Texas court rejects appeal for Rodney Reed

January 12, 2009

Below is a message from Adam Axel, activist and friend of Kenneth's:

Hello everyone – For the last 12 years Kenneth Foster has been isolated in his cell for at least 22 hours per day either on death row in solitary confinement (11 years) or for the last 1 year housed in the most restrictive unit available at the McConnell Unit. I am happy to report that finally, after one year of having his sentence commuted he has been granted level G2 status and is in general population at the McConnell Unit. He is FINALLY allowed contact visits and he had his first today with his Grandfather.  His Grandfather told me that he cannot describe in words the excitement that Kenneth had. He is also now assigned a job and is working in the kitchen. I will share more details as they arrive.

Best,

Adam

News: July 25, 2008

http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=648735

New Evidence Could Clear Death Row Inmate Rodney Reed

In a writ filed with the Court of Criminal Appeals on July 16, attorneys for death row inmate Rodney Reed are arguing that new evidence uncovered about the conduct of victim Stacey Stites' police-officer fiancé bolster Reed's claim of innocence. In court filings, Reed attorney Bryce Benjet tells the court not only that a witness has come forward to confirm that Reed and Stites were having an affair prior to her death, but also that there is additional evidence regarding Jimmy Fennell's apparent proclivity toward sexual violence.

Reed was convicted of the 1996 murder of Stites as she drove to work for an early-morning shift at the Bastrop HEB on April 23, 1996. Stites was strangled with a belt, and her body was dumped alongside a country road just north of town. Although DNA evidence on Stites' body eventually led investigators to Reed, who acknowledged having an affair with Stites, no other evidence tied Reed to the crime. Reed's supporters have long argued that Stites' fiance, Jimmy Fennell Jr., was a far more likely suspect because he was upset about Reed and Stites' relationship. In fact, although the state has claimed that Fennell, then a Giddings Police officer, was initially a suspect in the murder, documents related to the case show that he was never fully pursued: Police never searched the apartment the couple shared, even though it was, arguably, the last place Stites was seen alive, and they never fully processed Fennell's pickup truck, which Stites was allegedly driving the morning she was murdered. They instead returned the truck to Fennell within days of the murder. Fennell turned around and sold the truck.

Fennell, who most recently worked as a Georgetown Police officer, was indicted last year on charges including aggravated sexual assault and kidnapping related to his raping a woman he had taken into custody. Last month he agreed to plead guilty to two charges in exchange for two years in a state jail facility, but that plea deal was denied by Williamson Co. District Judge Burt Carnes, and Fennell will now go to trial in September. In addition, Reed attorney Benjet writes that information obtained from the Travis Co. Sheriff's Office demonstrates that Fennell was accused of trying to force a woman to dance for him naked back in 2004 after he pulled her over near Round Rock for having a "crooked license plate." When Fennell found out the woman was driving with an expired registration, he asked her what she "wanted to do about that," suggesting she drive to the parking lot of Inner Space Cavern, disrobe, and give him a "lap dance." She apparently avoided her fate by mentioning that she was friendly with the wife of the Williamson Co. sheriff. The woman immediately reported the incident to TCSO, but Georgetown Police Department officials apparently did not pursue the complaint.

The latest court filing also notes that Fennell has demonstrated a disturbing propensity for sexual violence on his personal MySpace page where he goes by the name "Point Man." The Web page features photos of Fennell dressed in a police SWAT-style uniform, often holding a weapon – including one photo where he is armed with an assault rifle. Further, Fennell has posted pictures of women in bondage positions and at least one picture that shows a person dressed as a police officer holding a gun to a woman's head while she gives him oral sex. Notably, another picture shows a woman from behind bending over the back of a car – the same position in which Fennell's rape victim reported being assaulted last fall.

"These public documents provide a rough outline of crimes of sexual violence committed or attempted by Mr. Fennell," Benjet argues in the court filing. "Fennell's character, credibility and propensity for violence have been at the center of Mr. Reed's innocence claims," and Reed should be afforded a new trial, Benjet continues. "This new information that Mr. Fennell used his badge and gun to kidnap and rape a woman in his custody, as well as his other sexual misconduct, is powerful evidence that confirms the other evidence relating to Mr. Fennell's jealous character, motive, and propensity for violence – especially against women," reads the court filing. "The denial of guilt found in Mr. Fennell's ... testimony" at Reed's 1998 trial "must be reconsidered in light of all of the evidence now known."

Fennell's criminal attorney, Bob Phillips, told the Austin American-Statesman that Benjet is "becoming desperate" and that making such allegations public "has the potential to taint any jury pool" in Fennell's sex assault case, "whether the allegations are true, false, reckless or utterly unfounded."

Following Hearing Postponement, Supporters of Michael Scott and Robert Springsteen to Hold Picket Outside of Travis County Courthouse

 Austin, TX – May 22, 2008 – Supporters of Michael Scott and Robert Springsteen – including Scott's wife Jeneanne and exonerated death row inmate Shujaa Graham – will hold a picket outside the Travis County Courthouse between 10^th and 11^th off Gudalupe at 5:30 p.m, Wednesday, May 27 demanding that all charges against the men be dropped.  The event was originally scheduled for May 14 to coincide with the two men's pre-trial hearing, but was cancelled after the hearing was postponed indefinitely.

Scott and Springsteen were convicted of capital murder in 2002 for the notorious 1991 "Yogurt Shop Murders" in which four teenage girls were found dead in a burnt North Austin yogurt shop.  Both men maintain their innocence and no physical evidence connects them to the scene.  Their convictions rested on confessions they claim were coerced by Austin police.  Supporters note that nearly 50 other individuals confessed to the murders during the original investigation, many of which were far more detailed than Scott and Springsteen's.

In 2004, Scott and Springsteen's convictions were overturned because the prosecution used each man's confession as evidence against the other without calling them to the stand.  The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled such practices unconstitutional because it violates a defendant's Sixth Amendment right to confront his accuser.

As the new trial approaches, recent DNA tests conducted on crime scene evidence have failed to implicate either Scott or Springsteen.  Judge Lynch recently allowed the defense to conduct further tests, postponing the new trial indefinitely.

"The only decent thing for Travis County to do at this point is drop all charges," said Bryan McCann, a supporter of Scott and Springsteen and member of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty, "When you're only piece of evidence is a coerced confession in which detectives pointed a gun to Michael Scott's head, you simply do not have a case."