A  team from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom working pro bono with the Innocence Project secured a stay of execution on Friday for Texas inmate Rodney Reed, who had been scheduled to die on Nov. 20.

Reed was convicted of the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites, but has long maintained his innocence. Celebrities including Kim Kardashian West and Rihanna have championed his cause, as have politicians such as Republican Congressman Michael McCaul of Texas.

Stites was raped, strangled and left dead on the side of a road. Reed's DNA was found in a small amount of sperm inside Stites' body. Reed said they were in a consensual relationship—which multiple witnesses confirmed—but the DNA evidence was enough for an all-white jury to convict him. 

The murder weapon—Stites' belt—has never been tested for DNA evidence, despite multiple requests from the defense.

Stites' fiancé, police officer Jimmy Fennell, was the original suspect in the case. After the murder, he was subsequently convicted of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a woman while on duty and sentenced to 10 years in prison. A fellow inmate said Fennell confessed to killing Stites because she was cheating on him with a black man.  

For the past seven years, the Skadden team—partner Cliff Gardner, counsels Robert Weber and Sarah Runnells Martin, associates Michelle Davis, Nicole DiSalvo, Shaivlini Khemka, Juliana van Hoeven and Gregory Ranzini, and law clerk Steven Becton—have worked with the Innocence Project on the case. 

"We are thrilled that the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles unanimously recommended to Governor Abbott a 120-day reprieve from Mr. Reed's November 20th execution date and that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has granted him a stay of execution and remanded his case back to the trial court for further evidentiary proceedings on his actual innocence and other claims," Gardner said. 

"We are grateful for these decisions which allow for the proper review and consideration of the new and comprehensive evidence of Mr. Reed's innocence," he continued. "And we have been inspired by the tremendous outpouring of bipartisan support for Mr. Reed over the past several weeks. We look forward to continuing to advocate for Mr. Reed and ensuring his constitutional rights are upheld."