HOUSTON -- Texas highest criminal appeals court has stopped the execution of inmate Rodney Reed, whose conviction is being questioned by new evidence in his case.
The stay of execution issued Friday afternoon by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals comes just hours after the state's parole board unanimously recommended a 120-day reprieve for Reed.
The appeals court returned the case to the trial court in Bastrop County so it could examine Reed's claims that he is innocent and that prosecutors suppressed evidence and presented false testimony.
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The 51-year-old was set for lethal injection Wednesday evening for the 1996 killing of 19-year-old Stacey Stites near Bastrop in Central Texas.
Reed's efforts to stop his execution have garnered support from lawmakers and celebrities.
Since Texas resumed executions in 1982, only three death row inmates have had their sentences commuted to life in prison within days of their scheduled executions.
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