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The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to give Rodney Reed the chance to have his murder case reviewed, delivering a blow to the death row inmate who has for more than a quarter century maintained that he is innocent of the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites.
Reed, a Black man, was convicted in 1998 of killing a 19-year-old white woman in the Central Texas town of Bastrop. For years, Reed’s guilt has been questioned, with his supporters pointing blame at Stites’ fiance, Jimmy Fennell.
In 2019, Texas’ highest criminal court halted Reed’s execution, sending the case back to the trial court for further review. But a district judge ruled against granting Reed a new trial in 2021, and two years later the state’s highest criminal court also rejected Reed’s claims of innocence.
Without offering any comment, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Reed’s petition for a writ of certiorari, which would have ordered the lower court to deliver the case records to the higher court for review.
The ruling does not mean that Reed’s execution will immediately be scheduled. In another appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court last year sided with Reed, who is now 56, and cleared the way for his team to pursue DNA testing on crime scene evidence that his attorney’s said could exonerate him.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments in that case in August, Reed’s legal team said.
“[Reed] has litigation pending in several courts and his legal team is continuing to pursue all available avenues to secure his relief,” said Parker Rider-Longmaid, an attorney representing Reed. “Mr. Reed’s legal fight to test key DNA evidence and prove his innocence is far from over.”
Reed's attorneys maintain that their client was sentenced to death for a crime he didn't commit. They say that Reed was having an affair with Stites and that the courts have not allowed for DNA testing of crucial evidence, including the belt used to strangle Stites.
Stites’ sister, Debra Oliver, meanwhile, said that Reed is guilty and should accept responsibility for the crime.
“It is time to stop retraumatizing Stacey’s loved ones for the benefit of activists and those seeking notoriety from this nightmare,” the statement said.
Oliver also said that Reed is guilty of raping her sister, who she says had no romantic relationship with Reed.
Both Reed and Stites' fiance have been accused of multiple sexual assaults. Reed was indicted in several rape cases. Fennell spent 10 years in prison after he kidnapped and allegedly raped a woman while on duty as a police officer in 2007.
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