Emergency application · Capital case
Who can challenge DNA testing
David Wood v. Rachel Patton, Assistant Attorney General
What did the Court do?
The Court granted the request on March 14, 2025 and halted (stayed) the execution.
Emergency rulings are temporary and do not decide the underlying case.
What's being asked
David Wood, a prisoner under a death sentence, asks the Supreme Court to pause his execution while it considers his request for review. Wood says the Fifth Circuit threw out his challenge to Texas’s DNA-testing law under its rule about who has the legal right to sue.
What the Court did
Justice Alito refused Wood’s request for a Supreme Court pause, denying it as moot (no longer a live dispute). The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals had already paused Wood’s execution on March 11. The application closed without deciding whether Wood otherwise qualified for emergency relief; the record does not show how the justices voted.
What it means
The Texas court’s pause protects Wood from execution temporarily, but it does not decide his DNA-testing challenge. The Fifth Circuit’s ruling remains unchanged; Wood says it threw out his challenge to Texas’s DNA-testing law. The docket lists no related Supreme Court case or argument date.
Sources
Facts on this page come from the Supreme Court docket, orders, and opinions for No. 24A860. The answers restate that record in plain words; explainer copy is written from the record and the filings only.