The Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal from Texas death row inmate Rodney Reed, who claims untested crime-scene evidence will help clear him.
Reed was sentenced to death for the 1996 killing of 19-year-old Stacey Stites.
Prosecutors say Reed raped and strangled Stites as she made her way to work at a supermarket in Bastrop, a rural community near Austin.
For years, Reed’s lawyers and other groups have argued that there is not enough evidence proving he is responsible for Stites’ death.
The justices will take up the case in the fall.
Texas law allows people who have been convicted to obtain post-conviction DNA testing, if certain conditions are met.
Reed has been denied twice.
The issue is whether Reed waited too long to ask for DNA testing of items recovered from and near Stiles’ body and elsewhere.
His supporters have included Beyoncé, Kim Kardashian and Oprah Winfrey, as well as lawmakers from both parties.
