On November 2, 2026, the Eleventh District Court of Appeals issued an order reversing the trial court’s denial of Tyrone Noling’s motion to access evidence for DNA testing. This ruling comes less than one month after the Eleventh District heard oral argument on the matter. A copy of the order can be found here.
As a threshold matter, the Eleventh District held that discovery sought pursuant to Criminal Rule 42(C) is mandatory and agreed with Mr. Noling that the suitability of evidence for DNA testing is not a valid reason to deny such access under the Rule.
The Eleventh District also rejected the State and trial court’s application of res judicata to bar Mr. Noling’s motion. In doing so, the Eleventh District held that the trial court erred by relying on a 2014 order denying Mr. Noling’s request for DNA testing under a different statute to deny Mr. Noling’s current request. The appeals court also rejected the State’s argument that Mr. Noling was foreclosed from bringing his current request based on prior requests for access that were not for the purpose of DNA testing and did not relate to the same evidence.
The Eleventh District’s decision is a significant victory in Mr. Noling’s fight to obtain access to potentially exculpatory evidence for DNA testing. The Eleventh District remanded this matter for further proceedings consistent with this order.