TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Kate Prince on May 2, 2022

The U.S. Supreme Court last week agreed to review a request for DNA testing of evidence from death row inmate Rodney Reed, The Hill reports. Reed was convicted in the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites in Bastrop County, Texas. He has maintained his innocence and has long sought genetic testing of items found at the crime scene. The technical issue before the high court deals with when the window closed for Reed to request DNA testing. Lower federal courts are divided on whether the clock begins when a trial court denies the request or whether it begins after the appeals process plays out. Death Penalty Information Center Executive Director Robert Dunham said the Supreme Court’s review of the case has “big stakes” and “major implications for either redressing miscarriages of justice — or institutionalizing them.”