Ex Parte State

The State of Alabama filed this petition for a writ of mandamus directing the Honorable William Gordon, circuit judge for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, to allow into evidence at Reed's trial the state's deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) evidence. The petitioner was charged in June 1993 with robbery in the first degree, burglary in the first degree, and rape in the first degree. After numerous postponements by the state to obtain the DNA evidence, defense counsel was provided with the DNA material in November 1995. A hearing on defense counsel's objections to the DNA evidence was held on November…