said.
Stites' sister, Debra Oliver, also took the stand. She said Stites and Fennell were well suited for each other.
When asked if she ever asked Fennell if he killed Stites, she said maybe but she has no reason to believe he did it.
The State will call a handful of witnesses on Thursday.
The defense said they plan to call one rebuttal witness but that witness was not available until Friday.
Court is recessed until 9 a.m. Thursday.
On Tuesday, the judge said the hearing will go on longer each day this week to finish up by Friday. If it doesn't finish by then, the hearing may have to be extended to next week.
In 1998, Reed was convicted of the 1996 abduction, rape and murder of Stacey Stites. For more than 20 years, Reed has maintained his innocence and he is now trying to get a new trial to clear his name.
On Tuesday, state witness Dr. Suzanna Dana, a former deputy medical examiner for Travis County, continued on the stand from the day before. She testified about Stites' time of death, the sexual assault and the DNA evidence. The day's two other state witnesses – Dr. Norma Farley, the deputy chief medical examiner for Bexar County, and Amber Moss, a DNA analyst for the Texas Department of Public Safety from Garland – also testified on these matters.
Read a recap of Tuesday's proceedings here.
Testimony continues Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. KVUE's Jenni Lee will be present in the courtroom and will tweet live updates. Check back on this story for the latest updates throughout the day.
Day eight live updates:
The court stands in recess until 9 a.m. on Thursday.
2:55 p.m. – Stacey Stites' sister, Debra Oliver, is called as a state witness.
She says Stites was the youngest of four siblings and they were three-and-a-half years apart. Oliver says she was the closest sibling to Stites.
Oliver said she remembers when Stites met Fennell. She says they were very happy and well suited for each other.
Oliver said she talked to Stites all the time ... they always kept in touch. The last conversation she had with Stacey was about the wedding. Oliver said Stites did not express any reservations about marrying Fennell, and she was excited about the wedding. Everyone was excited about the wedding.
Oliver said she last saw Stites in February 1996 in Corpus Cristi. When she got the call that Stites was missing, Oliver said her mom and Fennel "were a mess." Later, She recalls Fennell saying he should have driven Stites to work while crying.
During cross-examination, Oliver said she has never been suspicious of Fennell's actions. He seemed like a person in mourning and after her sister was laid to rest, she kept in touch with him. Oliver says despite Fennell's conviction of kidnapping and improper sexual contact with a person in custody, she still believes that he is a good person. Oliver says she may have asked Fennell if he killed Stites but she has no reason to believe he did it.
Oliver said while everyone in the courtroom is seeking justice, she didn't find the defense's witnesses credible.
2:12 p.m. – Mark Brown, Jimmy Fennell's cousin, is called as the ninth state witness. He says Fennell and Stites were always together. In 1995, Brown met Stites for the first and only time at the annual family reunion. He said it was a big deal for Fennell to bring Stites to a family reunion and that Fennell really loved her.
Brown says he wore the suit he bought for Fennel and Stites' wedding to her funeral instead. He said he had never seen Fennell cry like he did at the funeral. According to Brown, the time period after Stites' death was tough and stressful for Fennell. Investigators kept coming around asking the same questions.
The defense begins to cross-examine Mark Brown. Brown says he and Fennell are like brothers and he described Fennell as "a real man with morals." He previously made that same statement in writing after Fennell was convicted of kidnapping and improper sexual contact with someone in his custody. Brown says he still agrees with that statement.
1:40 p.m. – Thelma Fennell, Jimmy Fennell's mother, is called as a state witness. She says her son has always been quiet and avoided conflict. She says he was crazy about Stites and vice versa, and she shows a picture of the pair right after police academy graduation. She says Stites was proud of him.
She says she was planning their wedding just days before Stites' murder. She says Stites told her she almost had her wedding dress paid off, and they were going to pick out flowers that weekend. At the time of Stites' murder, Thelma Fennell was living in Georgetown, where Jimmy Fennell grew up.
Thelma Fennell says she met with Stites days before her murder and saw wedding gifts. She said Stites seemed happy. The day she found out Stites was missing, Thelma Fennell got a call from her son. He told her, "Someone took my baby." She says she was confused and he was sobbing so much that she couldn't understand him.
She says Jimmy Fennell was distraught and wasn't sleeping – no one was. She says he got a prescription for Xanax to help.
She also says quite a few people attended Stites' service. Her viewing and funeral were in Guidings, but the burial was in Corpus Christi.
The defense begins to cross-examine Thelma Fennell. She says she can't speak to how the couple was when they weren't with her, but she says she has always been proud of her son.
12:30 p.m. – Crystal Dohrman, Jimmy Fennell's sister, is called as a state witness. She says Stites and Fennell loved each other and would visit her home and go fishing. Dohrman says when Stites disappeared, all the life went out of Fennell and talking to him "was like talking to a ghost."
Defense Attorney Andrew Macrae begins cross-examining Dohrman. She says she has never asked her brother if he killed Stites.
