Local Connection Comes Up in Rodney Reed Hearing

An incident in Fayette County came up during testimony in the Rodney Reed hearing in Bastrop County last week.

Reed was convicted in 1998 and sentenced to death for the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites in Bastrop County. Reed hopes to convince the judge that someone else killed Stites and that he deserves a new trial. Reed’s defense team has pointed the finger at Stite’s then-fiancé, Jimmy Fennell. The defense argues that Reed, a black man, and Stites, a white woman, were carrying on an affair.

During an evidentiary hearing last Wednesday, July 21, the prosecution called Kenneth Kopecky of Schulenburg to testify. According to media reports of the hearing, the prosecution alleged that Kopecky and Reed had a conversation in Fayette County at one point in 1998. The prosecution presented an affidavit from 1998 in which Kopecky signed a statement about the alleged conversation.

When presented with the affidavit on the witness stand, Kopecky stated that he did not remember making the statement. Kopecky said he did not believe he ever had a conversation with Reed

Journalist Bridget Spencer, who covered the hearing for Fox 7 News in Austin, reported that the episode appeared to have “backfired” on the prosecution. The defense did not crossexamine Kopecky and he was excused.