Isadora Vail reports on the Austin American-Statesman website that the former law enforcement officer at the center of the Rodney Reed case was sentenced earlier today. "Fennell gets 10 years," is her post.
Former Georgetown Police Sgt. Jimmy Lewis Fennell Jr. showed little emotion this morning as state District Judge Burt Carnes sentenced him to 10 years behind bars.
Fennell pleaded guilty in May to felony charges of kidnapping and improper sexual activity with a person in custody. The charges come from an Oct. 26 incident in which Fennell responded to a domestic disturbance call at a woman’s home, and according to court documents, he forced the woman to come with him in his patrol car, dance for him and have sex with him.
Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley said today despite what he calls a flawed investigation by the Georgetown Police Department, he was satisfied with the case.
“I think this case shows that officers are not above the law in Williamson County and they do not get treated differently from other offenders,” Bradley said in a press conference after the sentencing.
Bob Phillips, Fennell’s defense attorney, said his client chose not to say anything for the duration of the near year-long case because of a pending federal lawsuit against Fennell and the Georgetown Police Department.
“My client made some horrible and inexcusable mistakes,” Phillips said during closing arguments, though he chose not to expand on what those mistakes were.
"Jimmy Fennell Pleads Guilty to Kidnapping, Sexual Misconduct," is Jordan Smith's report in the Austin Chronicle.
Fennell was accused of sexually assaulting a woman involved in an October 2007 domestic disturbance call that he handled. Prior to his legal trouble, Fennell was best known as the fiancé of Stacey Stites, who was murdered in 1996. Rodney Reed was convicted of the murder and sentenced to death but has maintained his innocence. Reed says he was having an affair with Stites. Fennell found out about the affair, Reed's supporters claim, making Fennell a far more likely suspect than Reed.
Fennell's recent legal problems bolster Reed's argument of innocence, says Reed's attorney Bryce Benjet. "Jimmy Fennell has now twice confessed to committing this crime of sexual violence," said Benjet. "Mr. Fennell's conviction for this crime is consistent with his long history of violence and the ample evidence that made him a suspect in the murder of Stacey Stites over a decade ago. ... Mr. Fennell's recent confessions are certainly relevant in demonstrating Mr. Reed's innocence."
Earlier coverage begins here.
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