Rodney Reed: Reporter's Record, Jury Trial, Guilt/Innocense Phase, May-4-1998

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1 CAUSE NO. 8701
3 THE STATE OF TEXAS X IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF

X
4 VS. X BASTROP COUNTY TEXAS
X
5 RODNEY REED X 21ST JUDICIAL DISTRICT
10
11
12 REPORTERS RECORD
JURY TRIAL
13 GUILT/INNOCENCE PHASE
14
15
16 MAY 4 1998
17 MORNING SESSION
18
19
20
21
22
23 VOLUME 43 OF 6 9
D IM
24 FILE
COUMAINA1 ýoELS
25 SEP 9 1998
Jr. Clerk
Troy C. Bennett
ORIGI NA L
2
1 On the 4th day of May 1998 thel
2 above entitled and numbered cause came on for
3 hearing before said Honorable Court Harold R.
4 Towslee Judge Presiding and the following
5 proceedings were had
Volume 43 of
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6 9
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11 GUILT/INNOCENCE PHASE
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13 PAGES 1 THROUGH 142
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1 APPEARANCES
2 For the State
3 Mr. Charles Penick

District Attorney Bastrop County
4 804 Pecan Street
Bastrop Texas 78602
5 SBOT 015748500
512 321-2244
6
7 Mr. Forrest Sanderson

Assistant District Attorney
8 804 Pecan Street
Bastrop Texas 78602
9 SBOT 17610700
512 321-2244
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11 Ms. Lisa Tanner

Assistant Attorney General
12 P. 0. Box 12548
Austin Texas 78711-2548
13 SBOT 19637700
512 463-2170
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15
16 For the Defendant
17 Mr. Calvin Garvie

Attorney at Law
18 22 N. Bell St. P. 0. Box 416
Bellville Texas 77418
19 SBOT 07714300
409 865-9781
20
21 Ms. Lydia Clay-Jackson

Attorney at Law
22 700 N. San Jacinto
Conroe Texas 77301
23 SBOT 04332450
409 760-2889
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1 CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX
2 WITNESS PAGE
3 APPEARANCES 3
4 MORNING SESSION 7
6 JUROR MICHELLE HAYNIE
7 CONCERNS FOR PERSONAL SAFETY 8
8 RULING 12
i.
9
10 MOTION IN LIMINE NO. 33 13
11 RULING 13
12
13 THE RULE INVOKED 14
14 WITNESS SWORN AND INSTRUCTED 15
15 JURY SWORN AND SEATED 16
16 THE COURT INSTRUCTS THE JURY 16
17 ANNOUNCEMENTS 23
18 INDICTMENT READ - COUNT ONE 24
19 DEFENDANTS PLEA 25
20 INDICTMENT READ - COUNT TWO 25
21 DEFENDANTS PLEA 25
22
23 OPENING STATEMENT BY MS. TANNER 26
24
25 A RECESS WAS TAKEN 66

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1 OPENING STATEMENT BY MS. CLAY-JACKSON 66
3 DEBRA RANGEL
4 DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MS. TANNER 79
5 CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MS. CLAY-JACKSON 85
6 REDIRECT EXAMINATION BY MS. TANNER 90
8 ANDREW CARDENAS
9 DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. PENICK 92
10 CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MS. CLAY-JACKSON 105
11 REDIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. PENICK 110
12 RECROSS EXAMINATION BY MS. CLAY-JACKSON 111
13
14 PAUL ALEXANDER
15 DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. SANDERSON 113
16
17 DEFENSES FOURTH MOTION FOR PRODUCTION
18 OF EVIDENCE FOR EXPERT EVALUATION 138
19 RULING 139
20
21 COURT ADJOURNED FOR A LUNCH BREAK 141
22 COURT REPORTERS CERTIFICATE 142
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1 EXHIBIT INDEX
2 No. Description Mrkd Idntd Ofrd Admit
3 S-1 Large Photo 7 82 83 84
4 S-la Small Photo 7 81 82 83
5 S-2 Map 7 134 134 134
6 S-2a Transparency 7 134 134 134
7 S-4 Large Photo 7 99
8 S-4a Small Photo 7 98 98 98
9 S-5 Large Photo 7 124 124 125
10 S-5a Small Photo 7 123 123 124
11 S-6 Large Photo 7 124 124 125
12 S-6a Small Photo 7 123 123 124
13 S-7 Large Photo 7 129 130 131
14 S-7a Small Photo 7 129 129 130
15 S-8 Large Photo 7 129 130 131
16 S-8a Small Photo 7 129 129 130
17 S-9 Large Photo 7 129 130 131
18 S-9a Small Photo 7 129 129 130
19 S-10 Large Photo 7 129 130 131
20 S-10a Small Photo 7 129 129 130
21 S-11a Small Photo 7 129 129 130
22 S-104 Piece of Belt 7 137- 137
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1 Day 21 Morning Session May 4 1998. Cause
2 Number 8701 the State of Texas versus Rodney
3 Reed.
5 All States Exhibits marked
6 prior to beginning of trial

7
8 The following was held
9 outside the presence of the
10 jury but inside presence of
11 all counsel and defendant.
12
13 THE COURT Will you bring
14 Michelle Haynie in for me. I know this is a
15 small room but I didnt know where else to do
16 this.
17
18 Juror comes into room
19 Judges chambers.
20
21 THE COURT Hello Michelle
22 come on in here we need to visit with you.
23 Its Michelle Haynie is that
24 correct
25 JUROR MICHELLE HAYNIE Yes

8
1 sir.
2 THE COURT The district
3 clerk informed me that you had made contact
4 with her and I want to discuss that with you
5 here on the record. Were in my office its
6 a small room but weve got all the lawyers
7 here and Mr. Rodney Reed is here as well.
8 Will you just tell me whats on your mind.
9 JUROR MICHELLE HAYNIE Well
10 my concerns were after I went back to school
11 and everything I got to thinking about being
12 around all the kids and everything and how in
13 prior experiences kids when things dont go
14 right they have a tendency to kind of threaten
15 you or something like that and if they found
16 outthat I was on the jury I was kind of
17 afraid that the kids might come to my house
18 and do something to me just being around them
19 all day.
20 THE COURT And youre afraid
21 that might influence you as a juror
22 JUROR MICHELLE HAYNIE Oh

23 no.
24 THE COURT What was your
25 concern For your own safety

9
2 sir. But as a juror no.
3 THE COURT Are you prepared
4 to go forward and serve as a juror
5 -JUROR MICHELLE HAYNIE Yes
6 sir.
7 THE COURT Maam at this
8 point.I dont believe I would excuse you for a
9 reason like that.
11 sir.
12 THE COURT But I would ask
13 you to obey all the instructions that I have
14 given you especially dont have any contact
15 outside this courtroom about the case at all.
17 sir.
18 THE COURT Do any of you
19 have any questions or comments
20 MS. CLAY-JACKSON Yes
21 Judge. Its my understanding that -- have
22 you spoken to anybody else about your concerns
23 other than the district clerk
24 JUROR MICHELLE HAYNIE Do
25 you mean my concerns regarding my -- just my

1 0
1 head trainer Robert Washington you know
2 just about being scared with the kids and what
3 they would do but as far as anything thats
4 gone on in here no maam. Ive only talked
5 to him about my fears. And he said dont
6 worry about that.
7 MS. CLAY-JACKSON And its
8 your contention that even though youre
9 afraid and I know its hard to put it on a
10 scale but lets just say on a scale of one to
11 ten with ten being the highest fear where
12 would you assess your fear
14 Borderline seven/eight but I will not let
15 that -- that is totally beside the point.
16 MS. CLAY-JACKSON What
17 steps are you taking to not let that interfere
18 with your deliberations
20 Probably just be very careful when -- where I
i
21 live is out in the country with a lot of pine
22 trees and Ill just be very careful about
23 going out there and Im more aware of turning
24 on more lights and having my pepper spray with
25 me and stuff like that.

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1 MR. SANDERSON Judge we
2 might mention this to the sheriffs office and
3 maybe have them send a patrol car over there.
4 JUROR MICHELLE HAYNIE That
5 was another question to me and like I said I
6 will be on this jury but could we do something
7 like -- I know there is a police officer at
8 the school.
9 DEPUTY If we could get
10 your address when I go back to dispatch Ill
11 put in a close patrol and well have them
12 keep an eye on that area.
13 THE COURT Thats about the
14 best we can do.
15 JUROR MICHELLE HAYNIE That
16 will work.
17 THE COURT Do you have any
18 other concerns or questions
19 JUROR MICHELLE HAYNIE No

20 sir that was the only one.
21 THE COURT If you will go
22 back to the jury room well be ready to begin
23 in just a few minutes.
24
25 Juror returns to jury

12
1 room.
3 THE COURT Does anyone have
4 any comments for the record
5 MS. CLAY-JACKSON Judge
6 were going to object to the juror remaining
the panel in that from her own description

r
j 7 on
8 shes really afraid of the situation and shes
9 afraid of it because of backlash. And we do
10 -- its just inconceivable that she at her
11 age can put that at aside and hear the
12 evidence impartially without having that fear
13 of her personal safety and for justice were
14 saying that she is not a proper juror.
15 THE COURT Any comments
16 MR. PENICK Judge I
17 believe she said she could put that out of her
18 mind and serve.
19 THE COURT Im satisfied
20 with her as juror and Ill overrule the
21 objections.
22 Well move back in the jury room if
23 you folks are ready. Are there any other
24 motions before we get started this morning
25 MS. CLAY-JACKSON Yes

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1 Judge we have our motion in limine number
2 thirty-three that we talked about on Thursday
3 and I said wed carry it over until Monday.
4 It essentially boils down to the State being
5 -- were asking the State to approach the
6 bench before they seek to elicit any
7 information about Stacey Stitess good
8 character.
9 THE COURT Any objection
10 MS. TANNER No objection.
11 THE COURT Okay that will
12 be granted as well.
13 MS. CLAY-JACKSON Thank you.
14 THE COURT Now well move
15 into the courtroom and begin.
16
17 Pause in proceedings to
18 return to courtroom.
19
20 THE COURT Are you going to
21 invoke the rule
22 MS. CLAY-JACKSON Yes sir.
23 MS. TANNER Certainly.
24 THE COURT If you will bring
25 your witnesses in Ill give them some

14
is
1 instructions.
2 MS. TANNER As well as any
3 defense witnesses that may testify
4 THE COURT Do you have
5 witnesses available
6 MS. CLAY-JACKSON I dont
7 see any here.
9 Available witnesses entered
10 the courtroom.
11
12 THE COURT I have to give
13 the same instructions to all the witnesses
14 but the first thing I need to do is swear you
15 in if youll raise your right hand Ill do
16 that.
17
18 Available witnesses sworn.
19
20 THE COURT All right there
21 are two instructions the first one is you are
22 required to remain outside the courtroom
23 except when youre in here testifying. The
24 second instruction is do not talk to each
25 other or any other person about this case

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1 until we finish this trial except the lawyers
2 you may talk to any of the attorneys.
3 Do any have any questions about those
4 instructions Silence.
5 Before you leave the courtroom will
6 you give your name to the court reporter here
7 so I know who we have under the Rule and then
8 please wait outside for us. Just give her
9 your name.
10
11 Names of those sworn and placed under the
12 rule Carol Stites Debra Rangel Andrew
13 Cardenas Lucy Castillo.
14
15 THE COURT Okay wait
16 outside for us please.
17
18 Whereupon the Jury entered
19 the courtroom and the
20 following proceedings were
21 had open Court.
22
23
24
25 THE COURT Good morning

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1 ladies and gentlemen now.that we have you all
2 together as a group there is an important oath
3 for you to take andI would ask the jury to
4 stand and raise their right hand and the clerk
5 is going to administer the oath for me.
6 THE CLERK Each of you do
7 solemnly swear that you will and truly try the
8 cause about to be submitted to you and a true
9 verdict render therein according to the law
10 and the evidence so help you God.
11 THE COURT Okay you may be
12 seated.
13 Before we begin hearing evidence in
14 the case or opening statements I have some
15 brief instructions for you and Ill tell you
16 how I believe the case will proceed.
17 I believe the case will proceed in
18 the following approximate manner The first
19 thing that will happen this morning is that
20 the indictment will be read one of the
21 prosecutors will read the indictment. There
22 are two counts in the indictment and after
23 the indictment is read Ill ask the defendant
24 how he pleads to these charges. After the
25 indictment is read and the plea is entered

17
1 then the attorneys have a right-to make to the
2 jury an opening statement briefly outlining
3 for the jury what they intend to show the jury
4 by way of evidence.
5 I want you to remember that the
6 statements that are made by the attorneys are
7 not evidence. The attorneys are making the
8 statements to you so that you can understand
9 the evidence as it is presented. After the
10 opening statement by the States attorney then
11 the defense attorney has a right to make an
12 opening statement but the defense attorney
13 doesnt have to make an opening statement in
14 the beginning he or she can wait until just
15 before the defense puts on its evidence.
16 At the conclusion of the opening
17 statements by the attorneys then we will hear
18 evidence from the State. You have been told
19 over and over again that the State has the
20 burden in this case and the law allows them to
21 put on their evidence first. After the State
22 puts on all of the evidence then one of the
23 prosecutors will announce to me that the State
24 has rested its evidence.
25 At that point in time I will turn it

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1 over to the defense and they will either make
2 an opening statement if they havent already
3 done so or put on their evidence. After the
4 defense puts on all of its evidence then the
5 defense counsel will announce to me that the
6 defense has rested its case and at that point
7 in time Ill turn back over to the State to
8 see whether or not there is any rebuttal
9 evidence and we will go back and forth there
10 until eventually we get all of the evidence in
11 and the lawyers announce to the Court that the
12 evidence is closed.
13 When the evidence is closed then I
14 will send the jury out of the courtroom and
15 prepare a written document called the Courts
16 charge its a written document several pages
17 long that will contain the law that applies to
18 this situation it will also contain some
19 important instructions from the Court to the
20 jury and it will contain the verdict forms
21 that I want you to use. After I have prepared
22 that charge I will bring you back in the
23 courtroom and read it to you. After I have
24 read the Courts charge to the jury then the
25 attorneys will present to you what we call

19
1 closing argument their final remarks before
2 you begin your deliberations and again the
3 State has the right to go first in that
4 instance as well because the State has the
5 burden of proof.
6 After the closing arguments by the
7 attorneys then you will be allowed to go into
8 the jury room and begin deliberating on your
9 verdict.
10 An important instruction I have for
11 you is do not talk about this case until that
12 point in time when I tell you to go into the
13 jury room and begin deliberating on your
14 verdict.
15 And you have been told and I think
16 you understand that in Texas there are two
17 parts to a criminal trial that is if the
18 jury finds the defendant guilty then we will
19 move into the punishment phase and its

20 similar to the guilt/innocence phase that is
21 well hear opening statements by attorneys
22 additional evidence etcetera there will be
23 another charge with other instructions to the
24 jury etcetera. It will be similar to the
25 first part there will be closing arguments by

20
1 the attorneys etcetera.
2 The law that applies to this case
3 will be contained in the instructions I give
4 you throughout the course of the trial and it
5 is your duty by virtue of that oath that you
6 have just taken to obey all of those
7 instructions.
8 Its also your duty to determine what
9 the facts are in this case and the way you do
10 that is you judge the credibility of the
11 witnesses when they come in here and testify.
12 Do not engage in speculation or guesswork
13 about what the facts are. Base your decision
14 upon the evidence that is presented to you.
15 The evidence will come to you in the form of
16 testimony from witnesses who are placed under
17 oath and get up here on the witness stand and
18 answer questions that asked by the attorneys.
19 From time to time the lawyers may make
20 objections as to the admissibility of evidence
21 and its my job to rule on those objections.
22 I may rule that some evidence is not
23 admissible it may be something that you have
24 already seen or heard and I may instruct you
25 to disregard what you have already seen or

21
1 heard. It may be difficult for you to do that
2 but you are obligated to follow that
3 instruction as well. If I instruct you to
4 disregard something you are required to obey
5 that.
6 You must not be influenced in any
7 degree by any personal feeling of sympathy for
8 or prejudice against the State or the
9 defendant in this case each side is entitled
10 to the same fair and impartial consideration
11 of all the evidence. And no statement or
12 ruling or remark that I make during the course
13 of the trial is to indicate to you what my
14 opinion of the facts is. My opinion of the
15 facts doesnt count its your opinion that
16 counts and you will do that by basing that on
17 the believability of the witnesses.
18 Some of you may be inclined to take
19 notes during the course of the trial. My
20 preference for you is that you not take notes

21 and the reason for that is if youre taking
22 notes you may miss an important question or an
23 important answer and I would rather you focus
24 on the questions and answers that are coming
25 at you rather than sitting there focusing on

22
1 writing down what you consider to be an
2 important fact. The lawyers have an
3 obligation in their closing statements to
4 remind you what they think the important
5 evidence was and Ill expect them to do that
in their closing statements.
7 Ive given this to you before but I
8 want to remind you that until this case is
9 submitted to you for deliberations youre not

10 to discuss the case with anyone and youre
11 not to remain within hearing distance of
12 anyone who might be discussing. We have a
13 jury room located back in the other building
14 and I would prefer when you take your breaks
15 that you take your breaks in that area. There
16 are restrooms back there and we will have a
17 coffee pot back there et cetera. And when
18 you get here in the mornings and assemble I
19 would prefer that you assemble back there in
20 that area. The reason for that is Im trying
21 keep you separated from the witnesses and the
22 lawyers who will be out here in this part of
23 the courtroom and that way they wont

24 accidentally say something within your hearing
25 that you should not hear.

