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The doors are closing for a condemned Brownsville man’s attempt to obtain post-conviction DNA testing as his execution looms in less than three weeks.
Ruben Gutierrez, 47, has had three adverse rulings against him in June as his July 16 execution date approaches.
Gutierrez was convicted in 1999 of murdering 85-year-old Escolastica Harrison in her trailer home in Brownsville on Sept. 5, 1998.
He was after $600,000 in cash, along with two other co-defendants, that they believed Harrison, who did not trust banks, had inside her home.
They ended up stealing approximately $56,000. Harrison was repeatedly hit and stabbed in the head multiple times.
Gutierrez has been trying to obtain post-conviction DNA testing since 2010 — all of those efforts have been unsuccessful. His initial appeal was disposed of in 2008.
He has claimed the testing would show he was not inside Harrison’s home at the time of her murder and that the jury would not have convicted him and sentenced him to death had this evidence been available at trial.
Gutierrez, who has admitted to being involved in the robbery, has sought testing of a loose hair recovered from Harrison’s finger, a blood sample from Harrison, several other blood samples from inside the home, a shirt belonging to Harrison’s nephew that had blood on it and the woman’s nail scrapings.
On June 7, Harrison’s appellate attorneys requested an en banc hearing over the previous denial of his post-conviction DNA testing petition in front of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. An en banc hearing is when a panel of judges convenes to hear arguments. The federal appellate court denied the request.
On June 18, a federal judge in Brownsville also denied a request for a rehearing on his denial of Gutierrez’s post-conviction DNA petition, dismissing the case with prejudice — officially closing the door on this proceeding.
On Thursday, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals did the same.
“Appellant appeals from a trial court order denying his third motion for post-conviction DNA testing filed pursuant to Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 64. In this motion, Appellant seeks testing of the same items for which he sought testing in his first two motions, and the trial court has again denied his request,” the order stated. “Appellant raises two points of error on appeal. After reviewing the issues, we find Appellant’s points of error to be without merit. Consequently, we affirm the trial court’s order denying testing.”
The order indicates that Gutierrez may ask the Supreme Court to hear his case.
As for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, it said it will entertain no requests for a rehearing.
“Having found no error, we affirm the convicting court’s order denying the motion for forensic DNA testing pursuant to Chapter 64,” the order stated. “No motions for rehearing will be entertained and the Clerk of this Court is instructed to issue mandate immediately.”
In a written statement, Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz called attention to that sentence in the appellate court’s ruling.
“Yesterday, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled on his latest motion to delay said execution once and again the Court ruled against him,” Saenz said in the statement. “Noteworthy is the last line of the Court’s opinion.”
Describing the crime as gruesome, Saenz said Gutierrez entered Harrison’s home and left her face down in a pool of blood, “severely beaten and stabbed numerous times.”
“For 25 years, the defendant has sought to delay the administration of justice for Mrs. Escolastica Harrison,” Saenz said. “In this time, the defendant has filed 28 different motions and pleadings in his effort to avoid being held accountable for his crime.”
Saenz then lists the numerous courts Gutierrez has filed his motions in, ranging from state to federal courts and even the Supreme Court.
“We have aggressively fought off and prevailed against all his efforts to avoid the punishment verdict from being imposed,” Saenz said.
He then says the time for accountability is near.
“Finally on July 16, 2024 any time after 6:00 p.m., the defendant will be held accountable for his heinous crime and justice for Escolastica Harrison will finally be served,” Saenz said.
