It's April 23, 1996. In the woods of Bastrop, investigators process the body of 19-year-old Stacey Stites. Their work leads to the rape and murder conviction of Stites' lover, Rodney Reed.
Reed has spent the past ten years on death row asking for reprieve.
"With every year that goes by in this case something
new comes out," said Bryce Benjet, Reed's attorney.
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Rodney Reed
Death Row inmate has new hope.
 
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Reed's lawyers are getting ready to ask again.
A large part of their new case surrounds Stites' fiance at the time of her murder and prime suspect in the initial murder case, Jimmy Fennell.
Fennell, a former police officer in Georgetown, was recently indicted for allegations of raping a woman in custody at gunpoint.
In the new case, lawyers write, "It's strong confirmation of the other evidence establishing his propensity for violence and his
abuse of women."
Another piece of their case concerns the Bastrop County Sheriff
at the time of Reed's conviction, Richard Hernandez.
This week Hernandez pleaded guilty to corruption charges that included theft.
"Other members of the Bastrop County Sheriffs Office were involved in this, and this could have only established a
culture of lawlessness at that agency," said Benjet.
Reed's father Walter said the corruption was always there, it's
just taken 10 years to surface.
"I think it's given them enough time for all of the scum to float
to the top," Walter Reed said.
Rodney Reed's lawyers also bring up DNA results found on a beer can at Stites's crime scene. They said tests point to Fennell's neighbor and fellow police officer David Hall. Yet another piece to a complicated puzzle.
"Mr. Reed did not commit this crime. And as evidence comes out, we're looking into it," Benjet said.
Lawyers on both sides of the Reed case will be given 20 minutes
to speak before the Court of Criminal Appeals on March 19.