Dohrman says in conversations about what happened to Stites, she doesn't remember her brother saying what time Stites went to bed the night before she disappeared or what time she went to work right before the murder. She says their wedding was postponed because a lot was going on.
She says she didn't ask her brother if he killed Stites because she knows he didn't do it. She also didn't ask why Fennell committed the crimes he was convicted for.
Dohrman says she doesn't believe Reed is innocent and says he should do time because he's hurt a lot of people.
Court breaks for lunch.
11:39 a.m. – Kenneth Kopecky is the state's next witness. Kopecky is a current chef who did time in the Fayette County Jail for burglary. He says he can't remember a statement he made in 1998 where he had a conversation with Rodney Reed. Kopecky says back then, Reed's cell was across the hall but now says that is inaccurate. Kopecky reads the affidavit and says it was like he was reading it for the first time. He just could not remember saying it even though he signed the affidavit. No cross-examination.
Rene Maldonado is the next witness. The former Bastrop County Sheriff's Office transport officer says he took Reed to the courthouse on April 3, 1998. He says in casual conversation, Reed said he was with Stites a few days prior to her murder. This statement was given 23 years ago.
11:13 a.m. – Prosecutor Travis Bragg is questioning the state's witness, Jay Hart with Texas Department of Criminal Justice. He is the custodian of gang records. Texas Aryan Brotherhood, which started in 1983. The Aryan Brotherhood originally started in California. Arthur Snow came onto Hart's radar after reading a Statesman article.
Hart testifies that Snow self-admitted he was a gang member in that article, but there was no file on record that Snow was a member of Texas Aryan Brotherhood or any gang. Snow has previously testified that he was a member of the Aryan Brotherhood.
Hart says he has since started a file on Snow because he self-admitted as a former Texas Aryan Brotherhood member in that article. He also says TDCJ staff considered Snow as a leader type.
Hart says Jimmy Fennell was at the Stevenson Unit prior to Snow showing up at the unit.
Defense attorney George Kendall begins cross-examining Hart. There are about 500 known members of the Texas Aryan Brotherhood in TDCJ but Hart admits there could be members he doesn't know about. He says he doesn't know the ones who have not been identified.
Bragg and Hart: prosecutor tried to ask why Fennell waited two years before asking for protection from Texas Aryan Brotherhood, but the defense objected and judge sustained.
10:25 a.m. – The State's next witness is Kelly Enloe from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Travis Bragg is now questioning. Enloe says Arthur Snow – a former Aryan Brotherhood member who met Jimmy Fennell in prison and testified that Fennell confessed to killing Stacey Stites – asked for a transfer in prison.
Enloe says Snow's request for transfer is based on his change of religion. She says Snow requested a transfer to the Stevenson unit, where Native American services are offered. Defense Attorney Andrew Macrae and Enloe say there is nothing wrong with changing religion in prison.
10 a.m. – Defense attorney Barry Scheck cross-examines Heard. Based on an article he has her read on the stand, she agrees with findings that if semen is deposited on clothing and that piece of clothing is not laundered for several months, the semen can still be detected.
Scheck and Heard: no one has asked her to swab beer can that David Hall could not be excluded from using a more sensitive DNA system.
Tanner and Heard: all re-interpretations from DPS are post convictions and requests are common.
9:27 a.m. – Judge J.D. Langley is counting down the hours left of hearing for each side: about 12 hours for the defense and approximately 13 hours for the state.
Prosecutor Lisa Tanner calls witness Allison Heard, DPS DNA section supervisor, was also an analyst. Heard was involved in the re-interpretation of DNA analysis. She says DNA testing was done on two beer cans found at the Stacey Stites murder scene. Heard says additional DNA testing was conducted on the same two beer cans in 2001 and yielded a mixture profile. Heard says it could not exclude Stacey Stites, Ed Salmela (now deceased Bastrop police officer and acquaintance of Jimmy Fennell) and David Hall (officer and friend of Fennell).
Heard says, however, based on the most up-to-date scientific methods DPS uses, she cannot conclude who drank from those two beer cans.
Background:
Earlier this month, Reed attended a pre-evidentiary hearing in Bastrop County. Reed’s defense attorneys said they have new forensic evidence to present during the appeal hearing that will prove his innocence.
The defense also said it has expert testimony showing that Stites died earlier than originally thought and that sperm can remain intact longer.
The appeal hearing is expected to last for two weeks.
In 2019, Reed received a stay of execution, just days before his scheduled execution date. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted the stay based on possibly concealed information, false testimony and the chance that he is innocent.
His case gained national attention in 2019 after celebrities, including Beyonce and Kim Kardashian, spoke out in an effort to stop his execution.
Stites was killed in 1996, just days before her wedding. Her body was found along a highway in Bastrop County, and authorities arrested Reed after his DNA matched the DNA found inside her body.
Reed maintains he is innocent, stating he and Stites were having a consensual affair.
KVUE launched a podcast in 2019, taking a look at Reed's case. Listen here.
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