Article Image

IPFS News Link • Criminal Justice System

Texas death row inmate loses appeal seeking new DNA testing

• blog.sfgate.com By Michael Graczyk

Rodney Reed's attorneys sought the testing on more than 40 items collected in the investigation into the 1996 abduction, rape and strangling of 19-year-old Stacy Stites. Her body was found off the side of a road about 35 miles (56.32 kilometers) southeast of Austin.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals said in its decision that the request by Reed's lawyers was the latest in a series of legal moves "to unreasonably delay the execution of his sentence or the administration of justice." The court said in its 38-page ruling that the attorneys failed to show the additional testing would change the outcome of Reed's trial.

The ruling upheld the findings of a judge in Bastrop County who also denied the DNA request after a hearing in 2014.

"Reed engaged and continues to engage in protracted litigation since his conviction was affirmed in 2000," the appeals court said.


ContentSafe