[1] Susan Reed was defeated by Democrat Nicholas "Nico" LaHood on November 4, 2014 during the midterm elections by a margin of 48 to 51 percent, respectively.
The 1985 conviction and 1993 execution of Ruben Cantu were the subject of a series of investigative articles by Houston Chronicle reporter Lise Olsen in 2005 and 2006.
According to Olsen, the jury forewoman, the then-district attorney, the trial judge, the co-defendant, and the surviving victim all expressed misgivings about the outcome of the Cantu case.
Her office concluded that Cantu was justifiably executed in 1993 and that no credible evidence existed to support the witnesses' claims of innocence.
[3] Many of Reed's critics called into question the validity and objectivity of her investigation because, as a state district judge, Susan reviewed one of Cantu's appeals and signed his death warrant.