Supreme Court grants death row inmate last minute stay of execution

Ruben Gutierrez was convicted of capital murder for the 1998 killing of a retired teacher

Ruben Gutierrez, who has been on death row for 25 years, asked the Supreme Court to intervene in his execution (AP)

Minutes before a death row inmate in Texas was scheduled to be executed by lethal injection, the Supreme Court handed him a lifeline and halted the execution to consider his claim of innocence.

Ruben Gutierrez, 47, has been on death row in Huntsville since 1999 after he was convicted of capital murder for the killing of Escolastica Harrison, an 85-year-old woman who Gutierrez and two others intended to rob after discovering she kept $600,000 in cash inside her mobile home.

For the last 13 years, Gutierrez has asked state and federal courts to allow him access to the physical evidence obtained during the murder investigation so he can seek DNA testing. He claims this would prove he had a “limited” role in the murder.

Gutierrez’s attorneys argue that multiple items recovered from the crime scene, including blood samples, loose hair, nail scrapings and more were not tested.

But state courts denied his request, saying Texas’s post-conviction DNA testing statute does not allow for testing that would prove innocence if it would impact only the sentencing or punishment an individual received.

Gutierrez appealed to the federal courts, claiming that limitation in Texas’s post-conviction DNA testing statute was unconstitutional. But in February, the Fifth Circuit Appeals Court rejected his claim.

They ruled Gutierrez had no justifiable reason, known as “standing”, to bring his claim forward.

But the Supreme Court may revise that decision.

Gutierrez was scheduled to be sentenced at 6pm CDT on Tuesday. Twenty minutes before, at 5.40pm CDT, the Supreme Court agreed to consider his appeal and paused the execution.

Prison spokesperson Amanda Hernandez told The Associated Press that Gutierrez became “visibly emotional” when she informed him of the Supreme Court’s pause on his execution.

“He turned around to the back of the cell, covered his mouth. He was tearing up, speechless. He was shocked,” Hernandez said.

The stay on Gutierrez’s execution will remain until the justices formally decide if they should review his appeal. If they deny the appeal, the execution would immediately unpause.

The Supreme Court rarely grants review and oral arguments in these types of appeals. But this is the second time the Supreme Court has temporarily paused Gutierrez’s sentencing.

The first time, in June 2020, Gutierrez requested a stay on his execution because a newly-passed Texas law barred his spiritual adviser from accompanying him to the death chamber.

At the time, reality TV star Kim Kardashian championed the decision to pause Gutierrez’s sentencing until the issue was resolved.

Months later, in January 2021, the Supreme Court court asked lower federal courts to consider Gutierrez’s request for his spiritual adviser to be present and then lifted the pause on his execution – allowing for it to be rescheduled.

An attorney for Gutierrez told AP that they are “hopeful” they will be able to carry out DNA testing to prove his innocence.