Supporters of death row inmate Rodney Reed poured into a Bastrop courthouse Friday for the second day of a hearing on his case.
People lined up outside the courthouse to get a seat in the gallery. It was standing-room only for observers by late afternoon.
Reed was convicted in 1998 for the murder of Stacy Stites, who was killed in April 1996.
Reed's friends and family members firmly believe he was wrongly convicted and that the investigation into Stites' death was botched. At Thursday and Friday's hearing, Reed's attorneys tried to prove that county officials suppressed evidence during his 1998 trial. Reed's attorneys believe it is grounds for a new trial.
Former Bastrop County District Attorney Charles Penick testified Friday. Reed's attorneys say Penick knew about a key witness in the Stites case and never told anyone about it.
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Reed hearing
Supporters of Rodney Reed believe he was wrongly convicted in 1998 for the murder Stacey Stites.
 
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"It is our position he was made aware of that information and failed to take it seriously, and certainly did not inform the defense council [Reed's 1998 attorneys] about that information," defense attorney Morris Overstreet said.
That information has to do with a witness named Martha Barnett, who testified she saw Stites with her fiance, Jimmy Fennell, the morning of her murder.
Barnett said she told her attorney, Steven Keng. Keng said he informed Penick, but was ignored.
"Brushed aside. When he [Keng] offered that information, Penick did not even ask to how to contact that person [Barnett]," Overstreet said.
Penick didn't deny having that conversation with Keng about Barnett. On the stand Friday he told he judge about Keng: "I didn't take him seriously. I told him I have enough evidence against Rodney Reed already," Penick said.
But Penick said Keng didn't speak to him about the witness until four years after Reed was convicted.
"I think it's clear Mr. Penick's memory is not what it used to be," Overstreet said.
Now that the hearing has wrapped up, District Judge Reva Towslee-Corbett is expected to write a recommendation to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. She can either recommend the court revisit Reed's case, or just leave him on death row. Either way her recommendation is not binding. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals will have the final say on what happens with this case.
Reed's friends and family members wore T-shirts at the hearing that read, "Free Rodney Reed." Reed's mother Sandra said in the meantime supporters are hoping he gets a new trial.
"We're just holding on ... but we won't stop seeking justice for our son," she said.
