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Minutes before 47-year-old Ruben Gutierrez was scheduled to be executed for the 1998 murder of an 85-year-old woman in Brownsville, the Supreme Court stayed his execution.
Gutierrez was convicted in 1999 of murdering Escolastica Harrison at her Brownsville trailer home on Sept. 5, 1998.
A death warrant was signed for his arrest following several adverse rulings in state and federal court.
Gutierrez has unsuccessfully sought post-conviction DNA testing in state and federal appellate courts for approximately 15 years.
He has repeatedly claimed that he was not in Harrison’s residence when she was murdered though he has admitted to being involved in the robbery. Gutierrez argues had the evidence been tested, the jury would have heard that he was not in the home, potentially impacting his conviction and sentence.
The Supreme Court issued the stay while it determines whether it will grant the parties permission to bring the case to the nation’s highest court.
If the Supreme Court grants the request, it will order the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to send it the case.
“The application for stay of execution of sentence of death presented to Justice Alito and by him referred to the Court is granted pending the disposition of the petition for a writ of certiorari,” the ruling states. “Should the petition for a writ of certiorari be denied, this stay shall terminate automatically.
“In the event the petition for a writ of certiorari is granted, the stay shall terminate upon the sending down of the judgment of this Court.”
