UPDATE 11/26/14: Visiting judge Doug Shaver rejected a request Tuesday for additional DNA testing in Rodney Reed’s case.
Judge Shaver said the additional DNA testing would delay Reed’s execution. His execution date was moved from January to March 5th.
ORIGINAL STORY: A Texas court will hear testimony today about whether or not to allow DNA testing of additional evidence in the murder case of Rodney Reed. He was convicted in 1998 of the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites near Bastrop, Texas. Reed says he is innocent.
Some of Stites' family members are convinced law enforcement got the wrong man, and that law enforcement should look within their own ranks to find Stites' real killer.
At the time of her death, Stites was engaged to Jimmy Fennell, who was a Giddings police officer. In a recent article for The Intercept, investigative reporter Jordan Smith chronicles problems discovered in the investigation of the murder, and why some believe Fennell is the real killer.
KUT's Jennifer Stayton talked recently with Smith about the investigation into Stites' murder.
