Reed v. Goertz (598 U.S. 230)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided April 19, 2023 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 598 U.S. 230 · 143 S. Ct. 955
- Decided
- April 19, 2023
- Term
- October Term 2022
- Vote
- 6–3
- Majority author
- Justice Kavanaugh
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
PRELIMINARY PRINT Volume 598 U. S. Part 1 Pages 230–263 OFFICIAL REPORTS OF THE SUPREME COURT April 19, 2023 Page Proof Pending Publication REBECCA A. WOMELDORF reporter of decisions NOTICE: This preliminary print is subject to formal revision before the bound volume is published. Users are requested to notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Washington, D.C. 20543, pio@supremecourt.gov, of any typographical or other formal errors. 230 OCTOBER TERM, 2022 Syllabus REED v. GOERTZ certiorari to the united states court of appeals for the fth circuit No. 21–442. Argued October 11, 2022—Decided April 19, 2023 A Texas jury found petitioner Rodney Reed guilty of the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affrmed Reed's conviction and death sentence. In 2014, Reed fled a motion in Texas state court under Texas's post-conviction DNA testing law. Reed re- quested DNA testing on certain evidence, including the belt used to strangle Stites, which Reed contended would help identify the true per- petrator. The state trial court denied Reed's motion, reasoning in part that items Reed sought to test were not preserved through an adequate chain of custody. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affrmed, and later denied Reed's motion for rehearing. Reed then sued in federal court under 42 U. S. C. § 1983 , asserting that Texas's…
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