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1 And neither should you read any
2 newspaper article or listen to any radio
3 broadcast or television program which
4 discusses this case until after the trial is.
5 over and you are discharged as a juror.
6 I may have some other comments for
7 you as we go along and some additional
8 instructions but basically thats it.
9 Before we hear from the attorneys and
10 have the indictment read let me again call
11 for announcements in the case. Its number
12 8701 its styled the State of Texas versus
13 Rodney Reed.
14 Is the State ready

15 MS. TANNER The States
16 ready Your Honor.
17 THE COURT The defense
18 MR. GARVIE We would re-urge
19 our motion for a continuance for reasons
20 already stated in a motion for continuance and
21 the fact that both sides are continuing to
22 test evidence in this case even as late as
23 last week.
24 THE COURT And its denied.
25 MR. GARVIE Thank you Your

24
1 Honor.
2 THE COURT At this time Im

3 going to ask the State prosecutor to read the
4 indictment. And as the indictment is read

5 Mr. Reed will you stand up and after each
6 count Im going to ask for the plea.
7 MS. TANNER The State of
8 Texas versus Rodney Reed cause number 8701.
9 In the name and by the authority of the State
10 of Texas the Grand Jury for the County or
11 Bastrop State of Texas duly selected
12 impaneled sworn charged and organized as
13 such in the January term 1997 of the 21st
14 District Court of the said County upon their
15 oaths present in and to said Court of said
16 Term that Rodney Reed hereinafter styled the
17 defendant and before the presentment of this
18 indictment in the County and State aforesaid
19 on or about the 23rd day of April 1996 did
20 then and there intentionally cause the death
21 of an individual namely Stacey Stites by
22 strangulation and the defendant was then and
23 there in the course of committing and
24 attempting to commit the offense of the
25 aggravated sexual assault of Stacey Stites.

25
1 THE COURT How do you plead
2 to that charge sir
3 THE DEFENDANT Not guilty.
4 THE COURT Go ahead maam.
5 MS. TANNER Count two And
6 the grand jurors aforesaid upon their oaths do
7 further present in and to said Court that
8 Rodney Reed on or about the 23rd day of
9 April 1996 did then and there intentionally
10 cause the death of an individual namely
11 Stacey Stites by strangulation and the
12 defendant was then and there in the course of
13 committing and attempting to commit the
14 offense of kidnapping Stacey Stites against
15 the peace and dignity of the State.
16 THE COURT Is it signed

17 MS. TANNER Signed by the
18 grand jury foreman. Thank you Your Honor.
19 THE COURT How do you plead
20 to that charge
21 THE DEFENDANT Not guilty.
22 THE COURT Please be seated
23 sir.
24 Does the State want to make an
25 opening statement
26
1 MS. TANNER Yes Your Honor.
2 THE COURT Go ahead.
4 OPENING STATEMENT
5 BY MS. TANNER
6 May it please the Court counsel
7 ladies and gentlemen.
8 Before we start talking about the
E
9 evidence in this case I kind of feel like I
10 need to apologize to you. I know that you all
11 know that this is a process of elimination
12 that we have gone through over the last five
13 weeks to get you here. We started out with
14 400 people and now were down to fourteen.
15 And I know that all fourteen of you shared
16 with us the burdens that this will cause in
17. your personal life and so I do feel like I
18 need to apologize to you for you being here
19 but Iwant to thank you too. I know that the
20 magnitude and the gravity of what were about
21 to embark on isnt lost on any of you and I
22 know that you all know the significance of
t
23 your jobs and I know that youre going to take
24 this seriously.
25 And before I start talking about the

27
1 evidence I want to point one very simple thing
2 out to you. Through the course of voir dire
3 talking to each of you as well as many others
4 I wish I had a dollar for every time the
5 phrase a mans life is at stake was
6 uttered. It was uttered many many many
7 times. And thats true but I want you to
8 understand and dont forget as we start that
9 the only reason thats the case is because a
10 life has been taken. So when you think about
11 whats at stake think also about whats
12 lost. And now is the time when we can finally
13 start talking about that. Voir dire is real
14 frustrating because we cant talk to you
15 about the facts of the case. We have to talk
16 to you in hypotheticals and things like that
17 but now is the time when we can finally do
18 that and I want to visit with you for a while
19 about the facts. This is finally the time
20 where Stacey Stites stops being a name on a
21 chart and she starts being a human being.
22 This is the time where her death becomes a
23 graphic reality.
24 Stacey was nineteen when she died.
25 She graduated from Smithville High School in

28
1 1995. She and her mom had moved to Smithville
2 from Corpus Christi in 1993. It was just the
3 two of them her dad had passed away several
4 years before and Stacey was the baby of the
5 family. So it was just the two of them and
6 they moved here. Stacey graduated from high
7 school and she and her mom moved to Bastrop
8 she went to work for Covert Chevrolet. After
9 she worked there for a little while she got a
10 job at HEB right out there on the loop. She
11 started out as checker and eventually got a
12 promotion and a couple of months before her
13 death had been moved to the produce section.
14 The evidence will show you that in
15 January of 96 several months before her
16 death Stacey and her mom moved to Giddings
17 and the reason that they moved to Giddings was
18 because of a young man. Stacey had met Jimmy
19 Fennell in May of 1995 right around when she
20 was graduating from high school at the
21 Smithville Jamboree. The two fell in love
22 started dating and Jimmy asked her to marry
23 him Stacey accepted and they had set a
24 wedding date. Stacey and Jimmy were scheduled
25 to be married on May 11th of 1996. Stacey

29
1 Stites was murdered 18 days before her
2 wedding.
3 Jimmy was a Giddings police officer.
4 He had gotten his job there after he got out
5 of the academy. And Stacey and her mom had
6 moved there to be closer to him. He had an
7 apartment there in Giddings and Stacey and her
8 mom got an apartment just downstairs and
9 diagonal from him in the same complex. Well
10 naturally as the wedding got closer it
11 became Stacey and Jimmys apartment upstairs
12 and moms apartment downstairs. Well the
13 three of them lived there Stacey worked at
14 HEB Jimmy worked at the Giddings PD and
15 Staceys mom stayed home primarily and
16 baby-sat a ladys child.
17 You will hear from the evidence that
18 there was only two vehicles between the three
19 of them. Staceys mom had a car and Jimmy had
20 a maroon S-10 truck. And he as a police
21 officer had access to a patrol car when he
22 was working but he hadnt been there long
23 enough to have his take-home car. So they
24 always kind of had to coordinate who was going
25 to drive who and where and Jimmy sometimes

30
1 had to get rides to get his patrol car. And
2 thats what was going on in their lives back
3 then.
4 On April 22nd the day before
5 Staceys death was a very normal day for
6 them. Stacey when she got her promotion had
7 agreed to work a shift that was a little
8 different than most. She was working the
9 morning shift for about a month. She had to
10 be at work at 330 in the morning she got off
11 work at 1230 in the afternoon.. She accepted
12 that shift and wanted that shift so she and
13 her mom could spend her afternoons planning
14 for the wedding. And thats what they did.
15 She got home on April the 22nd the day before
16 her death about 100 or 130 as was normal
17 had lunch with her mom there at her moms
18 apartment and then laid down and took a nap.
19 She stayed on her moms couch asleep until
20 Jimmy got home that afternoon 230 or three
21 oclock from his shift. He got there in his
22 uniform and he came in and ate lunch and the
23 three of them stayed in the apartment until
24 later that afternoon around 530. Jimmy and
25 Stacey spent the last afternoon of her life

31
1 playing with a little girl that her mom was
2 baby-sitting. Eventually Jimmy had to go
3 upstairs to get ready for baseball practice.
4 He and a friend were coaching a little league
5 team and they had practice that afternoon. He
6 went upstairs to change clothes and Stacey
7 went upstairs to lay down again. Well during
8 this time they were of course feverishly
9 planning the wedding and we all know what
10 kind of stress that involves.
11 Well Mrs. Stites had been pretty
12 emotional that day and the day before and
13 later that evening about 730 after Jimmy went
14 to ball practice Stacey came back downstairs
15 and visited with her mom about what was it
16 that was causing her to be so unhappy and
17 emotional. Mrs. Stites of course attributed
18 it to the stress of the wedding coming up and
19 that sort of thing. She actually that evening
20 asked Stacey Are you sure you want to marry
21 Jimmy And the last conversation the two of
22 them had Stacey told her mom I love him. I
23 want to marry him. You just need to get used
24 to it.
25 Jimmy came home from practice and

32
1 Mrs. Stites saw him walking over to get the
2 mail in the complex and Stacey went out to

f.
3 meet him. The next thing Mrs. Stites saw was
4 Jimmy and Stacey running up the stairs
5 together laughing their heads off playing
6 horsing around and joking. That is the last
7 time Ms. Stites ever saw her daughter. The
8 last time she saw her daughter she simply
9 appeared simply to be a young girl in love.
10 They went up to the apartment.
11 Stacey and Jimmy took a shower nothing sexual
12 that night she went to bed at about 830
13 because she had to get up to go to work the
14 next morning to be there at 330. Jimmy
15 stayed up watched TV fell asleep on the
16 couch and eventually went to bed himself.
17 Staceys routine was she had to be at
18 work of course at 330. She would set her
19 alarm every morning for 245 leave the house
20 at 300 oclock. She would drive 290 over to
21 21 and then drive through town when 21 turns
22 into Chestnut. She drove down Chestnut every
23 day and then go out to HEB. Nothing unusual
24 that morning alarm set at the normal time
25 off she went. Stacey never made it to work

33
1 that morning.
2 Andrew Cardenas is a young man that
3 had worked for HEB for quite some time and
4 Andrew and Stacey worked produce together.
5 They both had to be at work at 330 together.
6 Stacey according to Andrew was a very prompt
7 employee she was never late. She would
8 always either beat him there or he could see
9 her driving up as he was driving up. She was
10 never late. Well Andrew was surprised that
11 morning when Stacey wasnt there. Stacey
12 would always -- she didnt want to go into the
13 store on her own because the doors were locked
14 and you had to knock to get in because at 330
15 in the morning the store wasnt open. And so
16 what she would do in the mornings was she
17 would wait for Andrew to get there and not get
18 out of her truck until Andrew got there and
19 they would go in together.
20 Well Andrew of course was
21 surprised not to see her. He waited a little
22 bit and he went on inside and went to work.
23 He was very worried about her because she had
24 never been late before. And he worked for a
25 while and looked around they didnt work in

34
1 the same section of the produce. They worked
2 on opposite sides so it wasnt like they
3 should have been side by side. He would
4 periodically notice that she still hadnt
5 gotten here and he would get more worried.
6 Well around 500 oclock he started
7 to realize something was really wrong here.
8 So he went to some people and he asked for
9 Staceys moms phone number so he could call.
10 Well the office people arent there yet and
11 nobody knows how to get hold of the number and
12 it takes them a while to find it. They dont
13 find her number for almost two hours and
14 finally around 645 that morning Andrew called
15 Ms. Stites and let know that Stacey hadnt
16 made it.
17 Ms. Stites of course was shocked
18 and she immediately call up to Jimmys
19 apartment and asked if Stacey was there and.
20 he said No. She said Well she didnt
21 make it. She immediately then called the
22 Sheriffs Department she called HEB she
23 called Lee County Sheriffs Department
24 Bastrop County Sheriffs Department to let
25 them know that something was wrong. Jimmy

35
1 came downstairs and started looking for her.
2 He came down and got the keys to Mrs. Stites
3 car and began to look for her.
4 Always when there is a case like
5 this it seems like there is some twist of
6 fate some one little circumstance that could
7 change the course of everything. And those
8 are the kinds of things that usually haunt
9 people for the rest of their lives. Well the
10 night before Stacey and Jimmy and Mrs. Stites
11 talked about what they were going to do on
12 April the 23rd. Jimmy had the day off that
13 day so he was going to sleep in. Stacey and
14 Jimmy had planned on getting together on April
15 23rd the day of her death after she got off
16 work. They planned on hooking up in Bastrop
17 and having lunch and they were going to get
18 their insurance taken care of since they were
19 just about to get married.
20 Well Jimmy was off work and he
21 wanted his truck because Stacey got his truck
22 all the time. It was almost a joke that once
23 they got together it wasnt his truck any
24 more it was hers. Well he wanted his truck
25 that day since he was off and that afternoon

36
1 he offered to get up and take Stacey to work.
2 He would get up take her drop her off and
3 come pick up her after work and they could
4 meet and only have one car in town. Well the
5 twist of fate in this case that would haunt is
6 that Mrs. Stites at that point said Jimmy
7 dont be silly. Its your day off. You
8 deserve to sleep in. Stacey can have the
9 truck and you can have my car. Thats what
10 they did.
11 So that morning when they found out
12 that Stacey hadnt made it to work Jimmy came
13 downstairs and got the keys to Mrs. Stites
14 car because he didnt have his own set of
15 keys. He had given her keys back the day
16 before. He got the keys to the car and went
17 and looked for her drove up down 290 and 21

18 down Chestnut looking for her on her route.
19 Little did he know at that time it was already
20 too late. It had already been -- it was
21 already over.
22 The evidence will show you that Paul
23 Alexander was a Bastrop patrol officer. He
24 worked the night shift. Pauls job was to
25 patrol the city of Bastrop overnight and he

