Supreme Court Grants Stay of Execution for Texas Inmate Ruben Gutierrez in 1998 Murder Amid DNA Testing Dispute

Jul 16, 2024, 10:48 PM

The U.S. Supreme Court has granted a stay of execution for Ruben Gutierrez, a Texas death row inmate convicted of the 1998 fatal stabbing of Escolastica Harrison, an 85-year-old woman in Brownsville. Gutierrez, who has long sought DNA testing to prove his innocence, was scheduled to be executed on Tuesday evening. His lawyers argue that DNA evidence from the crime scene could exonerate him. Harrison was killed for her money. The stay was issued less than an hour before the scheduled lethal injection, and the Supreme Court's decision means the execution will not take place over the summer, as the court will not consider cert petitions again until the fall. The case also highlights questions about whether the Fifth Circuit is ignoring Supreme Court precedent.