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First Third Of 2024 In Saudi Arabia: Executions Rise By 189% And Portend Another Bloody Year. At Least 71 Currently Facing Execution.

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Since the beginning of 2024 until the end of April, the Ministry of Interior in Saudi Arabia announced the execution of 55 individuals. This figure constitutes a 189% increase compared to the executions in the first third of 2023, which witnessed 19 executions. The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights views these numbers as a clear indication of the Saudi government's continued approach towards executing and issuing death sentences, and that the promises made in recent years have become elusive.

Appeals court stays Rodney Reed execution

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Rodney Reed
AUSTIN -- The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has put a stay on the execution of death row inmate Rodney Reed in response to a motion filed by his lawyer on Feb. 13.

In May 1998, Reed was convicted of the rape and murder of 19-year-old Stacey Stites and was sentenced to death. Reed has maintained his innocence ever since.

Stites was murdered just weeks before her wedding in 1996. Investigators found Reed's semen on her body, linking him to the crime. He claimed they were having an affair. Reed's attorney has said testing could provide more information about Jimmy Fennell, Stites' fiance. Once a suspect in her death, the former police officer is serving 10 years in prison for assaulting a woman on the job in Georgetown.

The ruling from the appeals court states Reed and his lawyers believe there is newly discovered evidence in Reed's case that supports his claim that he is innocent.

The court placed a stay on Reed's execution, scheduled for March 5, "pending further order of this Court."

Reed's lawyer, Bruce Benjet, released the following statement Monday:
We're extremely relieved that the court has stayed Mr. Reed's execution so there will be proper consideration of the powerful new evidence of his innocence. We are also optimistic that this will give us the opportunity to finally conduct DNA testing that could prove who actually committed the crime.
According to the ruling, Reed's lawyers first appealed on his behalf in November 1999. They appealed several more times over the ensuing years, finally filing their sixth and final appeal on Feb. 13.

More than 100 protesters rallied at the Texas State Capitol on Saturday in support of a stay on Reed' scheduled execution, pushing for DNA testing in the alleged newly discovered evidence.

A Bastrop County judge in November denied Reed's request to test new DNA evidence.

Go here to read the full ruling from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

Source: KVUE, February 23, 2015

Report an error, an omission: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com
Location: Texas, USA
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