Supreme Court Rejects Rodney Reed Appeal for DNA Testing in Texas Death‑Penalty Case
The Supreme Court declined to revive Rodney Reed’s bid for DNA testing in his Texas death‑penalty case, leaving in place a 5th Circuit ruling for the second time in less than three years. Justice Sotomayor dissented, calling the refusal to allow testing of the webbed belt “inexplicable” — noting Texas prosecutors refused testing even after Reed offered to pay and warning the state may execute Reed without knowing whether his or Fennell’s DNA is on the alleged murder weapon — a refusal the state’s top criminal court has justified by narrowly interpreting the state DNA‑testing law to exclude potentially “contaminated” items despite having controlled the belt’s handling.
📌 Key Facts
- The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Rodney Reed’s appeal seeking DNA testing, leaving in place an adverse 5th Circuit ruling for the second time in less than three years.
- Reed’s defense offered to pay for DNA testing of the webbed belt alleged to be the murder weapon; Texas prosecutors refused to permit the testing.
- Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented, calling the refusal to permit testing "inexplicable" and warning Texas may execute Reed without knowing whether Reed’s or Fennell’s DNA is on the belt.
- Texas’s highest criminal court has interpreted the state DNA‑testing law not to cover potentially "contaminated" items, even though the state often relies on such evidence at trial and it controlled the belt’s handling.
- The ruling leaves unresolved whether DNA testing of the belt could definitively link or clear Reed in the underlying murder case.
📊 Relevant Data
In Texas, Black individuals comprise 47.6% of the death row population, while making up approximately 12% of the state's overall population.
Texas Death Penalty Facts — TCADP
Nationally, Black and Hispanic people represent 31% of the U.S. population but 53% of death row inmates.
Race and the Death Penalty — NACDL
Since 1973, at least 200 people wrongly convicted and sentenced to death have been exonerated, with 108 of them being Black, despite Black Americans comprising about 13% of the population.
Death Row USA: Death Penalty Cases and Statistics by State — NAACP LDF
Black Americans account for 53% of all exonerations since 1989, while comprising only 13.6% of the U.S. population.
National Registry of Exonerations Report Highlights Racial Disparity in Wrongful Convictions — University of Michigan Law School
In DNA exonerations for rape convictions, 75% of the exonerees were Black or Latino.
Race and DNA Exonerations — Duke Law Forensics Forum
Homicides in the U.S. are predominantly intra-racial; for example, in available data, approximately 90% of Black victims are killed by Black offenders, and about 80% of White victims by White offenders.
Race and crime in the United States — Wikipedia
In 2019 FBI data, there were 514 Black offender-White victim homicides compared to 246 White offender-Black victim homicides, despite Black Americans being 13% of the population and White Americans 60%.
📰 Source Timeline (2)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
- CBS piece reiterates that this is the second time in less than three years the Supreme Court has left in place an adverse 5th Circuit ruling against Reed.
- Clarifies that Texas prosecutors have refused DNA testing of the webbed belt even though Reed’s defense offered to pay for it.
- Quotes in more detail Justice Sotomayor’s dissent calling the refusal to permit testing 'inexplicable' and warning that Texas will likely execute Reed without knowing whether Reed’s or Fennell’s DNA is on the murder weapon.
- Restates that Texas’s top criminal court has interpreted the state DNA-testing law not to cover potentially 'contaminated' items, even though the state often relies on such evidence at trial and controlled the belt’s handling.