37
1 did that. On the night of April 22nd early
2 morning of April 23rd he was doing his
3 patrols and he did a whole lot of extra
4 patrols over by the HEB. And the reason for
5 that is because there were some kids doing
6 graffiti on the Little Caesars and they were
7 trying to catch them so he was going around
8 the HEB a lot more than he normally would.
9 And he never saw that truck ever get there.
10 He drove through the high school at
11 523 that morning that high school right over
12 there you know where it is and he noticed
13 something unusual. Parked over at the
14 vocational building of the high school there
15 was a little maroon S-10 truck. He thought
16 Well thats a little odd so he went up to
17 the truck. He radioed it in there at 523 in
18 the morning radioed the plate in and it came
19 back in Jimmys name but not stolen because at
20 that time nobody knew except Andrew that
21 something was amiss.
22 He didnt recognize Jimmys name so
23 he looked at the truck he flashed his lights
24 inside it was locked up nothing was broken
25 and he thought Okay no problem. There was

38
1 one thing though that was a little
2 interesting thing that he noticed and that
3 was right down by the drivers door of the
4 truck there was a little broken off piece of a
5 belt a braided belt with a buckle and he
6 noticed that and he saw the belt left it
7 there he didnt see anything amiss and he
8 went on about his business at 523 that
9 morning.
10 Well when Ms. Stites call the
11 police dispatch of course then put two and
12 two together and the significance of what Paul
13 Alexander had found was revealed. That was
14 Jimmys truck. So they converged on the truck
15 that morning around 700 oclock. Jimmy came
16 and brought them his set of keys because it
17 was locked and there were no keys around and
18 they opened the truck and they looked around
19 in there. As soon as they opened the truck
20 they knew it was going to be bad. They looked
21 inside the truck and they found one of
22 Staceys shoes in the cab of the truck but not
23 the other. They found one of her earrings
24 inside the truck but not the other.
25 That belt that little piece of a

39
1 belt that Paul Alexander had seen it was
2 Staceys. And they saw on the transmission a
3 pool of some sort of bodily fluid and they
4 took all that in and they looked and every
5 one of those officers they knew at that time
6 there was not going to be a happy ending to
7 this case so the search was on. They looked
8 for Stacey all day. Ranger Wardlow the local
9 Texas Ranger was called in. He did an aerial
10 search of the area looking for her. No sign
11 of her. Jimmy and Mrs. Stites did probably
12 the hardest thing imaginable they waited.
13 At 245 that afternoon a young man by
14 the name of Kenneth Osborn he works for the
15 General Land Office over in Austin he had to
16 do an appraisal out on Bluebonnet Circle out
17 of 1441 in the county. Mr. Osborn the
18 appraiser was scheduled at 300 oclock. It
19 got to be about 245 he was there he had
20 some time to pass it was a beautiful
21 afternoon so he was driving around in his
22 truck out in the country looking for some
23 wildflowers to pick for his wife. As he was
24 watching the side of the road when he was out
25 there in the country he saw Staceys body.

40
_.
1 He got out of his truck he ran over
2 to her obviously she was dead. Obviously.
3. He ran to get help. He ran to several houses
4 before he found somebody to call the police
5 and the police were called. At that point the
6 search for Stacey had ended and the search for
7 her killer then began. The evidence will show
8 you that the DPS crime scene team was called
9 in.
10 DPS in Austin has a group and what
11 they do is that group is specially designed to
12 investigate crime scenes. They are called
13 into a wide area and they all go out and
14 theres serologists and theres latent print
15 people and theres fiber people and they are
16 all trained to go out to crime scenes and
17 process the evidence. And the whole purpose
18 for that is since they are trained to do this
19 and have very specific protocols that the
20 whole idea is that this is their specialty and
21 to avoid contaminating or hurting the
22 integrity of the crime scene. Well the DPS
23 team was called in on this case. They were
24 originally called in when-the truck. was found
25 but then as soon as Staceys body was found

41
1 they kind of put the truck on the back burner
2 and all went to her body.
3 Karen Blakely worked for DPS and she
4 was the team leader. She worked in serology.
5 And she as well as others processed that
6 area out there where Staceys body was found.
7 The first thing they noticed that was really
8 significant was out on the roadway just out
9 a little distance from her body was a piece of
10 a blue braided belt that looked the same as
11 that other belt that they had found out by the
12 truck. When she looked at Staceys body she
13 saw a horrible mark around her neck a mark
14 that appeared to have come from that belt. It
15 was apparent to them that Stacey had been
16 strangled to death by her own belt.
17 Now you will also hear from Karen
18 that it became evident to them pretty quickly
19 pretty early on that there was something more
20 to this case than just murder. Something else
21 was there. And the evidence will show you
22 that that something else is a smoking gun.
23 That something else is the one piece of
24 evidence that leads directly to the killer.
25 And that smoking gun began to reveal itself as

42
1 soon as they got out there. As soon as they
2 saw her body it began to take shape. Because
3 when they found her Stacey didnt have her
4 shirt on. Her shirt was off in the bushes
5 her pants were unzipped and unbuttoned and her
6 underwear was bunched up and her zipper on her
7 pants was broken. Well that set obviously
8 warning bells off.
9 See the smoking gun in this case was
10 not that Stacey wasnt just murdered she was
11 raped. Because of seeing that Ms. Blakely
12 of course put two and two together and saw
13 what was possibly an issue and through the
14 course of the time they spent out there she
15 did some examination to see that if that was
16 really the case to see if Stacey had really
17 been raped and what she did was while they
18 were out there at the scene she took vaginal
19 swabs from Staceys body. And by that I mean
20 -- and shell explain it to you a lot better
21 than I could -- by that I mean she took
22 sterile Q-tips and inserted them -- several of
23 them to see if there was any evidence.
24 There is a way you can tell right
25 away if youre in the ballpark as far as

43
1 thats concerned and thats an AP test. What
2 an AP test is its acid phosphatase its the
3 primary component of semen. And you can take
4 that swab right there and you can put a
5 certain chemical on it and after a time if it
6 becomes purple then you know you have acid
7 phosphatase and you know therefore that you
8 probably have semen. Well Karen did that
9 test right out there on Bluebonnet Circle and
10 bingo it came up positive. The smoking gun
11 was again proven.
12 They were out there for several
13 hours. They processed all the evidence they
14 took all the evidence in and Staceys body
15 late that night was brought to Austin for
16 autopsy. Well Karen went back to the lab
17 with all the evidence there in Austin and the
18 first thing she did at the lab was she took
19 one of those swabs that she had taken from
20 inside of Staceys body and she put it on a
21 slide and looked at it under a microscope. Do
22 you know what she saw Sperms. She saw three
23 intact sperm on that slide. The evidence will
24 reveal to you that the significance of that is
25 that sperm break down very quickly in the

44
1 body. They break down even more quickly in
2 the dead body. The fact that there were
3 intact sperm there told Karen Blakely that
4 that semen that sperm had gotten there very
5 recently. Smoking gun.
6 The next day Staceys body was
7 autopsied by Dr. Robert Bayardo the medical
8 examiner over in Austin. Doctor Bayardo will
9 come here and talk to you about the physical
10 evidence that he saw the injuries on Staceys
11 body. Dr. Bayardo found bruises and
12. fingernail marks on her arms consistent with
13 having been grabbed. Dr. Bayardo found fist
14 marks across her head abrasions in areas that
15 were consistent with being hit with a very
16 large fist multiple times. Doctor Bayardo
17 found abrasions across her shoulder and across
18 her lower abdomen that appeared to be
19 consistent with a struggle with a seatbelt
20 on.
21 Doctor Bayardo found what appeared to
22 be a cigarette burn on her right wrist and he
23 looked at that horrible injury around her
24 neck and he concluded that it did come from
25 that belt her very own belt. He also looked

45
1 at this question of sexual assault and he
2 himself took additional vaginal swabs from
3 Staceys body and he did the same AP test on
4 them and they came back positive. And he
5 took the vaginal swabs back positive and he
6 put the new ones hed done on a slide as well
7 and he saw one intact semen -- or sperm.
8 Again telling him that it had gotten there
9 very recently.
10 Now when Karen was out at the scene
11 she couldnt do any sort of rectal swabbing
12 because Stacey had been deceased for some time
13 and it just wasnt possible so Dr. Bayardo
14 looked at that and ladies and gentlemen Dr.
15 Bayardo found evidence on Staceys body
16 evidence of rectal tearing. She had been
17 sodomized as well. And he did rectal swabs on
18 her body as well and he looked at them with
19 the AP testimony and it didnt get dark
20 enough for him to call it positive on the AP
21 testimony so he called it negative but later
22 when he looked at it under a microscope he
23 saw little bits and pieces of sperms. Further
24 testing at DPS revealed that was sperm.
25 MR. GARVIE Objection. Im

46
1 going to object to counsels mentioning the
2 results of any testing done before those test
3 results have been admitted.
4 THE COURT The objection is
5 overruled. Go ahead.
6 MS. TANNER Later on the
7 DPS looked at those very same rectal swabs and
8 found them to be positive and later it was
9 determined that that was semen. Stacey was
10 sodomized as well at some point that morning.
11 Now the significance as the evidence
12 will show you of the rectal tear is this.
13 There is a way for doctors to determine
14 whether injuries occurred before death right
15 at the time of death or after death. And
16 its not rocket scientist work. The general
17 principle is is when you die your heart stops
18 beating and therefore blood stops flowing.
19 You dont bruise you dont bleed after you
20 die and so doctors can look at injuries and
21 make that determination of when they
22 occurred. Dr. Bayardo looked at the rectal
23 tearing on Staceys body and determined
24 unequivocally that it was para-mortem which
25 means it occurred after the time of her death

47
1 which means whoever did that did it with that
2 belt around her neck while that person
3 whoever it was was choking the life out of
4 her. That is what the evidence will show you

5 and thats why the smoking gun is that aspect
6 of the case.
7 Now all the evidence of course
8 went to DPS for a variety of testing. It went
9 for fingerprints and DNA and fibers and all
10 that sort of thing which always occurs. Of
11 course the primary test because of that
12 smoking gun because of the semen was DNA
13 testing. That is what they primarily focused
14 on. And let me take just a minute to -- well
15 we talked a lot at voir dire about DNA and
16 this and that and everybody said he had heard
17 about it and I kind of know about it. Let me
18 just tell you really quickly the basic concept
19 behind it because the concept is pretty
20 simple.
21 The science is not simple at all and
22 I would never endeavor to turn us all into
23 molecular biologists. But the principle is
24 pretty simple. We all have a DNA strain in
25 our body. Its kind of like a ladder. You

48
1 can visualize it like a twisted up ladder and
2 its in every cell of our body except for red
3 blood cells. And its the same in every cell
4 of our body. Well the only people that have
5 the same DNA strands in their body are
6 identical twins. The rest of us its

7 different. Okay And that strand of DNA
tells you everything that makes you unique.
--10
8
9 It maps
MR. GARVIE Im going to
11 object. This is argument.
12 THE COURT Its improper
13 opening statement.
14 MS. TANNER Thank you.
15 THE COURT Is that what you
16 intend to show by the evidence
17 MS. TANNER Absolutely.
18 THE COURT Rephrase it.
19 MS. TANNER Thank you. The
20 evidence will show you that the DNA strand is
21 what makes each of us unique. Now most of
22 the stuff in the strand is the same for you
23 and I and for anybody else you know the
24 stuff that tells you that youre going to have
25 two arms and two legs or youre going to have

49
1 hair on the top of your head. Thats going to
2 be the same. Well some of it theres also
3 parts of it that are very common but not
4 exactly the same. The part that tells us
5 whether you are going to have black hair or
6 blond hair or the part that tells us whether
7 were going to have blue eyes or brown eyes.
8 There are parts in the DNA strain that are
9 very unique that make you you. There is
10 something in my DNA strain that says that Im

11 going to have a mole on my wrist whatever
12 that may be.
13 DNA has been used for a number of
14 things long before it got used for serology
15 identifying the remains of dead determining
16 whether a bone marrow donor can give bone
17 marrow to a cancer patient and things like
18 that. Eventually it got adapted for forensic
19 uses for use in case and heres how it works.
20 The DNA strand is made up of proteins and
21 its like a ladder and theres four proteins
22 and well just call A and a T and a C and a
23 G. They stand for strands but we dont need
24 to worry about that. They complement each
25 other. Every A has to match every T. Every C

50
1 has to match with every G. If you can
2 envision a ladder if you got an A on one side
3 of the ladder on the other side of the rung
4 youre going to have a T. And thats what the
5 DNA strand is made up of.
6 Well all they do is they look at the
7 combinations of those proteins in a particular
8 area. They can localize to the specific known
9 area on your DNA strand and they can look at
10 what the combination is-- is it an AA TT GG
11 or whatever in that section. They are able to
12 extract that whole DNA strand out they look
13 at that known section and then they look at a
14 blood sample from another known person and
15 they look at that same section and see if the
16 building blocks are the same. If they are the
17 same then you have a match as to that site.
18 If they are different the building blocks are
19 different in the same sight then you have an
20 exclusion. There is no way that person could
21 have left that sample.
22 So DNA is a science of exclusion not
23 of identity. We are trying to exclude
24 somebody by looking at their DNA strand. So
25 what you do is if you have one test and it

51
1 comes back and its the same you look at
2 another site. And you look at the building
3 blocks in that sight and you see if thats the
4 same or not. Each test is independent of one
5 another because youre looking at different
6 areas on this whole long strand of DNA that
7 you have and very unique areas for the person
8 so if somebody matches three or four times and
9 then all of a sudden on the fifth test they
10 dont match they didnt do it period.
11 Thats how this works.
12 Now they also have a way of
13 quantifying that of allowing us a way to know
14 what the significance of the smudges are.
15 Okay Instead of just saying they have a
16 match because you dont get to the point of
17 identification. And the reason for that is
18 we cant test every single site on your DNA
19 strand. That would take years. Eventually
20 maybe but not at this time. So we look at a
21 number of sights. Then you use population.
22 This is let me just tell you way over my
23 head but the bottom line is that there are
24 data bases of how many times in the population
25 you would expect to see this particular

52
1 genetic profile and these population
2 geneticists develop these data bases.
3 These databases have been used to
4 judge the probability of someone other than
5 the person youre looking at could have left
6 that sample. So you use the databases to say
7 one in X number of whites could have left this
8 sample or one in X number of blacks or one in
9 X number of Hispanics. Because the database
10 is broken down by those three major racial
11 categories. That is what DNA testing is
12 about. The evidence will explain that to you
13 a lot better than I did but at least I wanted
14 to get that ball out. That is the tool that
15 in this case the police were armed with during
16 their investigation.
17 Well lets talk about the
18 investigation. The police went right after
19 Staceys death started trying to figure out
20 who did it. And they started that by talking
21 to the people she knew. And the reason for
22 that is pretty simple. Statistically
23 speaking most murders are committed by people
24 who knew the victim. Unfortunately there are
25 way too many random murders out there but the

53
1 majority of murders are not those random
2 murders. So they immediately started talking
3 to people that knew Stacey -- her fiance
4 Jimmy. They talk to any ex-boyfriends they
5 talk to her co-workers they talk to her
6 former co-workers they talk to her family
7 they talk to her friends all to try and find
8 out who might have done this Who might have
9 killed her Was she having some secret affair
10 with somebody
11 They talked to all these people and
12 not one of them during the course of the
13 investigation that they talked to ever said
14 she was associated with that defendant.
15 Ever. They werent dating according to
16 anyone they werent friends they werent
17 associates. So they talked to all of them
18 trying to find out as much as they could and
19 then they did exactly what you would expect
20 them to do. When you have an ex-boyfriend or
21 male associate or something they say Hey

22 would you give us some blood Sure. So
23 they kept getting blood samples from all the
24 suspects of 25 blood samples they ended up
25 getting from different people.

