A man accused of murder in Bowie County is hoping scientific testing of a knife will convince a judge he acted in self-defense when he reportedly shot a man last year.

“The DNA should be back soon,” Assistant District Attorney Kristian Young told 5th District Judge Ralph Burgess at a pretrial hearing Monday for Clarence Lodell Pierce.

Pierce is accused of peppering Kevin “Russ” Hayes, 37, with bullets after an encounter Feb. 2, 2007, at about 11:15 p.m. Hayes was pronounced dead by staff at a local hospital about an hour later.

In June, Pierce’s defense atto...

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