AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued an order Tuesday that a hearing for Rodney Reed in Bastrop County is stayed until further notice.
The hearing, originally set for Wednesday, was a last-minute attempt for Reed's attorneys to ask a judge to void the execution order set by Senior Judge Doug Shaver in July.
Reed's attorneys argued in their motion that Shaver did not have the authority to order the execution because his assignment as judge ended before he finished the case.
"There is no question that both the term of court and the term of the elected District Court Judge at the time of the May 28, 2014, assignment expired long before the July 2019 execution order was entered," Reed's lawyers said in the motion.
In response to this motion filed by Reed's lawyers, the Bastrop County District Attorney filed an application for a writ of prohibition to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, claiming the court should prevent the hearing from happening.
The Court of Appeals ordered Tuesday that the hearing is stayed until the judge who ordered the execution and the judge who would preside over the motion to void the order submit a response to the Court of Appeals.
Those responses are due by 4 p.m. on Wednesday, which will influence the Court of Appeals to decide whether the hearing will happen.
Reed also waits for a recommendation from the Board of Pardons and Paroles as to whether his sentence should be commuted to life in prison.
If the Board makes that recommendation, Gov. Greg Abbott can then agree or disagree.
Otherwise, Gov. Abbott can grant a 30-day reprieve, which would delay the execution for 30 days in addition to a 90-day notice before the injection.
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