54
1 She shipped them to DPS they do
2 preliminary DNA testing on them and every
3 single one of them was excluded. They could
4 not have left that semen in her body. And
5 because they knew that that was the smoking
6 gun that kind of takes them out of the ball
7 game. That is how this investigation had
8 continued for almost a year. And during that
9 year HEB offered a $50000 reward for
10 information about what had happened to
11 Stacey. So you can imagine the number of
1.2 suspects and the police ran down every lead.
13 Im here to tell you Im not going
14 to hide behind a log on this one nuts came
15 out of the woodwork. Everybody had a rumor
16 everybody had and idea who had done it.
17 Pretty soon they had people bragging that they
18 had been the one that killed her shooting off
19 their mouth to their friends. The guy who
20 killed Mary Ann Ault a couple of weeks later
21 told his friends he had done it. One nutcase
22 even confessed to the police that he had done
23 it.
24 And do you know what the police did
25 They didnt have any preconceived notions

55
1 about who they wanted to arrest for this
2 offense. They took every one of those leads
3 every one of those people who were shooting
4 off their mouth and they tried to make a case
5 on them. And they got their blood and every
6 one of them they couldnt make a case on
7 because their blood excluded them from being
8 the perpetrator. They couldnt tie any of
9 them to this offense.
10 Were not going to spend a whole lot
11 of time during our case on that aspect of it

12 but I want you let you know that thats out
13 there. The nuts came out of the woodwork.
14 And that is pretty typical for a long
15 drawn-out investigation.
16 Finally in early March of 1997 this
17 defendant became a suspect. His name showed
18 up. And it was one of those things that once
19 his name showed up then they kind of went
20 Oh wow. A patrol officer for Bastrop PD
21 will come here and will talk to you as
22 witnesses and will tell you that they knew the
23 defendant and that he walked the streets of
24 Bastrop just about every night at all hours
25 of the night.
56
1 MR. GARVIE Objection.
2 Again Judge I need to state this on the
3 record.
4 Objection made at the Bench
5 outside the hearing of the
6 jury.
--12
7
8 MR. GARVIE First of all
9 this is improper opening number one and
10 number two were getting into evidence of
11 character. And I have a real problem with
Im objecting to her talking about that and
13 about her poisoning the jury on that before we
14 ever get to that evidence.
15 THE COURT Its overruled.
16 Go ahead maam.
17 MS. TANNER Thank you. The
18 evidence will show you that this defendant was
19 known to walk the streets of Bastrop in the
20 middle of the night all the time. Patrol
21 officers will tell you that it was almost a
22 guarantee if you were working the night shift
23 you saw Rodney Reed walking the streets. And
24 do you know where the evidence will show you
25 he walked His home base the police will

57
1 tell you was Long Star Mart right out on
2 Chestnut by the railroad tracks. His house
3 where he lived was just off Chestnut. There
4 was vacant field that separated his house from
5 Chestnut.
6 The other place that the officers
7 will tell you they saw him all the time was
8 walking the railroad tracks up and down those
9 railroad tracks over by Chestnut. Staceys
10 truck was found at the high school right by
11 the railroad tracks not even -- less than
12 three-quarters of a mile from his house. He
13 had been seen walking all the way up 21 as far
14 as the Rodeo Inn well past the stop sign at
15 95 and 21. The significance of that through
16 the course of the investigation was that
17 Stacey was driving through his nighttime
18 haunts early in the morning. So the defendant
19 became a suspect.
20 The evidence will show you that there
21 was already a sample on file for the
22 defendant and Ranger Wardlow asked DPS to
23 take that known sample of the defendant and
24 test it against the semen found in Staceys
25 body and thats what they did. Now you can
I
58
1 see where this is going. Bingo. It matched.
2 This was the first time in over a year they
3 had found anything that matched the semen in
4 Staceys body. They finally had a break.
5 So with that information sergeant
6 David Board with the police department went to
7 the defendant to talk to him and he asked
8 him Did you know Stacey Stites And the
9 whole purpose for that was to find that before
10 he knew they were looking at him because they
11 hadnt taken any blood from him. He didnt
12 know the results of these preliminary DNA
13 tests to ask him before he knew they were
14 looking at him about it so if he was going to
15 say that they were dating or running around
16 together or something they would know right up
17 front. And he told them -
18 MR. GARVIE Objection.
19 Objection made at the bench
20 outside the hearing of the
21 jury.
22
23 MR. GARVIE Judge for the
24 record Im going to object to her referring
25 to any statement that the accused made on the

59
1 grounds that such a statement would be
2 hearsay. When we get to that point it has
3 not been admitted for all purposes. Weve
4 only been admitted for the purposes of the
5 suppression hearing.
7 Go ahead.
8 MS. TANNER Thank you your
9 honor. When Sergeant Board talked to the
10 defendant the defendant knew that he had been
11 linked to semen he told them I didnt know
12 her never met her never talked to her had
13 no idea who she is. The only thing I know was
14 what I saw on TV. And gave a written
15 statement to that effect. After that the
16 police drafted a search warrant and got blood
17 from this defendant and sent his blood off to
18 DPS for analysis and they got results. And
19 the results they got again they couldnt
20 exclude him. The results from the initial
21 testing of his blood against the semen in
22 Staceys body the vaginal swabs both from
23 the medical examiners office and from the
24 scene excluded everyone else but this
25 defendant. The rectal swabs excluded everyone

60
11
1 else but this defendant.
2 There was a very small amount of
3 semen found on Staceys panties excluded
4 everyone else but this defendant. And when
5 Karen Blakely was out the scene she swabbed
6 Staceys breasts. Just like she had done with
7 everything else with the sterile Q-tips she
8 found the components of saliva -- excluded
9 everyone else but this defendant. Now the
10 rectal swabs the evidence that was reviewed
11 from the sodomy aspect of the case they were
12 only able to get one site one DNA site. They
13 tested for two. And the reason for that is
14 because of the bacterial aspect of that it
15 breaks down very quickly so they werent able
16 to do really advanced testing on that
17 particular thing but they got an exclusion of
18 everyone else and inclusion of this
19 defendant.
20 So then they also did the statistical
21 part with regard to the two sights that they
22 tested that excluded everyone else and the
23 initial statistical aspect of it was this.
24 The evidence will show you that 99.75 percent
25 of the black population could not have left

61
1 that sample theyre excluded. The evidence
2 will show you that 99.77 percent of the white
3 population would be excluded that 99.92
4 percent of the Hispanic population would be
5 excluded based on population frequencies.
6 Its pretty powerful but did DPS
7 rest there and say Well thats enough. We
8 got enough No. There is a more
9 discriminating type of DNA testing that
10 occurs and we will talk about that through
11 the experts. And what they do in that is the
12 same principle they are looking at specific
13 sites but they look at sites with this other
14 testimony thats called RFLP. They looked at
15 sights in this testing that are called junk
16 DNA there are sections on your strand that
17 dont do anything that are just there they
18 dont have any function they dont mean
19 anything. They are just junk on your DNA
20 strand and they are highly highly unique to
21 each individual.
22 Well they tested those and they
23 looked at four sites. They had a fifth site
24 where they couldnt get any DNA at all. The
25 neat thing about DNA testing is if its a

62
1 problem they get no results not any kind of a
2 false result. They got four sites and guess
3 what Once again they could not exclude this
4 defendant. So then they did the population
5 frequencies for those tests and here is what
6 they came back to. Only one in 330 million
7 black people African/Americans could have
8 left that semen. Only one in 590 million
9 Caucasians could have left that sample. Only
10 one in 3 billion Hispanics could have left
11 that sample. And that is the numbers they
12 came up with when they looked at those four
13 sites.
14 So now we have six total that have
15 been looked at. Cant exclude him cant
16 include anybody else and if you look at the
17 probability that somebody else would have the
18 same genetic make up for those six sites not
19 just the four not just the two but all six
20 the numbers come out to only one in 5.5
21 billion people whether they are white
22 whether they are African/American or whether
23 they are Hispanic that could have left that
24 sample. Do you know what the significance of
25 5.5 billion is Thats the world population.

63
1 Thats what the evidence will show
2 you with regard to what DPS did in this case
3 -- that one person in the world population
4 could have left that sample.
5 So at that point did they say Well

6 thats good enough. We got him. Lets go to
7 trial No. When you have something of this
8 magnitude maybe its a good idea to get a
9 second opinion. So Staceys vaginal swabs and
10 the rectal swabs were sent to an independent
11 lab a renowned lab in North Carolina called
12 Labcorp. Labcorp does a kind of testing that
13 looks at ten different sites. Its a
14 state-of-the-art DNA testing called STR
15 testing. They look at ten sites independent
16 of the other six that we have already looked
17 at.
18 Well and they also looked at the
19 rectal swabs and they came out with the same
20 exact results that DPS had. They couldnt get
21 any additional testimony on the rectal swabs
22 but they confirm the first test that the DPS
23 did that there was semen that was consistent
24 with this defendant and was inconsistent with
25 the others. Its critical for the reasons we

64
1 have talked about already. They looked at ten
2 new sites on this DNA strand on this evidence
3 ten and you can see where were going with
4 this. Again they couldnt exclude the
5 defendant couldnt do it.
6 And remember because we talked
7 before about since DNA is a science of
8 exclusion rather than inclusion the fact that
9 all these other people had been excluded by

10 the first test you didnt have to do any
11 additional tests on their blood because
12 theyre out. You couldnt exclude this
13 defendant. The number for the ten sites that
14 they looked at only one in 46.8 million
15 African/Americans could have left that sample
16 only one in 449 million Caucasians could have
17 left it and only one in 5.5 billion Hispanics
18 could have left it. And again if you combine
19 those ten sites that they look at at Labcorp
20 with the six sites looked at DPS only one
21 person in the world population would be
22 expected to have that frequency.
23 All the DNA testing tells you is that
24 the person that left the semen in Staceys
25 body is sitting in the courtroom. Hes

65
1 sitting right over there. That is what the
2 DNA testing will tell you. The evidence will
3 show you that someone on her way to work got
4 her. Did he force his way into her truck
5 Did he talk his way into her truck We dont
6 know but after that bent her of the seat of
7 her truck after he strangled the life out of
8 her he raped and sodomized her. And ladies
9 and gentlemen that is capital murder. That
10 is the very essence of capital murder.
11 The road to that truth the truth in
12 this case is straight. Its a straight
13 deserted highway. There is a lot of rabbit
14 trails off to the sides tons of rabbit
15 trails but they lead to dead ends every one
16 of them. We ask you to follow your oaths and
17 stay true to your course because the truth
18 leads only to one person and the evidence
19 will show you hes sitting right over here.
20 The one person in the world who is responsible
21 for the horror that must have been Stacey
22 Stites last moments on earth sitting right
23 over there and at the close of evidence I
24 will ask you simply to follow your oaths and
25 find this defendant guilty of capital murder.

66
1 Thank you.
2 THE COURT Lets take a
3 morning break about fifteen minutes before
4 we go any further. Remember the instructions
5 I have given to you.
7 At this time a recess was
8 taken.
10 Whereupon the Jury returned
11 to the courtroom and the
12 following proceedings were
13 had open Court.
14
15 THE COURT Thank you very
16 much. Does the defense want to make an
17 opening statement
18 MS. CLAY-JACKSON We will
19 Your Honor.
20
21 OPENING STATEMENT
22 BY MS. CLAY-JACKSON
23 Good morning. As in any lawsuit and
24 a criminal trial is just a lawsuit there are
25 two sides of looking at the facts. Thats why

67
1 youve got the lawsuit. Opening statements
2 as the Judge has informed you is just that.
3 Its where the attorneys help you see the
4 evidence in the light that they are going to
5 present that evidence to them. In this murder
6 trial you will find from the evidence that
7 Stacey was in fact on her way to work. She
8 had a 330 time to be at work at HEB. That
9 last account of her being seen alive was from
10 Jimmy Fennell her fiance. Everything about
11 the last time that she was seen alive comes
12 from Jimmy Fennel her fiance.
13 The States attorney talked with you
14 about the fact that most murders are committed
15 by people who are close to the victim. Jimmy
16 Fennell was very close to this victim.
17 You will remember that we talked
18 about each one of you in voir dire we talked
19 about should people be treated differently
20 when they are arrested. What reasons would
21 one give to treat another person differently
22 when they are arrested. And the overview of
23 the conversations that you had with the
24 attorney some of you had conversations with
25 me and some had my co-counsel was that

68
1 sometimes race does play a part in how people
2 are treated and you all said you didnt think
3 that was right but I think you all said you
4 knew it happened.
5 Well in this particular case not
6 only was race a component of it but so was
7 occupation. Because Jimmy Fennell was a
8 fellow officer he was treated with more
9 deference than the other suspects. Oh yes

10 Jimmy Fennell was suspect. Oh yes all the
11 way up until he asked to have a lawyer present
12 he was a suspect. That was in December of
13 1996. There are ways for you to look at this
14 evidence and its real important. And the
15 evidence will show as I said Jimmy Fennell
16 was a suspect all the way up until December of
17 1996 when he asked for an attorney. Jimmy
18 Fennell had particular law enforcement
19 training. He had been an officer not only in
20 Giddings but also in Bastrop.
21 This murder was a murder of crime and
22 passion. Passion. Oh Im so sorry it
23 happened. Oh Im so sorry it happened. And
24 all the suspects were not treated equally.
25 Oh yes they all had blood samples taken

69
1 they had all had hair samples taken and they
2 also had saliva samples taken but they were
3 not all treated equally.
4 Stacey was engaged to be married to
5 Jimmy Fennell. And the 21st there may be
6 some disagreement as to the conversation
7 concerning the keys Mrs. Stites keys to the
8 car and why Jimmy should take Stacey to work
9 the next day.
10 Statements made close or near to the
11 time that the incident happened are in most
12 cases probably more accurate than those
13 statements that have been taken a year year
14 and a half or two years away from the time the
15 incident happened. In this case those things
16 happened. When young men start dating
17 generally its assumed that they are going to
18 date within their race. Generally. For some
19 people that doesnt happen. And all of you
20 all have talked about interracial dating your
21 feelings concerning interracial dating. There
22 was interracial dating in this case and you
23 will hear from people who will talk to you
24 about the fact that there was a secret
25 affair. A secret affair.

