On April 23, 1996, Stacey Stites was raped, strangled and her body was dumped on the side of a country road in Bastrop, Texas. Police theorized that Stacey was abducted at around 3:00 a.m. while on her way to the H.E.B. store in Bastrop, where she worked an early morning shift in the produce department. The truck she was driving was found abandoned at Bastrop High School, which was 35 miles from the apartment in Giddings that she shared with her future husband, Jimmy Fennell. In March, 1997, DNA results from Stacey’s body linked Rodney Reed to her murder. Initially, Reed denied knowing Stacey. Later, he claimed to have had a secret relationship with her. That defense proved ineffective at trial and Reed was convicted and sentenced to death in May, 1998. Reed’s direct appeal and numerous state and federal writs have been unsuccessful. Join Lisa O’Brien on Sunday, August 22, 2021 at 8:00 p.m. Central for a look at the myths circulated in the media about the case and the improbable scenario of a law enforcement cover-up to protect Jimmy Fennell. She’ll be joined by guests, including a member of Bastrop law enforcement.

On April 23, 1996, Stacey Stites was raped, strangled and her body was dumped on the side of a country road in Bastrop, Texas. Police theorized that Stacey was abducted at around 3:00 a.m. while on her way to the H.E.B. store in Bastrop, where she worked an early morning shift in the produce department. The truck she was driving was found abandoned at Bastrop High School, which was 35 miles from the apartment in Giddings that she shared with her future husband, Jimmy Fennell. In March, 1997, DNA results from Ms. Stites’ body linked Rodney Reed to the murder. Initially, Reed claimed not to know Stacey. Later, he claimed to have had a secret relationship with her. That defense proved ineffective at trial and Reed was convicted and sentenced to death in May, 1998. Reed’s direct appeal and numerous state and federal writs have been unsuccessful. Join Lisa O’Brien and Michael Carnahan on Sunday, August 15, 2021 at 8:00 p.m. Central for a re-cap of the evidentiary hearing held in July to develop some of Reed’s claims in his 10th state post-conviction writ. We’ll be joined guests, including two people who attended the hearings.

Join Lisa O’Brien and Michael Carnahan on Sunday, August 1, 2021 for Clear and Convincing podcast, Episode 18, State of Arkansas v. Marcel Wayne Williams. In April, 2017, Governor Asa Hutchins set execution dates for eight men on Arkansas death row. The primary reason for the governor’s decision was that each of the inmates had exhausted their state and federal post conviction remedies. In the media, the sole reason given was that the state’s supply of lethal injection drugs was about to expire. Marcel Wayne Williams was tried, convicted and sentenced to death for the November 20, 1994 kidnapping, robbery, rape and murder of Stacy Rae Errickson, a 22 year old mother of two. Williams kidnapped Stacy at gunpoint from a gas station in Jacksonville, Arkansas. Williams was arrested on November 29, 1994, days before Stacy’s body was found buried in a shallow grave. We’ll talk about Stacy’s murder, his arrest, trial and conviction and the course of his direct appeal and post-conviction claims. Finally, we’ll talk about his execution in April, 2017 and the delay caused by allegations that Jack Jones’ execution was botched.

In April, 2017, Governor Asa Hutchins set execution dates for eight men on Arkansas death row. The primary reason for the governor’s decision was that each of the inmates had exhausted their state and federal post-conviction remedies. In the media, the sole reason given was that the state’s supply of lethal injection drugs was about to expire. Jack Harold Jones, Jr. was one of those inmates. Jones was convicted and sentenced to death for the June 6, 1995 brutal rape, beating and strangulation of 34-year old Mary Phillips and the brutal beating of her 11-year old daughter, Lacy. We’ll talk about the case against Jones, his trial, direct appeal and post-conviction process. We’ll also talk about the prior murders committed by Jones, who was eventually linked to victims via cold case DNA hits. Finally, we’ll discuss the controversy surrounding the multiple execution dates set by Governor Hutchison and Jones’ posthumous confession to a third woman’s murder in Broward County, Florida and the exoneration of Ronald Stewart, who pled guilty to the murder committed by Jones to avoid the death penalty.

