In Amanda Knox's case,
we saw just how powerful the media can be.
Amanda believes that it worked against her,
but in the case of Rodney Reed,
we're trying to harness the power of the media
to save a man who many believe is innocent.
On October 11th, we aired a two-part show about this.
Here's the latest on what has transpired
since I spoke to Rodney on death row.
(ticking sound)
I didn't do this crime.
And here they are trying to take my life.
What do you make of the fact that they're not rushing
to give you a new hearing and bring all of this to light?
The courts are still unwilling to listen.
(dramatic music)
So far, more than two million people
have signed an online petition to stop his execution.
A death row inmate in Texas faces execution
in just two weeks, unless a campaign
can persuade the governor to intervene.
Here at the capital, republicans and democrats
don't see eye to eye on much.
But a bipartisan group of lawmakers agree
Rodney Reed's case needs to be considered again.
Since we started beating the drum on this,
26 House members have now sent a letter.
Then a bipartisan group of 16 state senators joined
with a letter to Governor Abbott
and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles,
urging that a reprieve be granted,
as did members of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus.
Senator Ted Cruz joined the state lawmakers,
and other celebrities have gotten involved.
(ticking sound)
Free Rodney Reed.
These chants.
Rodney Reed today, Rodney Reed tomorrow.
Days before Rodney Reed is set to be executed.
We've been in the streets for 22 and a half years.
Rodney Reed's family continues fighting
for his innocence, as they have for over two decades.
If we don't do the call-to-action,
which is reaching out to the governor of Texas and others,
I have no doubt this man is gonna be executed.
If we don't do something, this man's gonna be executed.
We've got almost three million signatures
on the FreeRodneyReedCase.com.
(audience applauds)
(dramatic tone)
There is breaking news tonight in Texas.
The state's highest criminal court halted the execution
of inmate, Rodney Reed.
The judges ruled that there may be new facts
and evidence that could affect his conviction.
He was scheduled to die in five days
for a 1996 rape and murder.
As the news broke, Friday afternoon,
the Rodney Reed Camp celebrated the decision
that saved his life.
I don't know when we're gonna get an opportunity
to get that fair trial,
but I know we'll get it that way.
The Court of Criminal Appeals
found the state may have suppressed evidence
and presented false testimony during the 1998 trial.
For example, Jimmy Fennell, Stacey Stites, then fiance,
told a jury that he didn't kill her.
Later, court docs show he confessed
to another inmate in jail, saying,
"I had to kill my n-word-loving fiance."
Give him a fair trial,
listen to the witnesses,
me, amongst a lot of other people.
Honestly, just look at the evidence.
(audience applause)
Well, as you see, when we do bring attention to it,
people are outraged at what happened.
And there are so many out there
that don't get any attention.
You're dealing with another case, you mentioned.
Say a few words about that one.
Yes, thank you.
I was down on death row in Texas
in the beginning of this year,
visiting a guy named Rob Will.
And Rob is just as innocent as Rodney is,
and it's a terrible case.
In this case, Rob was convicted
of murdering a police officer, tragic crime,
but he was in handcuffs at the time the officer was shot.
He actually...
The other person that was there,
went and shot the officer,
and then removed Rob's handcuffs,
and then went to shoot him again,
and Rob went to try to prevent that from happening,
got shot through the hand.
You saw that, right?
And he was a victim of so...
I mean, everything that could go wrong,
went wrong in this case.
I mean, you can go to FreeRobWill.org,
and you'll see some of the things about his case,
and a federal judge, Keith Ellison, said,
"There are grave errors
"in every phase of these proceedings."
And he said, "There's a total lack of scientific
"or eyewitness evidence in this case."
There's no evidence, and yet, there he sits on death row,
pending a decision from the Fifth Circuit
or intervention from the governor.
This is where I see the parallels here,
because when you break it down, and I have,
there was no evidence against you, either.
I know, and what's frustrating about it is,
in Rodney's case, just like in my case,
they went after the wrong person anyway.
I spent four years in prison,
and that was horrible.
I'll never get those years back.
But there are people in prison right now,
who have been inside longer than I've been alive.