70
1 When you have a young man who his
2 entire life has only dated Caucasian its not
3 unusual. But that young man also knows
4 because he only dated Caucasians how it is
5 that you can survive in a community that
6 probably will not embrace such a relationship
7 how you can continue that relationship. You
8 will hear about that. You will also hear that
9 when news reached Rodney Reed that Stacey
10 Stites had been killed his cousin said to him
--12
11
MS. TANNER Objection
13 hearsay.
14 THE COURT Sustained.
--17
15 MS. CLAY-JACKSON Statements
16 to the effect
MS. TANNER Same
18 objection.
19 THE COURT Sustained.
20 MS. CLAY-JACKSON Its wise
21 not to know any dead white girls. Its wise
22 not to know any dead white girls.
23 With that as the parameter because
24 you understand what it means to date
25 interracially in these United States and more

71
1 specifically in the State of Texas thats not
2 an unusual parameter to have. And if you made
3 a choice you have to know how to live within
4 the boundaries.
5 So Stacey leaves her home and we
6 only have the testimony of Jimmy Fennell to
7 tell us when she left her home. And HEB
8 contacts Mrs. Stites not Jimmy Fennell Mrs.
9 Stites not the fiance. And Jimmy makes a
10 show of putting on his clothes when hes
11 called by Mrs. Stites he makes a show of
12 putting on his clothes to come downstairs so
13 that hes seen to be putting on his clothes to
14 meet Mrs. Stites and he makes a point of
15 getting the keys that he gave her the night
16 before and goes off in search of his fiancee.
17 Goes off in search of his fiancee. This
18 police officer.
19 About two hours later or so hes at
20 the Sheriffs Department the call comes in
21 concerning the truck. He takes his truck keys
22 and meets the officers at the high school.
23 The officer investigating the case at that
24 time at the high school has Jimmy Fennell
25 point out the things in the truck that look

72
1 amiss. Okay. Okay. And he makes noted
2 observations. This is out of place that
3 wouldnt have happened this way. Something is
4 wrong here. In police parlance those kinds
5 of phrases bring up the term foul play
6 suspected. Those kinds of terms that police
7 officers use the kinds of understanding that
8 police officers use. So he pointed out all
9 those things that denoted foul play
10 suspected. Fennell pointed them out.
11 No doubt youll see some of the
12 evidence youll see as it was pictured as it
13 was photographed on that day. You will judge
14 as you are the only judges of the fact of this
15 case whether the facts show that the evidence
16 was accidentally placed there or purposely
17 placed there to lead to the suspicion that
18 foul play should be suspected.
19 Members of the jury the evidence
20 will also show that some two weeks later a
21 Mary Ann Ault was murdered. And Ms. Ault was
22 murdered by strangulation. Ms. Ault was
23 murdered and her body was disposed of in the
24 country off 95 about eight miles from where
25 Ms. Stites body was found. Ms. Ault there

73
1 was also indication that sexual intercourse
2 happened with Ms. Ault.
3 And as in the case with Ms. Ault

4 with Ms. Stites there is a missing earring.
5 A missing earring.
6 A person has pled guilty to the
7 murder of Ms. Ault. That was David Lawhon.
8 Evidence will show you that in fact he too

9 was a suspect and not a rabbit trail suspect
10 but a bona fide suspect. The similarities
11 between these two murders Ms. Ault and Ms.
12 Stites are remarkable. Youve got the
13 missing earring you have also -- and you
14 know we like posters -- sex being a factor in
15 both these murders. Both bodies were found in
16 the general area of 1441 and 95. Both had
17 significant relationships with other with men

18 Ms. Ault had a husband a person she lived
19 with and Ms. Stites lived with her fiance.
20 There is a vehicle involved in both these
21 murders in transporting the bodies to the
22 places where they were found.. A common very
23 common aspect. Both of these instances both
24 these murders either occurred very late at
25 night or very early in the morning.

74
1 You all know because you saw it
2 enough what the standard is for you to
3 measure the facts the testimony that you
4 translate into facts you all know the
5 standard of truth is beyond a reasonable
6 doubt that the prosecution has to exclude all
7 reasonable doubt all the doubt that would
8 cause you to hesitate. We have two men who
9 were suspects in this case. The investigation
10 that concluded by the arrest of Rodney leaves
11 reasonable doubt as to the two men who were
12 suspects David Lawhon and Jimmy Fennell.
13 There is finality with those two.
14 When the officers at the scene the
15 site where Ms. Stites body was found they
16 cordoned off the scene they collected
17 evidence. That evidence was tested yet being
18 tested. It does not exclude everyone that was
19 a suspect.
20 When the evidence was found at the
21 scene where Ms. Stites body was found it
22 appeared to be placed as though it was
23 pointing to where the body was to be found.
24 As though someone was saying Please find
25 her. I didnt mean to do this. Please find

75
1 her. Please find her. Ill make it easy for
2 you. Ill make all the evidence go into a
3 line. A crime of passion. A crime of
4 passion.
5 You have one of the suspects primary
6 suspects admitting to murder. David Lawhon
7 admitting to the murder. And nothing to
8 counteract it. Nothing to contradict it.
9 People will testify that in fact there was a
10 relationship a secret affair between Rodney
11 and Stacey.
12 MS. TANNER Im sorry I
13 didnt hear that.
14 MS. CLAY-JACKSON Between
15 Rodney and Stacey.
16 Its not a simple case. Its not a
17 simple case at all. Its very complex because
18 no one knows as you all heard during voir
19 dire who are the two people in a murder
20 situation that know exactly what happens One
21 person who can speak and one person who
22 cannot. What the attorneys are telling you
23 what the evidence that we have asked to be
24 presented to you are our theories of what
25 happened. They are our theories of what

76
1 happened.
2 Doctor Bayardo is going to talk with
3 you about the bruising. Hell talk to you
4 about the bruising and inevitably he will
5 tell you that his results dont rule out the
6 fact that there was consensual sex that the
7 evidence is just as consistent with consensual
8 sex as it is with sexual assault. Any medical
9 examiner who looks at these results will tell
10 you the same thing. So you take into
11 circumstances around the relationships of two
12 people.
13 Keep particular note of what evidence
14 was recovered what evidence was not
15 recovered what was searched and what was not
16 searched. Pointedly Rodney Reeds home was
17 searched in March of 1997. Jimmy Fennells
18 apartment was never searched. Never
19 searched. David Lawhons home was searched.
20 There was disparate treatment probably due
21 more to the fact that were talking about a
22 police officer than we are talking about an
23 African/American but there was disparate
24 treatment. And as the States attorney spoke
25 with you at the beginning of her opening

77
1 statement also remember to keep in account
2 the fact that there is a death of a young
3 person that were talking about here and that
4 the decision that you are going to be asked to
5 make has far-reaching ramifications with
6 that far-reaching ramifications. The
7 evidence does lead to you believe or will
8 guide you into the belief that there is
9 reasonable doubt. No conclusions.
10 What has been characterized as a
11 smoking gun remember always that there are
12 two sides to a story two ways to get things
13 out two ways to do things. Two.
14 Because you grow up in these United
15 States because you grow up in Texas there
16 are two things as Ive said that you know
17 and one of those things if youre an
18 African/American male and you only date white
19 women you better not know any dead white
20 woman otherwise theres a good possibility
21 you will be sitting up here on trial as the
22 accused.
23 Its an onerous task that Mr. Garvie
24 and I have to try to keep the State from
25 killing Mr. Reed. You have all said by taking

78
1 the oath that you will listen to the evidence
2 consider it think of it impartially consider
3 it impartially and come to your conclusion.
4 I think when you do that there will be only
5 one conclusion that you can come to that
6 there is reasonable doubt that the State has
7 not met their burden of proof and in this
8 particular lawsuit the verdict should be not
9 guilty.
10 THE COURT Who is your first
11 witness
12 MS. TANNER The State calls
13 Debra Rangel.
14 THE COURT Will you please
15 come up here in front of the bench and let me
16 swear you in in front of the jury.
17
18 DEBRA RANGEL the witness after having
19 first been duly sworn assumed the witness stand
20 and testified upon her oath as follows
21 THE COURT Please have a
22 seat right over here. Maam please speak
23 into the microphone so that we can all hear
24 you. Go ahead.
25
79
1 DIRECT EXAMINATION
2 QUESTIONS BY MS. TANNER
3 Q. Would you state your name for the jury
4 please.
5 A. Debra Rangel.
6 Q. Debra how old are you and I know its rude
7 to ask
8 A. Im almost 25.
9 Q. And where do you live
10 A. I live in College Station Texas.
11 Q. Where did you grow up

12 A. I grew up in Corpus Christi Texas.
13 Q. And how long have you lived in College
14 Station
15 THE COURT Will you hold on
16 a second Our microphone is turned off. We
17 need it on so that we can all hear. Its fine
18 now. Go ahead.
19 Q. BY MS. TANNER And how long have you lived
20 in College Station
21 A. Almost a year.
22 Q. And you said you grew up in Corpus Christi
23 A. Right.
24 Q. Are you married
25 A. Yes I am.
80
1 Q. And what do you do for a living
2 A. Im a school teacher.
3 Q. And do you teach
4 A. Right now Im teaching 5th grade math and
5 Ill be teaching 9th grade algebra.
6 Q. Debra do you have any brothers and sisters
7 A. Yes I do.
8 Q. Can you tell us who your brothers and sisters
9 are starting from the oldest to the youngest
10 A. Okay. Crystal is the oldest and then my
11 other sister is Brenda and my brother was in
12 the middle and there was myself and then
13 Stacey was the youngest.
14 Q. What is Staceys last name
15 A. Stacey Stites..
16 Q. So Stacey Stites was your baby sister
17 A. Yes.
18 Q. Debbie tell us are all your other siblings
19 currently alive
20 A. No they are not.
21 Q. Which ones are not
22 A. Stacey is no longer alive and then my brother
23 passed away last August.
24 Q. When did Stacey pass away
25 A. Stacey died April 23rd 1996.
i..
81
1 Q. So your brother passed away subsequently
2 A. Right.
3 Q. Debra do you know where Stacey was working at
4 the time of her death
5 A. She was working at HEB in the produce
6 department.
7 Q. And do you know what town that was in

8 A. It was in Bastrop.
9 Q. Do you know where Stacey was living at the
10 time of her death
11 A. She was living in Giddings with my mom and
12 Jimmy.
13 Q. What was the living arrangement that they had
14 A. Pretty much Stacey was living with Jimmy at
15 the time because they were engaged to be
16 married within the next few months or
17 actually within a couple of weeks and so the
18 way the apartments were was my mom was
19 downstairs and Jimmy had an apartment that was
20 upstairs so they were still all right there
21 together.
22 Q. So it was the three of them together
23 A. Right.
24 Q. Okay. And you said that Stacey was engaged
25 A. Yes she was.

82
1 Q. Whats the name of the young man she was
2 engaged to
3 A. Jimmy Fennell.
4 Q. And did they have a wedding date set
5 A. Yes they did.
6 Q. What was date that their wedding was planned
7 A. It was supposed to be on May 11 1996.
8 Q. So she passed away less than three weeks
9 before the wedding date
10 A. Less than three weeks.
11 MS. TANNER May I approach
12 the witness
13 THE COURT Sure.
14 Q. BY MS. TANNER Let me show you what has been
15 marked States Exhibit Number la and ask if
16 you can tell me what that is

17 A. This is the picture that was taken probably
18 the last picture of her right before she
19 died. It was at her wedding shower.
20 Q. And does that picture depict how Stacey looked
21 in April of 1996
22 A. Yes it does.
23 MS. TANNER The State would
24 offer States Exhibit la.
25
83
1 States Exhibit No. la was
2 offered into evidence.
4 MR. GARVIE Judge we
5 object we havent seen these pictures at
6 all.
7 THE COURT Is that the only
8 objection
9 MR. GARVIE Thats the only
10 objection.
11 THE COURT Its overruled
12 la is admitted.
13
14 States Exhibit No. la was
15 admitted into evidence.
16
17 Q. BY MS. TANNER Debra let me show you what
18 has been marked as States Exhibit Number 1
19 and ask you if this is a blowup of States
20 Exhibit la
21 A. Yes it is.
22 Q. Same photo
23 A. Yes.
24 MS. TANNER The State would
25 offer States Exhibit Number 1.

84
2 States Exhibit No. 1 was
5 MR. GARVIE Judge same
6 objection Judge and its also bolstering and
7 its also cumulative because its already
8 been admitted in a smaller portion the same
9 picture.
10 MS. TANNER We are offering
11 States la for the purposes of the record only
12 so that we will have it.
14 Number 1 is admitted.
15
18
19 Q. BY MS. TANNER Debra look at States
20 Exhibit Number la you indicated that this
21 photo was taken when
22 A. I believe it was the Thursday before she was
23 killed.
24 Q. What is the circumstances
25 A. This was at her wedding shower.

85
1 Q. And this was how your sister appeared around
2 the time of her death
3 A. Yes it is.
4 Q. Debra did Stacey have any sort of health
5 infirmities or anything like that that could
6 have caused her death on April the 23rd of
7 1996
8 A. No she was very healthy.
9 Q. Okay. And what was her attitude about her
10 upcoming wedding
11 A. She was really excited about it. The last
12 time I had talked to her I had found shoes to
13 match my dress because I was the Maid of
14 Honor. She had been the Maid of Honor at my
15 wedding and everything was coming together.
16 All the plans were being finalized and we
17 were getting ready to get married.
18 Q. Thank you.
19 MS. TANNER No further
20 questions.
21
22 CROSS EXAMINATION
23 QUESTIONS BY MS. CLAY-JACKSON
24 Q. Ms. Rangel is that correct
25 A. Yes.
86
1 Q. My name is Lydia Clay-Jackson. You and I have
2 never spoken about this have we

3 A. No we have not.
4 Q. Before today how many times did you speak
5 with these representatives of the State
6 concerning this case
7 A. I have only seen them at the previous
8 pretrials.
9 Q. And how many times have you spoken with them
10 A. Do you want a direct number I would say I
11 have spoken with them less than ten times.
12 Q. And when do you recall was the last time that
13 you spoke with the States attorneys
14 A. This morning.
15 Q. How would you classify your relationship with
16 Jimmy Fennell
17 A. What do you mean
18 Q. How would you classify your relationship now
19 with Jimmy Fennell
20 MS. TANNER I object Your
21 Honor. Her relationship now with Jimmy is
22 utterly irrelevant to anything about this
23 case.
24 MS. CLAY-JACKSON Its quite
25 relevant for cross-examination purposes.

