“State vs. Reed” is a 60 minute documentary that explores an explosive capital murder trial in Texas that has resulted in a questionable death penalty conviction of Bastrop, Texas’ Rodney Reed. Thank you to the filmmakers, Frank Bustoz and Ryan Polomski, for making this important film available online. Thanks to the Texas Students Against the Death Penalty blog and Hooman Hedayati for the heads up. The Austin chapter of Campaign to End the Death Penalty has been working with the Reed family for years to prove Rodney’s innocence.

Reed, a then-28 year-old black male with a minor criminal record, was convicted in 1998 of the murder of Stacey Stites, a 19 year-old finacee’ of a local police officer named Jimmy Fennell. Read more about the film in this Austin Chronicle article. Though Fennell was the primary suspect for over a year who failed two polygraph examinations, Reed was eventually arrested after DNA found on the victim was connected to him. Reed claims that he and the victim, who was Caucasian, shared a consensual sexual affair for over 6 months and that an encounter the night before would account for the finding of his DNA as well as a possible motive for the real killer. “State vs. Reed” dives into this complex and potentially benchmark case that still rattles the citizens of this small Central Texas town. By talking to those who knew best — friends of the victim and family of the defendent, investigators, lawyers, journalists and Reed himself, on Texas’ notorious Death Row — the award winning documentary reveals a case fraught with open questions and unusual coincidences. Ultimately, the documentary reveals the mistake-prone system that sentences men and woman to death in the state of Texas at a rate incomparable around the world.

Filmmakers Frank Bustoz and Ryan Polomski are first-time feature filmmakers, though have worked in the medium in central Texas for years. Previously, they have worked on the internationally screened short documentary, “Hecho a Mano: Tres Historias de Guatemala”. “State vs. Reed” premiered at the 2006 South By Southwest Film Festival where it won the Lone Star States Audience Award. It has since been screened multiple times in the central Texas area, including the Kerrville Community Center in Bastrop, the Bastrop Public Access Channel (for seven straight nights), the George Washing Carver Museum and Cultural Center in east Austin, and as part of the Amnesty Interntional Film Festival on the University of Texas campus.

One of the big changes in the upcoming Texas legislative session impacting death penalty reform legislation will be that State Rep Terry Keel will no longer be chair of the House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence, as he has been since 2003. Keel blocked many criminal justice reform bills from getting out of his committee the last two sessions. In the election last week, the seat previously held by Keel was won by a Democrat, Valinda Bolton. Keel had not sought re-election to the House in order to run for a place on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. He lost in the Republican primary. No one knows yet who will be the new chair of the Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence, but whoever chairs the committee will probably be more open-minded to reform than Keel.

Democrats picked up five seats in the Texas House in last week’s election, plus in December 2006 they had won another seat in a special election. In 2003, the party split in the Texas House was 88 Republicans and 62 Democrats. In January 2007, there will likely be 81 Republicans and 69 Democrats (there is still one seat vacant after last week’s election because of the death of one candidate, but that seat is likely to remain Republican).

The election results have brought up the possibility that the House will elect a new speaker to replace Tom Craddick, who has irritated many people with his autocratic style. At this point, Craddick looks likely to retain his post, but there will likely be an attempt to replace him. Rep. Jessica Farrar, a Houston Democrat, has asked the Texas Ethics Commission to determine whether some lobbyists are violating a law that prevents people who want to be speaker from using bribery to win the post. She says some lobbyists are pressuring lawmakers to support Craddick for another term and threatening retribution if they don’t.

In 2001, there was a vote on a moratorium on executions on the floor of the Texas House of Representatives. The bill was HB 1328 by Rep Harold Dutton. 52 House members voted in favor of a moratorium back then, including one Republican. 91 voted “No” on the moratorium bill. 1 person was recorded as “present not voting” and there were six absent members. A couple of the Democrats who voted “No”, probably did so on procedural grounds and were in fact in favor of a moratorium.

In the newly elected Legislature that will take office in January 2007, there will be 69 members (32 D’s 37 R’s) who were not members in 2001 and so have never voted on a moratorium.

There will be 50 members who were also members in 2001 and voted “No”. There are 2 members who were members in 2001, but were absent in 2001 when the vote took place.

There will be 29 members (28 D’s and 1 R) of the Texas Legislature who were also members in 2001 and who voted “yes” for the moratorium back then.

Texas executed a man on Wednesday by lethal injection for the 1992 murder of a man whom he shot dead during a car hijacking outside a Houston shopping center.

Willie Shannon, 33, was convicted of the slaying of Benjamin Garza who was waiting for his wife and children in his car when he was attacked.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice said Shannon, who was then 19 years old, entered the passenger side of the car and shot Garza in the head after a brief struggle.

