A Texas death row inmate won the opportunity to beat the reaper yet again with a court decision giving him standing in his quest to get DNA evidence tested. Given how many times he's cheated death so far, the testing agency might need to check if his blood is part-feline and determine how many lives he's got left.
On June 26, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) released a 6-3 decision stating that the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals had erred in ruling that Ruben Gutierrez did not have standing to challenge the constitutionality of a Texas law. This was not the first time Gutierrez found himself on the winning side of a SCOTUS decision, as he continues to attempt to have his sentence of death overturned.
With his involvement in the murder of an elderly woman not disputed, the Fifth Circuit had ruled that Gutierrez was not entitled to testing of DNA evidence that may prove he was not one of the actual killers. A panel will get another chance to examine whether Gutierrez's lucky streak has reached its end or not.
A Community Loses a Pillar
Escolastica Harrison was a beloved member of Brownsville, Texas. A retired schoolteacher, she managed a trailer park and was renowned for her kindness and attempts to help those around her. At age 85, she had started getting help around her trailer from one of her nephews. He had a friend named Ruben Gutierrez. Believing that Harrison had over $600,000 in the trailer, Gutierrez concocted a plan to rob her.
Gutierrez and two others attempted to steal the money on September 5, 1998, on a night when she wasn't supposed to be home. To her bad luck, she was. Accounts of what happened and just who was in the trailer differ, but all end with Harrison beaten and stabbed to death with two different screwdrivers. The thieves made off with about 10% of what they'd thought would be there and were caught soon after. One later jumped bail and is still on the run.
Gutierrez admitted to planning the robbery but claimed he was outside of the trailer the entire time. Under Texas capital murder laws, a person involved in the planning of a crime in which a murder occurs can be charged with capital murder even if they weren't present or directly involved in the slaying. While they can be sentenced to life in prison, they're not eligible for the death penalty.
Gutierrez was convicted of being an active participant in the killing of Harrison in 1999 and received a sentence of death a month later. Maintaining that he wasn't part of the murder, Gutierrez began trying in 2010 to get DNA evidence recovered at the crime scene tested to prove he hadn't been there.
Leaving No Stone Unturned
Seeking DNA testing under Texas law, Gutierrez asked the local court to order the testing. The trial court refused, citing the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 64 requirement that DNA testing can only be ordered if the convicted person proves they would have been found not guilty had they been able to use exculpatory DNA at trial. Since Gutierrez was found guilty of Harrison's murder due to his involvement in the underlying crime, DNA testing wouldn't have made a difference.
The state court denied him again in 2019, despite new evidence being discovered that Gutierrez claimed would challenge his death sentence. He sued the local district attorney in federal court and was granted a partial decision that would allow him to compel DNA testing.
As this was all transpiring, Gutierrez received a rare stay of execution from SCOTUS in 2020. Texas law refused to allow any member of the clergy into the execution chamber, and Gutierrez had demanded that a Catholic priest be present. His date with death was delayed while security issues and COVID-19 protocols were examined.
In 2024, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overruled the lower federal court with a majority decision that determined Gutierrez didn't have standing to challenge the Texas post-conviction DNA testing rules. This was despite the Supreme Court's 2023 decision in Reed v. Goertz, which allowed a similar challenge to move forward.
The Fifth Circuit found that Gutierrez's case was different from Reed because the state's highest criminal court had already determined that DNA testing would not change the outcome of his case.
While Justice Samuel Alito's dissent bemoaned that the Fifth Circuit applied the Reed standard correctly, the majority disagreed and sent the case back to the Fifth Circuit.
In the majority opinion, Justice Sonia Sotomayor asserted that the Fifth Circuit had misinterpreted Reed v. Goertz. Instead of focusing on the eventual outcome, the majority reasoned that Gutierrez did have standing to sue because he adequately alleged that:
- There was an injury (denial of access to evidence)
- The prosecutor caused this injury
- A favorable court ruling could redress the injury by removing the legal barrier to DNA testing
Ruben Gutierrez is slated to spend the rest of his life in prison for his involvement in the murder of Escolastica Harrison. How long that is may well depend on future court decisions regarding the DNA testing he claims will exonerate him from a death sentence.
Related Resources
- Swift Decisions, Silent Explanations: Stays of Execution and the Shadow Docket (FindLaw's Federal Courts)
- Criminal Homicide (FindLaw's Criminal Charges)
- Death Penalty Laws (FindLaw's Criminal Procedure)