87
1 THE COURT Ill overrule
2 it. Go ahead. You may answer the question.
3 A. We still keep in touch especially now that I
4 live closer in the area. We try to keep an
5 eye on him to make sure hes still doing all
6 right.
7 Q. After the funeral of your sister how did you
8 classify your relationship with him
9 A. It was the same. We were. still -- he was
10 still family you know whether or not the
11 wedding went through or not. We still
12 considered him our brother-in-law. Hes still
13 a part of the family.
14 Q. Do you recall making a statement about your
15 feelings concerning Jimmy Fennell and his
16 attitude at the funeral
17 A. There was so much going on no I dont.
18 Q. Do you recall what your feelings were about
19 Jimmy Fennell and his attitude right after the
20 funeral
21 A. He just seemed like someone that was very sad
22 as we all were.
23 Q. And police officer talked with you correct
24 A. Yeah they did.
25 Q. At the time the incident happened

88
1 A. A detective yes.
2 Q. And you were living with your folks at that
3 time
4 A. Yes I was.
5 Q. And did they call you or did they come down
6 and talk to you

7 A. No no the only time I talked to anybody was
8 at the funeral place.
9 Q. And you never made any written statements
done-13
10 correct
11 A. No I have not.
12 Q. And you didnt do it then and you havent
it since is that correct
14 A. Made a written statement
15 Q. Yes.
16 A. No I have not.
17 Q. And you have not made a taped statement
18 A. I guess the detective took notes on what we
19 said yeah.
20 Q. Which detective took notes
21 A. I have no idea what his name is.
22 Q. Was it a Detective Board
23 A. That doesnt sound familiar.
24 Q. Wardlow
25 A. No.
89
1 Q. Campos
2 A. Thats him yeah.
3 Q. Okay.
4 When -- did you have occasion to see
5 Jimmy Fennell and your sister together
6 A. The first time we met Jimmy was when Stacey
7 graduated and he was there and that was when
8 we methim and then we came up for
9 Thanksgiving and he was there for
10 Thanksgiving.
11 Q. Would you classify your sister as a popular
12 young lady when she was in school
13 A. There were only about a hundred people in the
14 class so its kind of hard to not know
15 everybody.
16 Q. Well do you think she was well-liked
17 A. Yes all of us siblings are very outgoing and
18 well-liked.
19 Q. Do you recall your mother when you-all were
20 growing up ever talking to you about who you
21 should and should not date
22 A. Well yeah -- people we should or should not
23 date. I think every mother does that.
24 Q. But your mother made no references to whether
25 you should or should not date outside your

90
1 race correct
2 A. No I married a Hispanic.
3 Q. So in that regard your mother had no
4 boundaries is that correct as far as who you
5 should or should not date as far as ethnic
6 goes
7 A. No we never really -- that was never really
8 an issue.
9 MS. CLAY-JACKSON No
10 further questions.
11
12 REDIRECT EXAMINATION
13 QUESTIONS BY MS. TANNER
.1 Q. Debra you indicated that you and I probably
15 talked on ten occasions or so. How many times
16 have we sat down and talked of what your
17 testimony would be
18 A. Just briefly this morning just to kind of give
19 me an idea -- you know what is my name and
20 that kind of thing.
21 Q. We didnt have to rehearse
22 A. No not at all.
23 Q. Since you were the closest of the sisters with
24 Stacey do you think you were the closest of
2.5 the two or were any of your other sisters more

91
1 close to her
2 A. I think we were all close to Stacey because
3 she was the baby but my feeling is that
4 Stacey and I were closer.
5 Q. Did Stacey ever mention to you in any way

6 shape or form that she knew this defendant
7 A. Never ever.
8 MS. TANNER No further
9 questions.
10 THE COURT Any follow-up.
11 MS. CLAY-JACKSON No Your
12 Honor we reserve the right to recall.
13 THE COURT Youre subject to
14 recall.
15 MS. TANNER Your Honor as
16 a family member that has no real substantive
17 evidence we ask that she be excused from the
18 Rule. She needs to be able to stay in here.
19 THE COURT Only if its
20 agreeable with the defense.
21 MS. CLAY-JACKSON No.
22 THE COURT Okay. You will
23 have to stay outside.
24 Whereupon the witness was
25 excused from the stand.

92
2 THE COURT Who is your next
3 witness
4 MR. PENICK Andrew
5 Cardenas.
6 THE COURT Id like to swear
7 you in in front of the jury.
9 ANDREW CARDENAS the witness after
10 having first been duly sworn assumed the witness
11 stand and testified upon his oath as follows
12
14 QUESTIONS BY MR. PENICK
15 Q. Would you state your name please for the
16 jury
17 A. Andrew M. Cardenas.
18 THE COURT Sir will you
19 scoot up closer to that microphone so we can
20 all hear you. And will you spell your last
21 name.
22 A. Cardenas C-A-R-D-E-N-A-S.
23 Q. And how old are you Mr. Cardenas
24 A. Im 38 years old.
25 Q. Where do you live

93
1 A. I live in Lockhart Texas.
2 Q. How long have you lived there
3 A. All my life.
4 Q. And youre an employee at HEB is that
5 correct
6 A. Yes sir.
7 Q. How long have you worked at HEB
8 A. I just completed ten years.
9 Q. And how long have you worked at HEB in
10 Bastrop
11 A. I worked there two years now. I have been
12 there two years.
13 Q. Do you remember when you started there two
14 years ago
15 A. No sir I dont.
16 Q. Where did you work -- did you work for HEB
17 before that
18 A. Yes sir I was working in Lockhart.
19 Q. How long did you work there
20 A. About three years.
21 Q. Now what is your current position at HEB

22 A. Im an overnight manager.
23 Q. Is that over some department
24 A. Thats over the whole store.
25 Q. I would like to -- let me ask you how long

94
1 have. you been in that position
2 A. I have been doing it for about two years
3 already.
4 Q. Back -- I would like to refer you back to
5 April the 23rd of 1996 what were your job
6 title then
7 A. I was the back-up produce manager then.
8 Q. And how long you had you been in that
9 position
10 A. For a couple of months.
11 Q. What did you do in that job

12 A. I was mostly stock take care of -- watching
13 employees help the employees when they needed
14 help or something.
15 Q. Okay. And thats in the produce department
16 A. Yes sir.
17 Q. And youre no longer in the produce
18 department
19 A. No sir.
20 Q. Did you know a lady a young lady named Stacey
21 Stites during your work at HEB
22 A. Yes sir.
23 Q. How long did you know her

24 A. For a couple of days thats about it. Only a
25 few days.
95
1 Q. Okay. Just a few days
2 A. Well I worked with her a couple of months and
3 everything around there.
4 Q. So more than just a couple of days

5 A. Yes sir.
6 Q. And did you and she work the same hours same
7 time schedule
8 A. Yes sir.
9 Q. Okay. And what was that time schedule
10 A. 330 in the morning all the time.
11 Q. Okay. Thats when the two of you arrived at
12 work -- at 330 in the morning
13 A. Yes sir.
14 Q. And she was also to arrive at work at 330 in
15 the morning
16 A. Yes sir.
17 Q. Why did yall have to get there so early
18 A. Thats the way our produce manager makes the
19 schedule hours.
20 Q. The store was not open at that time
21 A. No sir not at all.
22 Q. Was the for purpose for stocking the produce
23 department
.2 A. Yes sir getting it ready for the morning.
25 MR. PENICK If I may

96
1 approach the witness Your Honor.
2 THE COURT Sure.
3 Q. I want to show you what has been marked as
4 States Exhibit Number 1 and ask you have you
5 ever seen either one of these people before
6 A. Stacey.
7 Q. Okay. And if you would point her out for the
8 jury
9 A. Right here indicating.
10 Q. And thats the same young lady that worked
11 with you at HEB.
12 A. Yes sir it is.
13 Q. Now yall were scheduled to work at the same
14 time. Were you always punctual getting there
15 to the store Did you get there on time
16 A. Yes sir we did.
17 Q. And did Stacey
18 A. Yes sir.
19 Q. And you say you worked with her about two
20 months
21 A. Yes sir.
22 Q. Did you see her ever drive into the store
--25
24 Q. You never
A. Would you repeat the question please.

97
1 Q. Okay. Did you ever see her -- as I understand
2 it did you and her meet together in front of
3 the store
4 A. Oh yes sir yes sir.
5 Q. Okay. And what was the purpose of this
6 A. Just to keep an eye on each other to make
7 sure nobody was around and walk inside the
8 store together and everything.
9 Q. Okay. And that was because of the early
10 morning hours
11 A. Yes sir.
12 Q. And as I understand it you and she always
13 about got there about the same time
14 A. Yes sir.
15 Q. Okay. Did you ever get there before her

16 A. A couple of times I did but I just stayed
17 there in the car waiting.
18 Q. Okay. And did you see her drive into the
--23
19 store
20 A. Yes sir.
21 Q. Okay. And I would like to show you what has
22 been marked as States Exhibit 4a
MR. PENICK If I may
24 approach him
25 Q. BY MR. PENICK And ask you to -- now this is
98
1 a small photograph can you look at that and
2 identify what that is what that purports to
3 show
4 A. Yes sir.
5 Q. Okay. What is that
6 A. Its the HEB parking lot.
7 Q. Okay. And that picture accurately shows what
8 it purports to show
9 A. Yes sir.
10 MR. PENICK The State would
11 offer States Exhibit 4a into evidence.
12
13 States Exhibit No. 4a was
15
17 objection.
18 THE COURT 4a is admitted.
19
20 States Exhibit No. 4a was
22
23 Q. BY MR. PENICK I want to show you also what
24 has been marked as States Exhibit Number 4
25 and ask you to identify that please sir

99
1 A. Yes its the HEB parking lot also.
2 Q. Is that a blown-up photograph of picture 4a

3 A. Yes sir.
4 Q. And that shows the HEB store
5 A. Yes it is.
6 Q. Now would you show the jury please where it
7 was that you and Stacey would meet
8 A. Right in this area right in here indicating.
9 Q. Okay. And youre pointing to a row of parking
10 spaces
11 A. Yes sir.
12. Q. And that is in front of one of the doors to
13 the store
15 Q. Okay. And which door would that be

16 A. It would be on my right-hand side the right
17 side.
18 Q. As youre facing the store
19 A. Yes sir.
20 Q. And you always met in that area
21 A. Yes sir.
22 Q. And I believe you said she was always on time
23 A. Yes sir.
24 Q. Now the time you would meet her there would
25 you see her drive into the store parking lot

100
1 A. Yes sir.
2 Q. And could you show the jury when direction she
3 would come from
4 A. She would always come this way and park right
5 here in front indicating.
6 Q. Okay. And that would be the eastern most part
7 of that shopping center
8 A. Yes sir.
9 Q. The driveway that came off of loop 150
10 A. Yes sir.
11 Q. And she would pass in front of several stores
12 one of which was the old Wal Mart store
14 Q. And the cleaners and the jewelry store and
15 Subway
16 A. Yes sir.
17 Q. And you would wait on her and then you and
18 she would go in the store together
19 A. Yes sir.
20 Q. Now how would you get in the store
21 A. We would get -- I would get my keys and knock
22 on the glass window until somebody came.
23 Q. All right. They now have a buzzer do they
24 not that you ring
25 A. Yes sir they do.

101
1 Q. Now lets go to the -- April the 23rd of
2 1996. Did you go to work on that day

3 A. Yes sir.
4 Q. And did you see Stacey that morning Did she
5 appear at 330 in the morning
7 Q. Okay. Did that cause you some concern
8 A. Yes sir it did.
9 Q. What did you do Did you wait for her out
10 there
11 A. I waited out in the parking lot for a little
12 while and then I got out of my car and
13 started walking inside.
14 Q. And you went to work
15 A. Yes sir.
16 Q. Did she ever come in that day

18 Q. What did you do after a certain amount of time
19 passed What did you do in regard to her
20 A. I was still working and everything and I kept
21 on looking at the time and was in the produce
22 prep and everything and I kept on waiting and
23 waiting for to come in and she never showed
24 up.
25 Q. Okay. And what did you do

102
1 A. I talked to one of the maintenance guys to
2 find out if I could get a phone number for her
3 and everything and I asked him where the
4 phone numbers were and he said he didnt know
5 and after a while I talked to the receiving
6 lady in the back and she was the one that got
7 a hold of the bookkeeper for me and I got her
8 phone right there.
9 Q. And who did you call
10 A. I called Staceys mom.
11 Q. Okay. And you didnt call right away because
12 you couldnt find the phone number
13 A. Yes sir. Right.
14 Q. But if you could have found the phone number
--16
15
MS. CLAY-JACKSON
17 Objection Your Honor leading.
18 THE COURT Dont lead.
19 Sustained.
20 Q. BY.MR. PENICK If you could have found the
21 phone number earlier would you have called
22 earlier
23 A. Yes sir I would.
24 Q. What was the reaction of Ms. Stites when you
25 called
103
1 A. She was kind of upset and everything and
2 wondering why she hadnt showed up yet.
3 Q. Did you after you called her didyou go back
4 to work or what did you do

5 A. Yes sir I went back to work and everything.
6 I continued had my work and everything getting
7 ready for the store to open.
8 Q. Did you ever go looking for her

9 A. No sir I just went up to the front and
10 checked the doors and everything and still
11 there was no response and she never showed up
12 at all.
13 Q. What time -- do you recall what time it was
14 when you called Mrs. Stites
15 A. I think it was about 430 or 500 when I
16 called. I dont know the exact -- the right
17 time or anything.
18 Q. You dont know exactly what time
19 A. No sir I dont remember.
20 Q. Could it have been at 630

21 A. I dont remember sir.
22 Q. But it was an hour or two hours after you got
23 there
24 A. Yes sir.
25 Q. Okay. Did you ever talk to Stacey about her

104
1 personal life
2 A. No sir I didnt.
3 Q. So you didnt know whether she was engaged to
4 be married or not
5 A. No sir.
6 Q. Did you ever -- I want to show you -- I want
7 to point to the defendant over there. Can you
8 see him
9 A. Yes s.ir.
10 Q. Did you ever see him talking with Stacey or
11 socializing with Stacey in the HEB store
13 Q. Have you ever seen him before
14 A. No sir.
15 MR. PENICK Judge may I
16 approach the witness please

17 THE COURT Yes sir.
18 Q. BY MR. PENICK If I could get you to just
19 circle the area that you showed to the jury on
20 this where Stacey parked usually when she
21 arrived at the store
22 A. This area right there. Indicating.

23 Q. And would it be closer to the store
24 A. Yes sir it would be this area right here.
25 Indicating.
105
1 Q. And you drew a big circle and drew a line
2 through the middle and from the line to the
3 store would be where yall normally parked
4 A. Yes sir.
5 Q. And it would be closer to the door
6 A. Yes sir.
7 MR. PENICK Pass the
8 witness.
10 CROSS EXAMINATION
12 Q. How do you pronounce your last name
13 A. Cardenas.
14 Q. My name is Lydia Clay-Jackson.
15 A. Pleased to meet you.
16 Q. I think you called my office upon receiving a
17 letter from me at one time
18 A. Yes maam.
19 Q. Thank you. When you finally were able to get
20 the phone number for Staceys mother you said
21 that when you called her she acted upset.
22 A. Yes maam.
23 Q. Do you remember what she said
24 A. She called out Jim. I dont know who Jim
25 was but she called Jim and that was it.

106
1 Q. How do you recall her saying Jim

2 A. I still had the phone over my ear and
3 everything and she just said Jim and that
4 was it.
5 Q. To your recollection was it as if she was
6 calling him to come or was she saying the
7 name
8 A. She was just calling him to come.
9 Q. Okay. And was she saying it out loud
10 A. Yes maam.
11 Q. Very loud
12 A. No maam.
13 Q. And to your best recollection you cant
14 recall what time it was that you were finally
15 able to get the manager to get you the phone
16 number
17 A. No maam.
18 Q. And do you know whether or not HEB has changed
19 that procedure so that the numbers for the
20 employees are more readily accessible at
21 night
22 A. I dont know maam Ill be honest.
23 Q. You had only been working with Ms. Stites for
24 a couple of months is that correct
25 A. Yes maam.
107
1 Q. But you had been working in the same store for
2 a longer period of time than that had you
3 not
4 A. Yes maam.
5 Q. And just because you worked in the same store
6 doesnt necessarily mean that you socialize or
7 are friends together or anything like that is
8 that correct
9 A. Correct.
10 Q. The transfer from cashier to produce do you
11 know whether or not -- were you the manager of
12 produce department then
13 A. No maam I was just the back-up.
14 Q. When one transfers in HEB at that time was
15 the transfer done by request or was the
16 transfer done as a promotion
17 A. Its just by request.
18 Q. And for the most part in the morning when you
19 all were getting there when you would wait
20 or she would wait for you or you would wait
21 for her its your testimony that for the most
22 part everybody was always on time
23 A. Yes maam.
24 Q. Okay. But there could have been one day where
25 somebody was 30 minutes late correct

108
1 A. Sometimes yes maam.

