Tag Archives: wrongful conviction

#RodneyReed: Celebs Rally Around Texas Death Row Inmate As Witness Alleges Victim’s Lover Confessed To Murdering His “N***** Loving Fiancé”

Source: Wilaipon Pasawat / EyeEm / Getty Rodney Reed Rallies Public Support In Case, Asking Gov. Abbott To Stop His Execution Amid New Evidence Rodney Reed is scheduled to be executed in Texas on November 20th. He’s been on death row for 21 years for the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites in Bastrop, Texas. Police claim Reed assaulted, raped and strangled Stites, but he has ALWAYS maintained his innocence . The case has drawn significant media attention, with Reed gaining support from a number of public figures including Kim Kardashian , Dr. Phil and Shaun King all rallying for his execution to be stopped and another suspect to be thoroughly investigated. View this post on Instagram Watch this. We need ALL HANDS ON DECK. Rodney is going to be wrongly executed in 16 days. @DrPhil knows what I know. Rodney did not commit this crime. Go NOW to FreeRodneyReed.com, join our team, sign our petition, and let’s save this man’s life. The link is in my bio. A post shared by Shaun King (@shaunking) on Nov 3, 2019 at 7:28am PST Much of the support for Reed comes on the heels of former inmate Arthur Snow Jr. filing an affidavit in court earlier this week saying Stites’ fiancé, Jimmy Fennell, confessed to the murder years ago. In 2010, while Snow was serving a sentence for forgery at a DeWitt County, TX prison when he made a deal with Fennell, who was seeking protection from other prisoners, according to the affidavit. At the time Snow was a member of the Aryan Brotherhood gang. According to CNN reports, Snow’s affidavit states he was in the prison yard with Fennell when he began bragging about killing Stites: “Jimmy said his fiancé had been sleeping around with a black man behind his back,” Snow wrote. “Toward the end of the conversation Jimmy said confidently, ‘I had to kill my n*****- loving fiancé,’” he added. “My impression was the Jimmy felt safe, even proud, sharing this information with me because I was a member of the Aryan Brotherhood. I think Jimmy assumed that his confession would impress me and earn him credibility with the Aryan Brotherhood.” SMH. Snow claims he didn’t know about Reed’s case until a few years ago when he saw a photo of Fennell along with an article about Reed while he was jailed in Texas’ Hays County for a different offense. He says in his affidavit that that is when he realized Reed had been imprisoned for the murder Fennell confessed to him. In the meantime, Fennell’s attorney, Robert Phillips, said Snow is a career criminal and his claim is not credible nor in the “world of reality.” It’s worth noting that Jimmy Fennell served time in prison for rape years after Stites murder, but his attorney notes he’s since been released and has converted to Christianity and been helping people with drug addictions, Phillips said. Fennell, who is a former police officer, was identified as a suspect during the police investigation into Stites’ killing, but he was never formerly charged. Reed’s attorneys filed an application for clemency last week as they attempt to block his execution. According to CNN reports , Bryce Benjet, a senior staff attorney at the Innocence Project and Reed’s lead counsel, said evidence clearly shows that Reed did not kill Stites. “Mr. Reed’s execution is less than one month away, meaning Texas is frighteningly close to executing an innocent man,” Benjet said in a statement. Between the medical and scientific evidence, and multiple new, credible witnesses, the original case trial has been completely deconstructed and disproven.” In the meantime, Reed’s supporters are asking for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to intervene and stop his execution.

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#RodneyReed: Celebs Rally Around Texas Death Row Inmate As Witness Alleges Victim’s Lover Confessed To Murdering His “N***** Loving Fiancé”

Kansas Man Spends Decades In Prison For A Crime Committed By His Doppleganger, Gets Awarded $1.1 Million 

Source: Mongkol Nitirojsakul / EyeEm / Getty The state of Kansas has finally passed a new law that provides compensation to people who are wrongly imprisoned — and first up to receive his retribution is 42-year-old Richard Anthony Jones. According to NBC News , Jones spent 17 years in prison for a crime he has always insisted he didn’t commit. Then attorneys discovered that there was a man who looked nearly identical to him and had a similar name. Back in June 2017, Jones was released from prison after witnesses said they could barely tell the difference between the two men and no longer thought Jones was guilty. On Monday, a settlement was reached and the state of Kansas agreed to pay Jones $1.1 million for his wrongful conviction. Jones was arrested in 1999 for an attack and robbery in the parking lot of a Walmart in Roeland Park, Kansas. Reports say that physical evidence linked Jones to the crime, but he fit the description of the suspect. Two other mistaken conviction lawsuits are currently pending in Kansas. Hopefully justice will be served.

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Kansas Man Spends Decades In Prison For A Crime Committed By His Doppleganger, Gets Awarded $1.1 Million 

Man Awarded $9.1 Million 20 Years After Wrongful Conviction & Contracting HIV From Prison Rape

Man Awarded Millions After Being Wrongfully Convicted & Contracting HIV From Prison Rape A D.C. man who was wrongfully convicted and sent to prison for 22 years over a crime he didn’t commit is finally receiving compensation for all that he has gone though as a result. via Washington Post A D.C. Superior Court judge ordered the District government Friday to pay a record $9.2 million in damages to Kirk L. Odom, 52, who was wrongfully imprisoned for more than 22 years in the rape and robbery of a woman in her Capitol Hill apartment in 1981. The amount, set by Judge Neal E. Kravitz, is the second — and largest — award in a case tried before a District judge under the District’s wrongful conviction law, which was approved in 1980. It also is one of the largest non-jury awards in an exoneration case in the United States. “Mr. Odom spent more than twenty-two years of what should have been the prime of his adult life behind bars for a crime he did not commit,” Kravitz wrote in a 37-page opinion that recounted Odom’s “profound” physical and psychological suffering over the decades that included several prison rapes, his diagnosis with HIV — the virus that causes AIDS — suicide attempts, depression and family estrangement. We’re certainly glad that this man received such a massive amount of compensation, but is there any true justice in cases like these where some has lost half of their life and had their health negatively affected for good??? Sure doesn’t seem like it.

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Man Awarded $9.1 Million 20 Years After Wrongful Conviction & Contracting HIV From Prison Rape

Man Awarded $9.1 Million 20 Years After Wrongful Conviction & Contracting HIV From Prison Rape

Man Awarded Millions After Being Wrongfully Convicted & Contracting HIV From Prison Rape A D.C. man who was wrongfully convicted and sent to prison for 22 years over a crime he didn’t commit is finally receiving compensation for all that he has gone though as a result. via Washington Post A D.C. Superior Court judge ordered the District government Friday to pay a record $9.2 million in damages to Kirk L. Odom, 52, who was wrongfully imprisoned for more than 22 years in the rape and robbery of a woman in her Capitol Hill apartment in 1981. The amount, set by Judge Neal E. Kravitz, is the second — and largest — award in a case tried before a District judge under the District’s wrongful conviction law, which was approved in 1980. It also is one of the largest non-jury awards in an exoneration case in the United States. “Mr. Odom spent more than twenty-two years of what should have been the prime of his adult life behind bars for a crime he did not commit,” Kravitz wrote in a 37-page opinion that recounted Odom’s “profound” physical and psychological suffering over the decades that included several prison rapes, his diagnosis with HIV — the virus that causes AIDS — suicide attempts, depression and family estrangement. We’re certainly glad that this man received such a massive amount of compensation, but is there any true justice in cases like these where some has lost half of their life and had their health negatively affected for good??? Sure doesn’t seem like it.

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Man Awarded $9.1 Million 20 Years After Wrongful Conviction & Contracting HIV From Prison Rape