By Maruice Chammah
The Texas Tribune
BEEVILLE, Texas — State lawyers agreed Thursday to a 60-day reprieve for death row inmate Robert Pruett, who was scheduled for execution May 21, after the inmate filed a request for DNA testing, arguing it may prove his innocence in the 1999 stabbing of prison correctional officer Daniel Nagle.
Pruett, 33, was convicted in 2002 of Nagle’s killing and maintains that inmates and corrupt officers colluded to implicate him. A jury found Pruett guilty after prosecutors argued that he murdered Nagle after a dispute over a disciplinary write-up. Prosecutors told jurors that Pruett -- who was already serving a life sentence for another murder he allegedly participated in with his father -- killed Nagle because the inmate was upset that he had written him up for taking a sack lunch into the recreation yard at the McConnell Unit in Beeville.
That write-up is the subject of the DNA request. A palm print was found on the report that did not match Pruett. The Texas Department of Public Safety currently maintains a database of palm prints, but it did not exist in 2002.
Full story: Execution for Prison Guard Murder Delayed for DNA Tests