Supreme Court Halts Execution of Texas Inmate Seeking DNA Test in 1998 Stabbing Case

Supreme Court Grants Stay of Execution for Texas Man Seeking DNA Test in 1998 Stabbing Death

In a late development in Texas, the Supreme Court granted a stay of execution for a Texas man, Ruben Gutierrez, charged with the fatal stabbing of an 85-year-old woman during a 1998 home robbery, with only 20 minutes before his scheduled lethal injection.

A Decades-Long Legal Battle

The 47-year-old inmate was set to face his sentence at the Huntsville, Texas, death chamber for fatally stabbing Escolastica Harrison at her home in Brownsville in 1998. His attorneys have consistently argued that there’s no physical or forensic evidence linking Gutierrez to the murder. They maintain that Gutierrez is not guilty and that DNA testing on specific evidence collected at the crime scene would prove his innocence.

The high court’s stay will remain in place until the justices decide whether to review his appeal. The stay will be automatically lifted if the court denies the appeal request.

Plea for DNA Testing

The defense argues that Texas has impeded Gutierrez’s right under state law for post-conviction DNA testing, which could affirm that he would not have been eligible for the death penalty. Various items recovered from the crime scene — including nail scrapings from the victim, a loose hair found around one of her fingers, and blood samples from within her home — have yet to be tested, according to the defense.

Prosecution’s Response

The state prosecutors, however, claimed that the request for DNA testing was only a delay tactic. They argue that Gutierrez was convicted based on a plethora of evidence, including his confession of planning the robbery and admission to being inside the victim’s house during her murder. Despite Gutierrez’s assertion that he did not kill Harrison, the Texas law of parties holds him liable for her death.

The prosecution further asserts that Gutierrez has continuously failed to demonstrate that he is entitled to post-conviction DNA testing.

Relevance to Past Cases

Gutierrez’s lawyers have argued that his case bears resemblance to the case of Rodney Reed, another Texan on death row. The Supreme Court in 2023 had ruled that Reed should be allowed to argue for DNA testing. However, Reed is yet to receive DNA testing, while Gutierrez’s requests have been repeatedly denied by lower courts.

Next Steps

Last week, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles voted against changing Gutierrez’s death sentence to a lesser penalty and declined to grant a 90-day reprieve. Numerous previous scheduled executions for Gutierrez have been postponed, including over matters pertaining to having a spiritual advisor in the death chamber. In June 2020, Gutierrez was within an hour of execution when the Supreme Court issued a stay.

Investigations suggest that Gutierrez befriended Harrison to rob her. Authorities reported that Harrison secreted her money beneath a false floor in her bedroom closet. Other individuals implicated in the case include Rene Garcia, now serving a life sentence in a Texas prison, and Pedro Gracia, thought to have been the getaway driver and still at large.

As the legal battle continues, this case again highlights the ongoing national debate concerning DNA testing in murder convictions and the administration of the death penalty.