Rodney Reed was sentenced to death in Texas more than 20 years ago for the 1996 assault, rape, and strangling of 19-year-old Stacey Stites. Reed maintained his innocence and challenged a Texas law that allows a convicted person to obtain post-conviction DNA testing of biological material if the court finds that certain conditions are met.
According to CNN, the Supreme Court has agreed to review Reed’s case after not agreeing to take up his appeal in 2020. The justices will take up the case in the fall – the issue is whether Reed waited too long to ask for DNA testing of items recovered from and near Stiles’ body, clothing, and items found in or near Fennell’s truck. Reed was within five days of his execution date before he was granted an indefinite stay of execution on Nov. 15, 2019, so that his innocence claims could be considered. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Reed waited too long to bring the claim.
“The basic question is a technical one about when the clock starts running for federal lawsuits by prisoners who seek DNA testing of newly discovered evidence that might exonerate them,” said Steve Vladeck, CNN Supreme Court analyst and professor at the University of Texas School of Law. “But the implications could be much broader, especially for prisoners in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, where the current law makes it exceedingly difficult to bring such claims.”
In the 2020 briefing, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in a statement, noted that he has “presented a substantial body of evidence” that she said “if true” casts doubt on the “veracity of scientific validity of the evidence.” The Innocence Project has maintained that there is enough evidence to exonerate Reed.