A court had previously delayed the execution in 2020 after Gutierrez challenged a Texas law that bars spiritual advisers from being present in the execution chamber.
“Now that the Supreme Court has intervened to block this execution, we are hopeful that DNA testing will finally be conducted that will prove that Mr. Gutierrez should not be executed now or in the future,” Gutierrez’s lawyer, Sean Nolan, said in a statement Tuesday.
According to court records, 85-year-old Escolastica Harrison was bludgeoned to death in September 1998 in her Texas mobile home, where she kept approximately $600,000.
Police arrested Gutierrez, who prosecutors say knew Harrison had a large amount of cash hidden in his home and was close to him. Two others were also indicted. The first, Rene Garcia, is serving a life sentence, according to Texas prison records. The other, Pedro Garcia, who allegedly drove the getaway car, remains at large, according to the Associated Press.
In a petition filed with the Supreme Court in June, Gutierrez’s lawyers said his client has argued for more than a decade that he never entered Harrison’s home and did not know anyone would be harmed.
His lawyers said Gutierrez was convicted under Texas’ political party law, which says people can be held criminally liable for the actions of others.
“He has fought for over a decade to have biological evidence collected at the crime scene tested to prove that he did not actually kill anyone, did not intend to kill anyone, and did not expect anyone to be killed,” they wrote in the petition.
According to the petition, Gutierrez has repeatedly asked the court over the years to allow DNA testing of crime scene samples, including nail marks and hair found around Harrison’s finger, among other things.
In their response to Gutierrez’s petition for review at the Supreme Court, the Texas Attorney General’s Office and the Cameron County District Attorney’s Office said the request for DNA testing was denied because state law does not allow testing after conviction to avoid the death penalty.
“Even if that were the case, Mr. Gutierrez is not entitled to it,” court documents state.
Gutierrez’s request for a stay of execution was sent to the Supreme Court on Tuesday, and the court granted the stay of execution the same day, according to online records.
Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokeswoman Amanda Hernandez told The Associated Press that Gutierrez did not expect to receive probation and was “clearly emotional” on Tuesday.
“He turned to the back of the cell and covered his mouth,” Hernandez told The Associated Press. “He was in tears, he couldn’t speak. He was in shock.”
