A year ago today, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued an indefinite stay of execution for Innocence Project client Rodney Reed, who was facing execution for the 1999 murder of Stacey Stites in Bastrop, Texas. The court ordered a new hearing in response to the mounting evidence of Mr. Reed’s actual innocence, evidence of Brady violations, and false testimony presented by the State at his trial.

The ruling gave Mr. Reed and his family hope, but the COVID-19 pandemic has since devastated Texas’ prison system and delayed Mr. Reed’s hearing until 2021. 

Texas correctional facilities have the worst infection rate in the U.S. and at least 231 incarcerated people have died from the virus. Eighty percent of the people who died in the state’s county jail had not yet been convicted of a crime. The pandemic has also weighed heavily on Mr. Reed, who remains on death row in Allan B. Polunsky Unit and has been unable to receive legal or familial visits for months now. 

“I spend most of my time alone, which is hard but also helpful in these circumstances,” Mr. Reed shared with his attorneys. 

“But I am always wearing my mask. Access to the phones has been even more limited now than usual, and I have not been able to speak with my family in a long time. But whenever I go to the phone to have a legal call, my mask is up and I try not to touch anything.”

Mail is just about the only way Mr. Reed has been able to communicate with his family. His most treasured mail are photos of his grandchildren. And he’s looking out for the next mail delivery as his son Christopher recently welcomed a new baby and Mr. Reed is eagerly awaiting his photo. 

“I was able to hear a recording of the baby cooing, and that was very important for me,” Mr. Reed said.