2 Q. You dont have any special recall of that do
3 you
4 A. No maam.
5 Q. Do you recall how often you spoke with any
6 officer concerning this incident
7 A. No maam.
8 Q. Would you say it was more than one or two
9 times
10 A. Yes maam.
11 Q. And would you say that those conversations
12 were in depth Were they long conversations
13 A. Yes maam.
14 Q. About 15 or 20 minutes in length
15 A. Yes maam.
16 Q. And would you speak with more than one
17 officer
18 A. Yes maam.
19 Q. Okay. Do you recall making a written
20 statement
21 A. Yes maam.
22 Q. And do you recall -- have you had an
23 opportunity to look at your written statement
24 A. Yes maam I have..
25 Q. When was the last time you looked at your

109
1 written statement
2 A. Yesterday.
3 Q. Where were you when you looked at it

4 A. Here at the courthouse.
5 MS. CLAY-JACKSON Judge at
6 this time we ask that the statement be
7 produced.
8 MS. TANNER They received
9 it in discovery already Your Honor. They
10 received all that.
11 THE COURT Do you have it

12 MS. CLAY-JACKSON Judge at
13 this time we want to be assured that what we
14 have is the correct one.
15 THE COURT Do you have a
16 copy of it
17 MS. TANNER This is the
18 date stamped as having been provided to the
19 defense.
20 MS. CLAY-JACKSON Thats
21 correct.
22 Q. BY MS. CLAY-JACKSON I show you what has
23 been handed to me by the States attorney. Do
24 you recognize this
25 A. Yes maam.
110
1 Q. Okay. And how do you recognize it

2 A. Its got my name and everything on it. Its
3 got the date of birth and my social security
4 number on it.
5 Q. And this is the statement that you reviewed
6 yesterday
7 A. Yes sir -- yes maam.

8 Q. Did you make only that one statement
9 A. Yes maam.
12
13 REDIRECT EXAMINATION
14 QUESTIONS BY MR. PENICK
15 Q. Let me ask you this if a person was
16 transferred from cashier to the position that
17 Stacey had in produce would that be a
18 promotion
20 Q. And you testified in response to her
21 questioning that someone may have been late
22 A. Excuse me could you repeat.
23 Q. I said you testified in response to her
24 question that someone may be late to work
25 every now and then
f
111
1 A. Sometimes yes sir.
2 Q. Okay. Was Stacey Stites ever late to work to
3 your knowledge
5 Q. And you spoke with several officers did you
6 not
7 A. Yes sir.
8 Q. And you told them the truth just as youre
9 telling the truth now.
10 MS. CLAY-JACKSON
11 Objection Your Honor bolstering.
12 THE COURT Sustained
13 rephrase it.
14 MR. PENICK Pass the
15 witness.
16
17 RECROSS EXAMINATION
19 Q. Working the shift that you and Stacey worked
20 her time to report to work was at 330 is
21 that correct
22 A. Thats correct.
25 THE COURT Follow-up

112
1 MR. PENICK No further
2 questions.
3 THE COURT That will be all
4 sir.
5 MR. PENICK May he be
6 excused Your Honor
7 MS. CLAY-JACKSON Yes.
8 THE COURT Mr. Cardenas you
9 may be excused sir to go back to work.
10
11 Whereupon the witness was
12 excused from the stand.
13
14 MR. SANDERSON We call Paul
15 Alexander.
16 THE COURT Paul Alexander
17 Sir will you please come up here in front of
18 the bench so I can swear you in in front of
19 the jury.
20
21 PAUL ALEXANDER the witness after having
22 first been duly sworn assumed the witness stand
23 and testified upon his oath as follows
24
113
1 QUESTIONS BY MR. SANDERSON
2 Q. Officer will you please state your full name
3 and spell your last name
4 A. Paul Alexander A-L-E-X-A-N-D-E-R.
5 Q. Officer Alexander how are you employed
6 A. Criminal investigator for the City of Bastrop
7 Police Department.
8 Q. Just by way of history how long have you been
9 in law enforcement
10 A. About 25 years.
11 Q. And have you been in an investigator for 25
12 years or have you done different kinds of
13 things
14 A. No sir patrol and investigation.
15 Q. Tell the jury briefly now that youre an
16 investigator what is the difference between
17 investigation and patrol

18 A. Well you pick up after patrol takes reports
19 initial reports they are turned over to
20 investigations and we do all the follow ups.
21 Q. Turning your attention -- let me back up and
22 ask you one more thing. As a police officer
23 for 25 years do you have to be -- do you have
24 to take some sort of certifications in order
25 to represent yourself as a peace office in the

114
1 State of Texas
2 A. Yes sir. We have to have a little more
3 training.
4 Q. You are certified as a peace officer in the
5 State of Texas
6 A. Yes sir I have a certificate.
7 Q. Let me turn your attention now in general to
8 April of 1996. Were you employed here as a
9 patrol officer in the City of Bastrop
10 A. Yes sir I was.
11 Q. Tell the jury a little bit about what your
12 duties were in April of 1996 as a patrol
13 officer rather than an investigator
14 A. Patrol the streets. At nights beat nights
15 like we were working burglary patrol keep eye
16 on buildings and traffic and answer calls.
17 Q. Are there times as a patrol officer where you
18 were directed ahead of time to focus your
19 attention more on a certain area because of
20 crimes having been committed in that area
21 A. Yes sir we have close patrols.
22 Q. What are they called
23 A. Close patrols. People ask for close patrols.
24 Q. And were you involved with a close patrol in
25 April of 1996
115
1 A. Yes sir I was.
2 Q. Describe that for us just in brief
3 A. It was the HEB store. Previously some kids
4 from Little Caesars Pizza had gotten up on
5 the roof and the management got them down and
6 gave them a criminal trespass warning. And
7 they were scared they would get back up again
8 and if one fell off it would be a liability
9 for HEB and also Little Caesars had been
10 found with the back door open and we were
11 trying to keep a close watch on it -- on the
12 Little Caesars which was adjacent to the HEB.
13 Q. Now were these kids that worked there
14 A. Yes sir I believe they were employees.
15 Q. Okay. So you were engaged in that close
16 activity in April of 1996
17 A. Yes sir I was.
18 Q. Other than what you might be focussing on
19 specifically when you patrol do you patrol
20 the entire city or is there a certain route
21 that you take
22 A. No sir the entire city try not to ever take
23 the same route.
24 Q. Why not
25 A. Just at random. Just where you dont get in a
116
. pattern.
2 Q. Do you ever patrol around the schools the
3 high school
4 A. Yes sir.
5 Q. And the middle school
6 A. Yes sir.
7 Q. Let me turn your attention now to the night of
8 April the 22nd 1996 and the early morning
9 hours of April the 23rd 1996. Tell the jury
10 first of all what was your shift When did
11 you come on work and when did you go off work
12 A. I started at 900 p.m. And got off at 700

13 a.m. the next morning.
14 Q. And how long had you been working that what we
15 might call graveyard shift
16 A. I dont know. We changed every 28 days and I
17 dont know how far into the shift I was.
18 Q. But that was the shift that you would work
19 regularly
20 A. Yes sir.
21 Q. Other than the close patrol there in the HEB
22 area was there any other thing that you were
23 focusing on that particular night

24 A. Just -- I think we had had some burglaries and
25 we were trying to keep a watch on all the

117
1 businesses and the schools.
2 Q. Was there ever a time that night when you
3 drove through the parking lot of the high
4 school
5 A. Yes there was.
6 Q. Do you recall how many times you might have
7 driven through there
8 A. I think I went through twice maybe three
9 times.
10 Q. Was that just routine patrol or were you
11 looking for something specific
12 A. No sir that was just routine.
13 Q. Do you recall the times you might have driven
14 through there
15 A. Just the last time.
16 Q. The last time would have been at or about what
17 time
18 A. 523 a.m.
19 Q. Would that be 523 a.m. on the 23rd
20 A. Yes sir.
21 Q. Okay. What if anything did you see at 523

22 a.m. on the 23rd that you did not see driving
23 through the same parking area at the high
24 school one of the two other previous times
25 A. I observed a red Chevrolet pickup parked it

118
1 would be on the west side of the high school
2 in the back by the little We Bears Daycare
3 Center westbound.
4 Q. You had to educate me about that this morning.
5 Lets educate the jury. What is We Bears
6 A. Its a daycare center I believe for high
7 school kids that have children and thats
8 where they keep them while they are in school.
9 Q. And you said that vehicle was not present
10 during the other passes that you went through
11 there
12 A. No sir I did not see it earlier.
13 Q. Was that unusual
14 A. Well at that hour. It was unusual enough
15 that I ran a stolen check on it and it came
16 back not stolen.
17 Q. Okay. And how do you go about doing that
18 mechanically What are we talking about
19 A. pulled behind the car -- or the truck and

I up
20 I called the license plate in to the dispatch
21 at the county and had them run it for a stolen
22 check.
23 Q. Now you mentioned that you pulled in behind
24 the truck. Do you also get out of your
25 vehicle and come around and take a close look

119
1 at it or do you stay inside your truck
2 A. I stayed in until they came back with the
3 information that it wasnt stolen and then I
4 got out and looked at it.
5 Q. Okay. When you got out and looked at it
--11
6 would you simply describe to the jury what it
7 was that you saw
8 A. A small Chevrolet extended cab pickup. The
9 drivers seat was reclined just slightly and
10 there were some items inside but I checked
what I was looking for was the window glass
12 wasnt shattered and the ignition as intact
13 and the doors locked and at that time I
14 figured it was some high school kid that had
15 parked going on some kind of school event.
16 After that I went back in service.
17 Q. Now at 523 a.m. On April the 23rd was it
18 light -- was it getting light yet or was it
19 still completely dark
20 A. No sir it was still dark.
21 Q. Are there any lights -- parking lights there
22 above where you were at to illuminate
23 A. There is indirect lighting but I dont
24 believe there was any right over me because I
25 had a flashlight.
120
1 Q. You did have a flashlight
2 A. Yes sir I did.
3 Q. Did you use your flashlight to shine inside
4 the vehicle
5 A. Yes sir I did.
6 Q. Did you see anything unusual when you did
7 shine your light inside the cab of the
8 vehicle
9 A. No sir thats what I say. Nothing appeared
10 -- I believe there was some books and
11 clothes but nothing appeared out of order.
12 Q. Was the car locked or did you check
13 A. Yes sir I checked the door handle and it
14 was locked.
15 Q. Both sides
16 A. I just checked the drivers side.
17 Q. In the bed of the pickup did you flash your
18 light in there to see if there was anything
19 unusual there
20 A. I dont remember anything being in the bed.
21 Q. What about on the ground around the vehicle or
22 at least there on the drivers side where you
23 were Did you see anything unusual on the
24 ground
25 A. There was a piece of belt with a little buckle

121
1 on it and it was just right out from the
2 drivers door.
3 Q. What were your thoughts when you saw the
4 buckle
5 A. I just thought some kid had probably broken
6 their belt and thats where it wound up. I
7 didnt really think much of it.in passing.
8 Q. Is it unusual to find things like that
9 objects outside the school
10 A. Well yes sir on the high school parking lot
11 a lot of times youll see loose stuff or you
12 will find wallets or shoes or books that they
13 left or something and I just didnt think
14 much of it in passing.
15 Q. Now at 523 a.m. in the morning had you
16 received any report that anybody was missing
17 that you needed to be on the lookout for any
18 young woman who was missing
19 A. No sir I had not.
20 Q. So was there any other reason for to you take
21 any more note than what you did of that pickup
22 truck
23 A. No sir I didnt believe so.
24 Q. What did you do next after you investigated
25 the pickup truck

122
1 A. I just went back on patrol.
2 Q. And you said you got off at what time
3 A. At 700 a.m.
4 Q. Did anything else of significance happen
5 between 523 and 700 a.m.

6 A. No sir not to my knowledge.
7 Q. Now after you got home after your shift was
8 over what happened
9 A. I received a phone call. I dont know if it
10 was -- exactly what time it was. They asked
11 had I run this vehicles license number and I
12 told him Yes I had and I believe they
13 asked me to come down and speak with my boss
14 -- with my chief about that.
15 Q. By the way when you first ran the license
16 number at 523 a.m. did dispatch tell you who
17 that vehicle was registered to

18 A. It just came -- yes sir the last name
19 Fennell.
20 Q. Did you know anybody by that name
21 A. Yes sir I did but at that time I didnt put
22 anything to it.
23 Q. Okay. So lets move forward then until about
24 900 oclock. What did you do after you got
25 the phone call to come back on service

123
1 A. I went to the office and told my chief and my
2 sergeant basically what I have told you and
3 they asked me to do a report on it and I did.
4 Q. Okay. Now did you have any other
5 responsibilities or activities in the
6 investigation of the death of Stacey Stites
7 after that point
8 A. No I did not.
9 MR. SANDERSON May I
10 approach the witness
11 THE COURT Sure.
12 Q. BY MR. SANDERSON Investigator Alexander
13 let me show you a series of photographs and
14 lets start with these two first and Im

15 referring to what has been marked as States
16 Exhibits 5a and States Exhibit 6a. Can you
17 tell us what those are photographs of

18 A. Aerial views of the high school and the
19 football field the school complex.
20 Q. Okay. And are these aerial views accurate and
21 correct
22 A. Yes sir they are.
23 MR. SANDERSON The State
24 would offer to admit States Exhibits 6a and
25 5a.
124
2 States Exhibits Nos. 5a and
3 6a were offered into
4 evidence.
7 objection.
8 THE COURT They are both
9 admitted.
10
11 States Exhibits Nos. 5a and
12 6a were admitted into
13 evidence.
14
15 Q. BY MR. SANDERSON Let me show you now -- let
16 me show you now officer what are blown-up
17 photographs and before we talk about them
18 specifically can you tell me are these
19 identical as States Exhibits 5 and 6 as 5a
20 and 6a
21 A. Yes sir.
23 would offer to admit 5 and 6.
24
25 States Exhibits Nos. 5. and

125
1 6 were offered into
2 evidence.
5 objection.
6 THE COURT They are
7 admitted.
9 States Exhibits Nos. 5 and
10 6 were admitted into
11 evidence.
12
13 Q. BY MR. SANDERSON Lets start now Officer
14 with States Exhibit Number 6. Before we go
15 any further and have you make any marks on
16 this can you kind of give us an orientation
17 of what were looking at

18 A. This is looking from west to east the middle
19 school Hill Street the football field Cedar
20 Street the railroad tracks and then Highway
21 95 is up here this is the high school thats
22 parking thats their vocational building
23 this is also parking and thats a soccer
24 field.
25 Q. Okay. Now this area where my pin is touching

126
1 here is that the front or the back of the
2 high school
3 A. That would be the front the east side.
4 Q. And there is a parking lot behind there as
5 well
6 A. Yes sir there is.
7 Q. And just again for sake of orientation where
8 would north be
9 A. North would be pointing toward you.
10 Q. Somewhere here
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. And Highway 95 you cant quite see can you

13 A. Yes sir right here.
14 Q. Oh you can see it

15 A. Yes sir.
16 Q. Now you have already testified with regard to
17 seeing a red small Ford pickup truck in that
18 vicinity. Can you just put your finger on the
19 general area where you saw the red Ford
20 pickup
21 A. Right here indicating. It was up against
22 the curb. That is the Early Learning Center
23 right there and the vehicle was up against
24 the curb.
25 Q. And that coincidentally is a red vehicle

127
1 A. But that was the spot.
2 Q. Thats just coincidence that it happened to be
3 red
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. Will you circle that area
6 A. Witness complies.
7 MR. SANDERSON And for the
8 record the witness has circled the area where
9 the red Ford pickup would have been situated.
10 Q. BY MR. SANDERSON now across the street
11 tell us what this area is

