Supreme Court Rejects Rodney Reed Appeal for DNA Testing in Texas Death‑Penalty Case
On March 23, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Rodney Reed’s appeal seeking DNA testing of a webbed belt, leaving in place the 5th Circuit’s restrictive reading of Texas’s post‑conviction DNA‑testing law for the second time in less than three years; three liberal justices dissented, with Justice Sotomayor calling prosecutors’ refusal to permit testing “inexplicable,” noting the state controlled the belt’s handling even as Texas courts treat some items as too “contaminated” to qualify for testing and prosecutors have refused testing despite Reed’s offer to pay. Reed continues to insist Stacey Stites’ fiancé, former officer Jimmy Fennell — who denies the allegation and has a prior sexual‑assault conviction — was the real killer, and absent further state relief or clemency Texas may move closer to scheduling his execution despite unresolved DNA questions.
📌 Key Facts
- On March 23, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court formally rejected Rodney Reed’s appeal seeking post‑conviction DNA testing of a webbed belt linked to the 1996 killing of Stacey Stites, leaving in place the 5th Circuit’s ruling for the second time in less than three years.
- Reed’s defense team offered to pay for DNA testing of the belt, but Texas prosecutors have refused to permit the testing.
- Three liberal justices dissented; Justice Sonia Sotomayor called the refusal to allow testing 'inexplicable' and warned Texas may execute Reed without knowing whether Reed’s or Jimmy Fennell’s DNA is on the alleged murder weapon.
- Texas’s top criminal court and the 5th Circuit have read the state’s post‑conviction DNA‑testing law to exclude items deemed 'contaminated,' even when the state controlled the evidence’s handling or chain of custody.
- Reed has long maintained that Stacey Stites’ fiancé, former police officer Jimmy Fennell, was the real killer; Fennell has denied the allegation and previously served time for a separate sexual‑assault conviction.
- The Supreme Court’s order preserves the lower courts’ restrictive interpretation of Texas’s DNA‑testing law and underscores that, absent further state‑level relief or clemency, Texas may move closer to scheduling Reed’s execution despite unresolved questions about the belt’s DNA.
📊 Relevant Data
Black individuals comprise 47.6% of Texas's death row population, while making up approximately 13.7% of the state's overall population, indicating a per capita overrepresentation of about 3.5 times.
Texas Death Penalty Facts – TCADP — Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
In the United States, approximately 90% of Black murder victims are killed by Black offenders, and about 84% of White murder victims are killed by White offenders, based on recent FBI crime data patterns.
Race and crime in the United States - Wikipedia — Wikipedia
Official misconduct, including prosecutorial misconduct, contributed to 79% of homicide exonerations in 2024, according to the National Registry of Exonerations.
2024 ANNUAL REPORT - National Registry of Exonerations — National Registry of Exonerations
In Harris County, Texas, Black defendants are three times more likely to be sentenced to death than similarly situated White defendants, based on historic data.
New Report from Texas Defender Service Examines Ongoing Racial Disparities in Harris County Death Penalty Practices and Recommends Reforms — Death Penalty Information Center
📰 Source Timeline (4)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
- Confirms that the U.S. Supreme Court has formally rejected, via an order on March 23, 2026, a death-row inmate’s appeal seeking DNA testing of key evidence in a Texas capital case.
- Reiterates that the Court left in place the 5th Circuit’s restrictive reading of Texas’s post-conviction DNA-testing law, which treats certain evidence as too 'contaminated' to qualify, even when the state controlled the chain of custody.
- Underscores the implications for Rodney Reed’s execution path going forward: absent further state-level relief or clemency, Texas may move closer to scheduling his execution despite unresolved questions about the belt’s DNA.
- Confirms that the Supreme Court has now left in place the 5th Circuit’s ruling against Rodney Reed 'for the second time in less than three years.'
- Reiterates that three liberal justices dissented and quotes Sotomayor describing prosecutors’ refusal to allow belt testing as 'inexplicable.'
- Spells out that Texas’s top criminal court has interpreted the state DNA-testing law to exclude items it deems 'contaminated,' even though the state itself controlled the belt’s handling.
- Restates that Reed’s defense team offered to pay for the DNA testing, and that prosecutors continue to refuse.
- Notes Reed’s long-running claim that Stacey Stites’ fiancé, former police officer Jimmy Fennell, was the real killer, and that Fennell has denied it and previously served time for sexual assault.
- 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.