I'm Roberta Glass, and you're listening to my true crime report.

Yesterday, the Texas Court of Appeals granted Rodney Reed a stay of execution.

And to talk to me about this stay of execution in the Rodney Reed case is Lisa O'Brien,

host of the clear and convincing podcast, which airs on Blog Talk Radio on Tuesday

nights. Welcome, Lisa O'Brien. Thank you for having me, Roberta. Thank you so much for talking to me

about this. So what does a stay of execution mean in this case? And why did the Texas Court of

Appeals grant one? Well, the bottom line, I think, is that Reed's attorneys were able to gather

and present facially appealing claims, incriminating statements from Jimmy Finnell or alleged discriminating

statements from Jimmy Finnell, and questions about whether or not the police withheld information,

because one of the aspects is that they're raising more Brady claims.

And so the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals is doing what it's supposed to do

and giving Reed the due process that he's entitled to to develop these claims and if he can

prove them. So what's your feeling? I mean, do you feel this is a good thing?

Well, it's a good thing in that it will result in hearings, which will make this

public record. It will result in a court looking at the testimony of these witnesses if the

Innocence Project puts them on. I think with the relationship witnesses in 2017, they relied on the declarations rather than having those witnesses testify live at hearing.

And for somebody like me, that shows the weakness of those witnesses.

Can you explain that? Because that's a really important point. What is the difference between making a declaration and being presented as a

witness in court? When you make a declaration, it cannot be cross-examined. When you produce a

witness in court and they testify on direct evidence, then the opposing party gets a chance to cross-examine them.

That is where usually witnesses fall apart, especially in cases like this.

Yeah, I've heard of being called the Engine of Truth, and I think it's something that's really negated how powerful cross-examination is.

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