He was later apprehended after being spotted driving the stolen vehicle. Police said he had raped a maid at a nearby hotel just 10 minutes before the slaying and carjacking.

In his last statement while strapped to the gurney, Shannon said he had not meant to kill Garza.

“I took a father, it wasn’t my fault, it was an accident … God knows the truth,” he said.

Shannon had no last meal request.

Shannon was the 24th person executed in Texas this year and the 379th put to death in the state since it resumed capital punishment in 1982.

Texas, which has executed more people both this year and in the 20 years since the U.S. Supreme Court lifted a national death penalty ban, has one more execution scheduled this year.

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

Democrats have turned the tide in Dallas County, rejecting a high-profile GOP candidate for district attorney, kicking incumbent county judge Margaret Keliher to the curb and choosing dozens of Democrats for judicial posts.

CRAIG WATKINS won the DA race in Dallas County.

Age: 38

Professional background: Worked as a municipal prosecutor and public defender before starting a private law practice. Also owns a real estate title company and previously owned a bail bond company.

Party: Democrat

Political experience: Ran unsuccessfully for district attorney in 2002.

Hometown: Graduate of Carter High School in Dallas. Now lives in DeSoto.

On the campaign trial, Mr. Watkins, a defense attorney who has never prosecuted a felony case, wears his relative lack of prosecutorial experience as a badge of honor. He promises to shake up the office with progressive criminal justice ideas.

“The difference between the two of us is, not only am I running against the guy standing next to me, but I’m running against the system that has failed us,” he said in a fall campaign appearance.

Mr. Watkins’ “Smart on Crime” message includes a promise to give low-level offenders second chances to avoid prison through diversion programs. He also would lobby for better education funding and rehabilitation for convicts.

“Our role is more than just prosecuting criminals,” he said. “Our role should also be prevention and addressing why people commit crime. I will not just sit back and wait for someone to commit a crime.”

Mr. Shook’s “Community Oriented Proactive Prosecution Plan” would have prosecutors working closely with police and community members to focus on root causes of crime in neighborhoods.

Mr. Shook said his prosecutors also would help police target hardcore criminals who are responsible for a disproportionately high percentage of crime. He said he also would be an advocate for more funding for special courts and diversion programs for drug offenders and the mentally ill.

“It’s more of a philosophy,” Mr. Shook said. “More than waiting for crime to happen, we go after crime.”

Many people have asked what we think of the current gubernatorial candidates. The election is this Tuesday. There are five candidates on the ballot for governor, so the winner may only need about 38 percent of the vote to win the election. We hope Chris Bell wins the election.

On Friday, August 11, we met with the Democratic nominee for governor, Chris Bell, in his campaign headquarters in Austin. We discussed the problems in the death penalty system for an entire hour. Some of the topics we covered were the cases of Ruben Cantu, Cameron Todd Willingham and Carlos De Luna. There have been reports in the media that all three of them were probably innocent of the crimes for which they were executed by Texas.

Chris expressed strong concern that innocent people could be at risk of execution in Texas. He said he would like to see an Innocence Commission created in the next session of the Texas Legislature.

We then asked him if he supported a moratorium on executions and if were the governor, if he would sign a moratorium bill if it came to his desk. He said, “Yes, I would”.

We think Chris Bell should be the next governor of Texas. He supports capital punishment, as do the vast majority of Texas voters. He also understands that there are problems in the Texas system of capital punishment. We expect that if he wins the election on Tuesday and becomes Governor, he will keep his word and sign a moratorium bill, if one is passed by the Texas Legislature.

Some of you may wonder why not support Kinky Friedman. Like Bell, Kinky supports capital punishment, but also supports a moratorium. Part of the answer is that Kinky has no chance of winning. He is running fourth in the polls, ahead of only the Libertarian candidate. The best chance to enact a moratorium during the next four years is to elect Chris Bell governor. Kinky also has some strange positions on other issues that make it difficult for many people to support him. For instance, Kinky has said he would support declaring martial law in border cities to control immigration. That’s a little over the top.

Chris Bell is also the best candidate for voters concerned about the education system in Texas. If you have ever looked over the backgrounds of people executed in Texas, one thing that jumps out at you is that so many of them dropped out of school – often as early as the 8th or 9th grade. Chris Bell’s education proposals would probably reduce the drop out rate. Reducing the number of drop outs would reduce the number of people who end up in the prison system for violent crimes.

While you are at the polls, don’t forget to vote for J.R. Molina in his race against Sharon Keller for presiding judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Under Keller, the CCA has become a “national laughingstock”, according to one of the other judges on the CCA.