Ruben Gutierrez was sentenced to death for the 1998 Brownsville murder of an elderly woman. His execution was stayed in July.

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Friday to hear an appeal by a Texas man who faces the death penalty for his role in the 1998 murder of an elderly mobile home park owner and is seeking DNA testing of evidence from the crime scene.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear the case of a Texas man on death row who has long argued that DNA testing would help prove he didn't kill an 85-year-old woman during a home robbery decades ago.

The highest court in the land did reject Reed’s request for a new trial in July of 2024. The rejection means the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals’ decision to deny Reed a new trial stands. The court ruled in 2023 that the testimony of 47 new witnesses in a 2021 evidentiary hearing would not have changed the outcome of Reed’s original trial.

The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments Monday on two issues pursued by death-row prisoner Rodney Reed, including Texas’ interpretation of post-conviction DNA testing and Reed’s claims of prosecutorial misconduct and exclusion of vital evidence in his case.

As millions prepare to go to the polls, a law that few are aware of could mean inmates across Texas, including those on death row may be eligible to vote and help decide the next election