On December 19, 1991, Hazel Show received a phone call from a woman claiming to be her daughter’s guidance counselor, scheduling an early morning meeting for Friday, December 20, 1991. Laurie’s family had been sticking close to her due to several violent encounters with 19 year old Lisa Michelle Lambert, who wanted revenge on Laurie because she’d dated Lawrence “Butch” Yunkin while Yunkin and Lambert were “on a break.” Join Lisa O’Brien and Michael Carnahan on Sunday, July 11, 2021, at 8:00 p.m. for Episode 16 of Clear and Convincing, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Lisa Michelle Lambert. In Part 2, we’ll talk about Lambert’s return to the Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas to pursue state post conviction claims, including a new allegation of a gang rape by three East Lampeter police officers in June, 1991. Then we’ll talk about the course of Lambert’s state post-conviction claims and her return to federal court to pursue a second round of federal habeas corpus.

On December 19, 1991, Hazel Show received a phone call from a woman claiming to be her daughter, Laurie’s guidance counselor, who scheduled an early morning meeting for Friday, December 20, 1991. Laurie’s family had been sticking close to her due to several violent encounters with 19-year old Lisa Michelle Lambert, who wanted revenge on Laurie because she’d dated Lawrence “Butch” Yunkin while Yunkin and Lambert were “on a break.” Join Lisa O’Brien and Michael Carnahan on Sunday, June 27, 2021, at 8:00 p.m. for Episode 15 of Clear and Convincing, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Lisa Michelle Lambert. We’ll talk about the Laurie Show’s 1991 murder, the evidence implicating Lambert, her trial and conviction and her 1997 release from custody after a federal judge granted habeas relief, finding Lambert actually innocent and barring a re-trial by the Commonwealth. We’ll also talk about the reversal of that decision by the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals and Lambert’s subsequent post-conviction claims. We are a live show and, as always, calls are welcome at (347) 989-1171.

On December 17, 1999, Robert Pruett was reprimanded for attempting to take a bag lunch, called a Johnny, out to the prison yard by Daniel Nagle, a by-the-book correctional officer at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s McConnell Unit. Pruett was angered by Nagle’s reprimand and the disciplinary write-up. Later that afternoon, Pruett was seen by several inmate witnesses in an altercation with Nagle, was stabbed multiple times and died after suffering cardiac arrest. Other inmates saw Pruett strip his bloodied clothing, stuff it through a gas port out to the yard and change clothes. Pruett made inculpatory admissions to inmates and corrections officers. Join Lisa O’Brien and Michael Carnahan on Sunday, June 13, 2021, at 8:00 p.m. for Episode 14 of Clear and Convincing, State of Texas v. Robert Lynn Pruett. We’ll talk about the 1995 murder that resulted in Pruett’s 99-year sentence at the age of 15, the murder of Daniel Nagle, the evidence linking Pruett to the murder and the various post-conviction claims raised on his behalf in state and federal court. We’ll also talk about the results of post-conviction DNA testing in 2013 and 2015 and Pruett’s controversial execution on October 12, 2017. We are a live show and, as always, calls are welcome at (347) 989-1171.

On July 23, 2010, Shan Fieldman got into a pick-up truck in a Wal-Mart parking lot in Pontiac, Illinois to arrange the murder of his ex-wife, Shelley, and her current boyfriend, Alan. Fieldman left briefly to get $100.00 from his fiancé, Talia Fonce, which was used as a down‑payment on the hit. Fieldman also provided the hitman with descriptions of his ex and her boyfriend, as well as their home and their habit of hanging out in their garage. He gave the hitman their correct address. While he also left an IOU in the amount f $7,400.00 with the hitman, he did ensure himself plausible deniability by signing it “Joe Smith.” Fieldman was arrested later that night with his fiancé’s children in his car. His fiancé was also arrested because she had introduced Fieldman to Trina Bennett, the informant who reported the potential crime to police. Join Lisa O’Brien and Michael Carnahan on Sunday, June 6, 2021, at 8:00 p.m., Central, for Episode 13 of Clear and Convincing. We’ll talk about the events leading up to the meeting with the hitman, the evidence against Fonce and Fieldman, their trials and appellate process, including the grant of federal habeas relief to Fieldman with the intervention of Kathleen Zellner. We are a live show and, as always, calls are welcome at (347) 989-1171.