12 A. This the football field the track field this
13 is the parking parking for the middle school
14 the appraisal district and this is some
15 parking back here.
16 Q. Now evidently this photograph of course was
17 taken during the daytime and one would assume
18 that it was probably on a weekday because
19 there is all kind of cars.
20 A. Yes sir.
21 Q. My question to you is on 523 a.m. on April
22 the 23rd were there any other cars in this
23 parking lot where that red vehicle was

24 A. No sir that was it up there.
25 Q. Okay. States Exhibit Number 5 lets get us

128
1 oriented on States Exhibit Number 5

2 A. Okay. Thats north. Indicating.
3 Q. Where is the front of the high school
4 A. Right there. Indicating.
5 Q. Can you see Highway 95 on this
6 A. No sir this is Chambers Street Cedar
7 Street and the railroad tracks.
8 Q. And if Highway 95 were on here it would be
9 where
10 A. It would be right over here on the east side.
11 Q. And that Highway 95 goes north and south
12 A. Yes sir.
13 Q. Which would be up and down on this particular
14 photograph
15 A. Correct.
16 Q. Now lets do the same thing with regard to
17 this photograph. If you would put a circle
18 around the area that you saw the pickup truck
19 A. The tree is sort of -- it would have been
20 right here. Indicating.
21 Q. For the record the same notations is on
22 States Exhibit Number 6.
23 Officer I want to show you some
24 photographs of some vehicles and Im

25 referring to States Exhibit 7a 8a 9a 10a
12.9
1 and Ila. Would you identify just for the
2 benefit of the Court what these photographs
3 are photographs of
4 A. It appears to be the little red pickup that I
5 observed that morning and got out and checked
6 on.
7 Q. Now obviously when you approached that
8 pickup originally you could see his license
9 plates is that correct
10 A. Yes sir.
11 Q. And are the license plates evident in these
12 pictures
13 A. Just a little bit on the front here.
14 Q. And were you present when these photographs
15 were taken
16 A. No I was not.
17 Q. Okay. So my question to you at this point
18 Does that pickup truck look identical to the
19 pickup truck which you saw that morning

20 A. Yes sir it does.
21 Q. Did you see the pickup truck later on during
22 the daytime
23 A. No sir that was the only time I saw it.
25 would offer States Exhibits 9a 8a 7a Ila

130
1 and 10a.
3 States Exhibits Nos. 7a

4 8a 9a 10a and 11a were
7 MS. CLAY-JACKSON
8 Objection improper predicate.
9 THE COURT Its overruled
10 they are all admitted.
11
12 States Exhibits Nos. 7a

13 8a 9a 10a and 11a were
15
16 Q. BY MR. SANDERSON Now Officer if you would
17 look at these blown-up photographs and tell
18 me are they identical to the photographs that
19 we just discussed that were labeled with an a

20 and these are States Exhibits 9 10 8 and 7
21 A. Yes sir.
23 would offer exhibits 7 through 10 inclusive.
24
25 States Exhibits Nos. 7 8

131
1 9 and 10 were offered into
2 evidence.
5 objection.
6 THE COURT They are all
7 admitted.
9 States Exhibits Nos. 7 8

10 9 and 10 were admitted into
11 evidence.
12
13 Q. BY MR. SANDERSON Now lets refer you now
14 to States Exhibit Number 7. Does this pickup
15 appear to be from what we can see in this
16 photograph parked in the same position as
17 before
18 A. Yes sir its just hard to tell because I
19 cant see the curb over here. It was up
20 against the curb.
21 Q. And once again your testimony was at the
22 time you saw this vehicle it was in the early
23 morning hours when it was still dark and there
24 was no other vehicle present
25 A. There was no other vehicle no.

132
1 Q. Okay. Let me take these in numerical order.
2 States Exhibit Number 8 can you tell us
3 which one of the vehicles shownhere is the
4 one that were talking about
5 A. It would be the front vehicle right here.
6 Q. And do you know who this is in the photograph
7 A. It looks like Sergeant Tommy Simon.
8 Q. Who used to be what
9 A. He used to be with the Sheriffs Department.
10 Q. Now you mentioned that you saw a portion of a
11 belt on the ground
12 A. Yes sir.
13 Q. Can you see that portion of the belt
14 A. Yes sir its right there. Indicating.
15 Q. And from this view at least it appears like
16 there is a buckle on that belt. Do you
17 remember there being a buckle
18 A. Yes sir.
19 Q. States Exhibit Number 9 can you tell us I
20 believe this just appears to be a different
21 orientation of the same view is that right
22 A. Yes sir.
23 Q. And is this the belt
24 A. It appears to be yes sir.
25 Q. And last States Exhibit Number 10 it

133
1 appears to be what
2 A. It appears to be the belt and buckle or a
3 portion of the belt and buckle.
4 Q. Now when you approached the vehicle you
5 checked the doors and looked inside with your
6 flashlight. Did you move anything around
7 A. No sir did I not.
8 Q. Did you move the belt around
9 A. No sir I did not.
10 Q. So far as you know did you accidentally kick
11 the belt or move it in any way

12 A. Not to my knowledge I didnt.
13 Q. There also appears to be some debris Im not
14 sure if thats a pen or a pencil something
15 there some papers down below there. Do you
16 know whether or not they were present at the
17 time
18 A. I do not remember. I didnt -- I dont
19 remember seeing anything but just the belt.
20 Q. So is it possible that they were there and you
21 just didnt see it

22 A. Yes sir its possible.
23 Q. Is it possible that they were not there and
24 sometime between the time the picture was
25 taken and the time you were there they may

--6
134
1 have been dropped by somebody
2 A. I dont know sir. Like I say I just know
3 that a portion of the belt and the buckle was
4 there.
5 Q. Let me refer you now to a map and can you
have you taken a look at this map before by
7 the way
8 A. Yes sir.
9 Q. All right. This map is marked States Exhibit
10 Number 2 and the transparency on top of it is
11 States Exhibit 2a. Can you tell me basically
12 what this is
13 A. Its a street map of the City of Bastrop.
15 would offer States Exhibit 2 and 2a.
16
18 2a were offered into
19 evidence.
20
22 objection.
23 THE COURT 2 is admitted.
24

135
1 2a were admitted into
2 evidence.
4 Q. BY MR. SANDERSON let me get this up where
5 we can see it. Kind of give us an
6 orientation if you would. First of all is
7 north where it should be at the top of the
8 map
9 A. Yes sir it is.
10 Q. If you wouldnt mind kind of just point out a
11 few landmarks as best you can tell
12 A. Highway 95 going up the hill by the State
13 Park back to 71 21 east railroad tracks
14 Chestnut cross the bridge the river the
15 school complex Hoffman Road.
16 Q. If you can hold that map up while I get
17 something here. Can you tell from looking at
18 this map at least approximately where it was
19 that you found the truck in that parking lot
20 A. It would be roughly somewhere right in here.
21 Indicating. Its hard to tell because
22 theres not inaudible but roughly in here.
23 Q. Could you place this red sticker that says
24 victims truck
25 A. This.
136
1 MS. CLAY-JACKSON
2 Objection Your Honor assuming facts not in
3 evidence.
4 THE COURT Pardon me

5 MS. CLAY-JACKSON Assumes
6 facts not in evidence. The notations on the
7 poster assumes facts not in evidence.
ahead
--13
9 Go sir.
10 Q. BY MR. SANDERSON Can you tell where the
11 vocational building is on that map Its not
12 carved out of anything else
A. No sir.
14 Q. Were just going to leave that alone for the
15 time being. Now how much of the City of
16 Bastrop is this map taking in

17 A. It doesnt take the south side of the highway
18 or a lot of the businesses out to the west
19 and it goes out to the loop over here.
20 Q. Okay. And where on this map would the HEB
21 grocery store and related stores be The
22 place where it says HEB grocery store
23 A. Yes sir.
24 Q. Okay. Thank you.
25 THE COURT When you come to
is
137
1 a stopping point let me know.
2 MR. SANDERSON Im real
3 close Your Honor.
4 Q. BY MR. SANDERSON One last thing Officer.
5 Would you take a look at what has been marked
--8
6 as States Exhibit 104 and tell if you can
7 identify
MS. CLAY-JACKSON Judge we
9 are going to object to publishing to the jury
10 something that is not in evidence.
12 Go ahead sir.
13 Q. BY MR. SANDERSON Can you identify what this
14 object is
15 A. It appears to be the belt and the portion of
16 the belt and buckle that was in front of the
17 truck that morning.
19 would offer States Exhibit Number 104.
20
23 MS. CLAY-JACKSON
24 Objection improper predicate.
25 MR. SANDERSON Your Honor

138
1 we can prove this up later.
2 THE COURT Ill sustain the
3 objection. He said it appears to be.
4 MR. SANDERSON Ill pass
5 the witness.
6 THE COURT Lets take a
7 lunch break. Im going to give you about an
8 hour and fifteen minutes for lunch. You
9 should be back in the jury room ready to go to
10 work about 120. Please remember the
11 instructions I have given to you.
12
13 Whereupon the Jury was
14 escorted from the courtroom
15 and the following proceedings
16 were had outside the presence
17 and hearing of the jury.
18
19 THE COURT Before we take
20 our lunch break may I address the motion that
21 was filed today by the defense. Its styled
22 Fourth Motion for Production of Evidence for
23 Expert Evaluation. Do you have any comments
24 in regard to it sir
25 MR. GARVIE Nothing Your

139
1 Honor. The motion speaks for itself. I dont
2 have any comments.
3 THE COURT Does the State
4 have any objection to it

5 MS. TANNER Your Honor
6 those items have already been provided.
7 Therefore I have no objection. I called the
8 lab this morning and they have taken care of
9 it.
10 THE COURT That fourth
11 motion is granted.
12 Did you have something else
13 you wanted to do before we take a lunch break
15 does Your Honor.
16 THE COURT Go ahead.
17 MR. SANDERSON I just want
--23
18 to place for the record that the prosecution
19 has given defense notice that Dr. Cecil
20 Reynolds will do his evaluation process on the
21 defendant on Friday April the 8th between
22 the hours of 900 and 1000-is when hell
Im sorry May the 8th between the hours of
24 900 and 1000 is when hell make contact.
25 THE COURT I have already

140
1 ruled on that motion. Anything else for the
2 record
3 MR. GARVIE Thats it.
4 THE COURT Take a lunch
5 break.
6 MR. PENICK Also we would
--11
7 request -- Dr. Reynolds requested that any
8 psychological testing that has already been
9 done on the defendant be provided to the State
10 -- to Dr. Reynolds excuse me
MS. CLAY-JACKSON If we can
12 get Dr. Reynolds address we will give him
13 what information we have.
14 THE COURT My concern is
15 that that information not go to the State.
16 MR. PENICK I didnt mean to
17 the State I meant to Dr. Reynolds.
18 THE COURT Do you have any
19 objection if it just goes to the doctor
20 MS. CLAY-JACKSON No we
21 dont.
22 THE COURT Ill grant the
23 request. Youll see that that gets done
24 MS.CLAY-JACKSON When we
25 get the information from the State as to the

141
1
1 address of Dr. Reynolds.
2 MR. PENICK Well get that
3 to you after lunch.
4 THE COURT Maybe your
5 investigator can do that for you so it doesnt
6 take you away from the courtroom. See you
7 after lunch.
9 Whereupon the Court recessed
10 for a luncheon break.
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
14 2
1 STATE OF TEXAS
2 COUNTY OF BASTROP
3 I Carolee Murray Official Court
4 Reporter in and for the 21st Judicial District
5 Court of Bastrop County State of Texas and Notary
6 Public for the State of Texas do hereby certify
7 that the above and foregoing contains a true and
8 correct transcription of all the proceedings of

9 all proceedings directed by counsel to be included
10 in the Statement of Facts as the case may be in
11 the above styled and numbered cause all of which
12 occurred in open Court or in chambers and were
13 reported by me.
14 I further certify that this
15 transcription of the record of the proceedings
16 truly and correctly reflects the exhibits if any
17 offered by the respective parties.
18 WITNESS my hand this the 24th day of
19 July 1998.
20
Carolee Murray
21 Official Court Reporter
335th Judicial District
22 Certification No. 1938
Expiration Date 12-31-98
23 P.O. Box 2441
Brenham Texas 77834
24 409 277-0707.
25 Taxable Court Cost

Rodney Reed: Reporter&#39;s Record, Jury Trial, Guilt/Innocense Phase, May-4-1998

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1

1 CAUSE NO. 8701

3 THE STATE OF TEXAS X IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF

1 On the 4th day of May 1998 thel

2 above entitled and numbered cause came on for

3 hearing before said Honorable Court Harold R.

4 Towslee Judge Presiding and the following

5 proceedings were had

13 PAGES 1 THROUGH 142

2 For the State

3 Mr. Charles Penick

7 Mr. Forrest Sanderson

11 Ms. Lisa Tanner

16 For the Defendant

17 Mr. Calvin Garvie

21 Ms. Lydia Clay-Jackson

6 JUROR MICHELLE HAYNIE

7 CONCERNS FOR PERSONAL SAFETY 8

10 MOTION IN LIMINE NO. 33 13

13 THE RULE INVOKED 14

14 WITNESS SWORN AND INSTRUCTED 15

15 JURY SWORN AND SEATED 16

16 THE COURT INSTRUCTS THE JURY 16

18 INDICTMENT READ - COUNT ONE 24

20 INDICTMENT READ - COUNT TWO 25

23 OPENING STATEMENT BY MS. TANNER 26

25 A RECESS WAS TAKEN 66

1 OPENING STATEMENT BY MS. CLAY-JACKSON 66

4 DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MS. TANNER 79

5 CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MS. CLAY-JACKSON 85

6 REDIRECT EXAMINATION BY MS. TANNER 90

9 DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. PENICK 92

10 CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MS. CLAY-JACKSON 105

11 REDIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. PENICK 110

12 RECROSS EXAMINATION BY MS. CLAY-JACKSON 111

15 DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. SANDERSON 113

17 DEFENSES FOURTH MOTION FOR PRODUCTION

18 OF EVIDENCE FOR EXPERT EVALUATION 138

21 COURT ADJOURNED FOR A LUNCH BREAK 141

22 COURT REPORTERS CERTIFICATE 142

2 No. Description Mrkd Idntd Ofrd Admit

3 S-1 Large Photo 7 82 83 84

4 S-la Small Photo 7 81 82 83

5 S-2 Map 7 134 134 134

6 S-2a Transparency 7 134 134 134

7 S-4 Large Photo 7 99

8 S-4a Small Photo 7 98 98 98

9 S-5 Large Photo 7 124 124 125

10 S-5a Small Photo 7 123 123 124

11 S-6 Large Photo 7 124 124 125

12 S-6a Small Photo 7 123 123 124

13 S-7 Large Photo 7 129 130 131

14 S-7a Small Photo 7 129 129 130

15 S-8 Large Photo 7 129 130 131

16 S-8a Small Photo 7 129 129 130

17 S-9 Large Photo 7 129 130 131

18 S-9a Small Photo 7 129 129 130

19 S-10 Large Photo 7 129 130 131

20 S-10a Small Photo 7 129 129 130

21 S-11a Small Photo 7 129 129 130

22 S-104 Piece of Belt 7 137- 137

1 Day 21 Morning Session May 4 1998. Cause

2 Number 8701 the State of Texas versus Rodney

5 All States Exhibits marked

Rodney Reed: Reporter's Record, Jury Trial, Guilt/Innocense Phase, May-4-1998

Rodney Reed: Reporter's Record, Jury Trial, Guilt/Innocense Phase, May-4-1998