District court judge dismisses Caddo death row inmate’s application for post-conviction relief

SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) - A decision came down from the First Judicial District Court Tuesday, April 29 in the case of a Caddo Parish death row inmate seeking reprieve.

District Court Judge Donald Hathaway Jr. decided to grant a motion by the state to dismiss Marcus Donte Reed’s application for post-conviction relief, essentially because there had been no movement in his case in many years. The court ruled in favor of the state because of an eight-year delay in Reed filing supplemental material for his application for post-conviction relief. The court called it “an abuse of the judicial process.”

READ THE FULL COURT RULING HERE:

Notably, the court says:

“Until the present year, after the Death Warrant was issued, Reed had taken no steps to supplement or proceed with his application for post-conviction relief. Reed’s original application was a shell application consisting of general and conclusory allegations regarding procedural deficiencies in his case. In sum, Reed had essentially made no attempt to litigate his post-conviction relief claims after the filing of his shell application on July 7, 2017, until he retained counsel in June of 2024. The court finds the present facts to constitute the very gamesmanship and mere delaying tactics warned of by both the United States Supreme Court and the Louisiana Supreme Court.”

The court also noted that so much time has passed since the murders that the “loss of witnesses” and the “fading of memories” present a substantial issue for the state.

Reed’s attorneys released this statement in response to this new ruling:

“We have presented the Court with new evidence of egregious misconduct by former District Attorney, Dale Cox and law enforcement. For many reasons, including the prosecutors withholding favorable evidence from the defense, the jury was not given all the facts. Once again, the Attorney General’s Office has encouraged the Court to short-circuit the process and not consider the merits of these claims. The Court’s decision is in error and we will be taking it to the Louisiana Supreme Court.”

Back on March 26, a death warrant was issued for Reed, 47. Two days later, Reed’s legal team filed an opposition to the motion.

On April 11, the Louisiana Supreme Court halted all scheduled inmate executions, saying a judge needs to first consider the defendant’s claims for relief before setting new execution dates.

Reed’s appeal was heard in court Tuesday, April 15. Judge Hathaway heard arguments then about whether a request for postconviction from Reed could continue.

According to jail records, Reed was booked into the Caddo Correctional Center the morning of April 15 a couple of hours before his hearing. Reed was present in court for that hearing.

The state argued there was an eight-year delay in Reed’s postconviction relief application, and asked for it to be dismissed. Reed argued the delay was caused by the state when his original defense was “let go” from his case. Ultimately, the court ruled in favor of the state on this issue. That judgement was issued April 29.

Reed was convicted of three counts of first-degree murder back in August of 2010. Reed was convicted of killing three brothers: Jarquis, 18, Jeremiah, 20, and Gene Adams, 13. They were all shot as they pulled into the driveway of Reed’s girlfriend’s home in Keithville. Reed was waiting in the nearby woods to ambush them. He believed they’d stolen from him.

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