AUSTIN, Texas — There will be no new trial for convicted killer Rodney Reed.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rejected the death row inmate's request on Wednesday, effectively ending his legal options on the state level, according to former state district judge and current criminal defense attorney, Charlie Baird.
Reed was convicted of raping and strangling Stacey Stites in Bastrop in 1998.
Baird said Reed has one more legal recourse on the federal level. Reed still has a case before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
This comes after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to allow Reed to pursue DNA testing in April.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals' decision means it accepted a lower court's recommendation to let Reed's capital murder conviction stand. In a 129-page opinion, the state's highest criminal court stated Reed "failed to make an affirmative, persuasive showing that, more likely than not, he is innocent of Stacey Stites' murder."
The ruling comes nearly four years after the state's highest criminal court stayed Reed's execution in November 2019, days before the scheduled date, and sent the case back to a lower court to decide if Reed should get a new trial.
After a two-week evidentiary hearing in 2021, a judge recommended against a new trial.
As for what's next, Baird said there's a long and complex process ahead if the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals grants Reed's request to allow DNA testing on evidence, like the murder weapon.
"It would probably, at that point, show clearly that it was Miss Stites' DNA and genetic material on the belt. You would expect that. But the real question: would it show that material allowed Mr. Reed or Mr. Fennell?" he said.
Reed and his attorneys contend Jimmy Fennell, Stites's fiance, is the real killer.
Baird also said the Fifth Circuit could take a year to 18 months before making a decision.
One of Reed's attorneys, Jane Puscher with The Innocence Project, released a statement on Wednesday that said in part they will continue to fight for Reed's freedom and bring him home to his family.
Debra Oliver, Stites's sister, issued the following statement:
"I am grateful for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals' decision to uphold the jury's verdict. Rodney Reed is guilty of the rape and murder of my sister, Stacey Stites, and this has been proven beyond all reasonable doubt.
"In the 27 years since Reed murdered my sister, no credible, tangible evidence of a relationship between the defendant and Stacey has ever materialized. That is because no relationship existed. There are no photos, no gifts, no phone records, no receipts and no corroboration by those that truly knew Stacey best.
"Reed's defense is only believable if you suspend reality and ignore the overwhelming evidence that he is a serial rapist with no relationship to my sister.
My sister's memory has been lost in the media circus created around this very open and shut case. Stacey was a daughter, a sister and a friend with her whole life ahead of her. Reed took that all away.
"It is time for Reed to accept responsibility for his heinous crimes and for justice to prevail. It is time to stop retraumatizing Stacey's loved ones for the benefit of activists, clickbait and those seeking notoriety from this tragedy.
"I appreciate the state's attorneys and their commitment to seeking justice for Stacey. I am thankful for the many people from around the world that continue to support my family."