Calvin Reed

In June 2006, 6-year-old T.R. told her foster mother, Vertina R., that 20-year-old Calvin Reed had sexually assaulted her in March 2006. She later repeated the claims during a forensic interview at the Children's Assessment Center in Houston, Texas, on July 27, 2006. 

Reed, who was Vertina's cousin and 19 years old at the time of the alleged crime, was arrested on March 30, 2007, and charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child. Richard Wheelan was appointed to represent him. 

On February 22, 2008, Reed pled guilty to the charge in Harris County District Court and was placed on deferred adjudication with community supervision. A year later, on January 15, 2009, the state moved to revoke the deferred adjudication, and Reed was sentenced to 20 years in prison. (Many of the records in this case were sealed, and the available records don't say what triggered the motion to revoke.)

Around 2015, T.R. recanted her accusations, first to her birth mother and then to Reed's wife.

On January 24, 2017, Reed, now represented by Aimee Bolettino, filed a state petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The petition said that T.R.'s recantation was new evidence of innocence and that Wheelan had provided ineffective representation by failing to properly investigate the child's claim prior to Reed's plea.

During an evidentiary hearing, T.R. testified that she was 15 years old when she first learned that Reed had been arrested and sent to prison based on her allegations. She said that in 2006, after she made her statement to the child abuse investigator, she was never interviewed by the prosecution or the defense.

T.R. said the man who actually abused her in 2006 was Alex R., Vertina's husband. She said that Alex  told her that if she implicated him, he would send her back to Child Protective Services and separate her from her sister, who was also living with Vertina.

T.R. also testified that Vertina hit her with a belt the first time they discussed the purported abuse. Vertina testified that she did not hit the child. In addition, the state presented evidence that T.R. had told a forensic examiner in 2010 that Reed and another relative had sexually abused her years earlier. That interview was part of an investigation into Alex R., who was later convicted of indecency against a child.

The petition said that Wheelan, who died in 2008, didn't properly investigate the case, failing to interview potential witnesses and communicate with Reed. His records only noted one possible conversation with Reed between the time of his arrest and his plea.

Reed was released from prison on June 26, 2019.

On November 1, 2021, a judge in Harris County Criminal District Court forwarded findings to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, recommending that Reed's petition be granted on the grounds of actual innocence. The judge said that T.R.'s recantation was credible and that Wheelan had been ineffective in his representation.

The state asked the appellate court to disregard the recommendations. It said that T.R.'s recantation was inconsistent and likely influenced by family members and Reed's wife, with whom T.R. had lived for a while. It also said that Wheelan had been an effective advocate, able to negotiate a favorable plea with the possibility of no time in prison.

On May 31, 2023, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted the writ petition, agreeing with the habeas court's findings. Two judges dissented.

The state dismissed the charge on June 28, 2023.

– Ken Otterbourg

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Posting Date: 05-06-2025

Last Update Date: 05-06-2025