[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., LA.

[Rick Halperin]

July 2



TEXAS:

Death row inmate Rodney Reed’s family goes to Supreme Court after Texas appeal 
denied



Anti-death penalty activists will join family and friends of Texas death row 
inmate Rodney Reed in protest on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court in 
Washington, D.C. Tuesday after the Texas high court denied Reed’s latest 
appeal.

The family intends to plead with the Supreme Court to overturn what they say 
was a wrongful conviction.

“Tonight, Rodrick and others in Rodney’s family are pleading with SCOTUS to 
ensure Texas does not continue to violate Rodney’s constitutional rights by 
denying him access to DNA testing of the crime scene evidence which can prove 
his innocence and a new, fair trial,” the group wrote in a news release.

Stacey Stites was murdered in 1996 and her body was dumped on a rural Bastrop 
County road. DNA from the Stites case matched Reed, but Reed said he had a 
consensual and secret intimate relationship with her. Stites was engaged at the 
time. Reed was convicted a year later in her death.

Reed has sought to overturn his conviction for years and the Court of Criminal 
Appeals most recently dismissed his application for relief last week. Reed’s 
lawyers argue that the scientific expert opinions used at trial more than 20 
years ago have since changed.

In 2017, the appeals court denied Reed’s appeal after a hearing in Bastrop 
County that included new testimony and evidence presented by the defense.

Reed’s case has garnered national attention as his defense team, led by 
Innocence Project attorney Bryce Benjet, has uncovered new evidence, found new 
witnesses and cast doubt on the state’s case and critical forensic evidence 
used at trial.

Stites was set to marry Jimmy Fennell, a Georgetown police officer, at the time 
of her murder. Fennell was later sentenced to 10 years in prison for an 
unrelated crime. He was accused of raping a woman in his custody but pleaded 
guilty to lesser charges. He was recently released from prison.

Reed’s attorney said a wealth of new evidence shows Fennell was the actual 
killer.

(source: KXAN news)








FLORIDA:

Court hearing pace quickens for man facing death penalty in 2017 murder



A judge put Christopher Eugene Smith’s murder case on the fast track, telling 
the attorney for the Dunnellon man facing the death penalty there’s enough time 
to prepare.

Circuit Judge Richard “Ric” Howard on Monday set Smith’s next court appearance 
for Sept. 25, when Howard ruled for 34-year-old Smith to either schedule a 
trial or change his not-guilty plea.

“I’ve got nothing but time for trials,” Howard said.

Smith’s public defender, Ed Spaight, told the judge that pace is too fast for 
him to line up witnesses and evidence for not just Smith’s trial but also for 
his sentencing phase, if it comes to that.

“I just don’t see it being ready…60 days from now,” Spaight said.

Assistant State Attorney Pete Magrino, who filed Smith’s death penalty notice 
last October, said he’s fine with Howard’s decision.

A Citrus County grand jury indicted Smith and Sara Jane Atwood in September 
2018 for the April 2017 premeditated murder of James Thomas Roman and the armed 
burglary of his home on West Cardamon Place in Lecanto.

Atwood, 25, of Inverness, has a court hearing on July 15 and a trial scheduled 
for the week of July 22.

Atwood, a beneficiary of Roman’s will is accused of conspiring with Smith to 
burglarize the 73-year-old’s house, where Smith allegedly strangled Roman to 
death during the break-in, reports show.

Smith then stole Roman’s Nissan pickup truck and led sheriff’s deputies and 
Florida Highway Patrol troopers on a pursuit that ended with his apprehension 
in Marion County.

A Judge sentenced Smith in September 2017 to a year and six months for charges 
connected with the pursuit. Authorities later extradited Smith to Citrus County 
last September to face his pending charges.

Smith is also facing charges connected to May allegations he attacked a jail 
inmate and held a dozen others hostage with a homemade knife.

(source: Citrus County Chronicle)








LOUISIANA:

Jury selection underway in Kevin Daigle capital murder trial



Nearly 4 years since the fatal shooting of State Trooper Steven Vincent, jury 
selection is scheduled to get underway in the trial of the man accused in his 
death.

Kevin Daigle, 57, is charged with 1st-degree murder and could face the death 
penalty if convicted.

Jury selection is expected to take about a week. The trial is expected to last 
2 to 3 weeks.

Vincent, a 13-year veteran of the Louisiana State Police, was shot on the side 
of La. 14 near Bell City on Aug. 23, 2015. He died the next day.

Daigle is also accused of killing another man, 54-year-old Blake Brewer, in 
Moss Bluff the same day. Daigle is charged with 2nd-degree murder in Brewer’s 
death, but that charge will be tried separately.

The trial is being held in Lafayette after Judge Clayton Davis granted a change 
of venue.

(source: KPLC news)