USA: Man at risk of execution: Rodney Reed
Rodney Reed has been on death row in Texas, USA since 1998. He is scheduled to be executed on 20 November 2019 in connection with the murder of a young white woman which he maintains he did not commit. He was convicted on the basis of DNA evidence that shows he had been in an intimate relationship with the victim; and the testimony of a forensic expert, later recanted, who stated at trial that the sexual encounter was contemporary to the murder. Several other experts and witnesses have provided affidavits disputing the evidence at trial, placing Reed’s conviction in doubt.
First UA: 146/19 Index: AMR 51/1338/2019 USA Date: 31 October 2019
URGENT ACTION
MAN AT RISK OF EXECUTION
Rodney Reed has been on death row in Texas, USA since 1998. He is scheduled to be executed on 20
November 2019 in connection with the murder of a young white woman which he maintains he did not commit.
He was convicted on the basis of DNA evidence that shows he had been in an intimate relationship with the
victim; and the testimony of a forensic expert, later recanted, who stated at trial that the sexual encounter
was contemporary to the murder. Several other experts and witnesses have provided affidavits disputing the
evidence at trial, placing Reed’s conviction in doubt.
TAKE ACTION: WRITE AN APPEAL IN YOUR OWN WORDS OR USE THIS MODEL
LETTER
Greg Abbott
Governor of Texas
Office of the Governor
P.O. Box 12428
Austin, Texas 78711
Telephone: 512.463.2000
Fax: 512.463.5745
Email: via webform
Dear Governor Abbott,
Rodney Reed has been on death row since 1998 and faces execution on 20 November. He maintains his
innocence and several experts cast doubts on his conviction.
Rodney Reed was convicted of the 1996 murder of a white woman. DNA testing of semen from her body
was matched to that of Rodney Reed, a black man, who claims they had a consensual romantic relationship.
New witnesses have corroborated this. Forensic experts dispute the time of death as stated at trial,
questioning the timeline implicating Reed. Texas courts have repeatedly denied requests for DNA testing
of other key evidence.
The death penalty is the ultimate denial of human rights. Since 1973, 166 people have been exonerated
from US death rows on innocence grounds.
I urge you to recommend and grant clemency to Rodney Reed and stop his and any future executions.
Yours sincerely,
First UA: 146/19 Index: AMR 51/1338/2019 USA Date: 31 October 2019
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Rodney Reed was convicted and sentenced to death in 1998 for the murder of Stacey Stites in Texas on 23 April
1996. DNA testing of semen from her body was matched to the DNA of Rodney Reed. The victim was engaged to
a white police officer and Rodney Reed initially denied knowing her, fearing being implicated in her murder. Several
witnesses have confirmed their relationship.
Expert opinion and other evidence call into question the state’s theory of the crime and the forensic evidence on
which it was based. The prosecution claimed Rodney Reed’s DNA was left during a rape contemporaneous with the
murder, occurring around 3am that day. The prosecution’s forensic expert has since signed a statement indicating
that his testimony was misused by the prosecution; that his estimate “should not have been used at trial as an
accurate statement of when Ms Stites died”; and that the semen could have been left more than 24 hours before
the victim’s death, consistent with Reed’s claim of consensual sex in that time frame. Three leading forensic
pathologists have also concluded that there is no evidence that Stacey Stites was sexually assaulted rather than
having engaged in consensual intercourse at least 24 hours earlier and was killed before midnight on 22 April 1996,
and her body kept face down for some four to six hours before being transported to where it was found. One expert
concluded that the forensic evidence renders the state’s theory about time of death “medically and scientifically
impossible”. Another concluded “beyond a reasonable degree of medical certainty that, based on all of the forensic
evidence, Mr. Reed is scheduled to be executed for a crime he did not commit”.
A 2015 execution date was stayed based on newly discovered evidence. However, Texas courts have repeatedly
denied requests for DNA testing of that crime scene evidence and reset his execution for 20 November 2019. His
attorneys wrote to the Governor on 21 October, urging him to grant a 30-day reprieve and allow the Board of Pardons
and Parole to investigate whether commutation should be granted. On 30 October, an application for clemency was
filed.
International safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty state that this
punishment “may be imposed only when the guilt of the person charged is based upon clear and convincing evidence
leaving no room for an alternative explanation of the facts.”
PREFERRED LANGUAGE TO ADDRESS TARGET: English
You can also write in your own language.
PLEASE TAKE ACTION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE UNTIL: 20 November 2019
Please check with the Amnesty office in your country if you wish to send appeals after the deadline.
NAME AND PREFFERED PRONOUN: Rodney Reed (He, him, his)
LINK TO PREVIOUS UA: n/a