The court previously stayed his execution in 2020 after Gutierrez challenged a Texas law that prohibited a spiritual adviser from being present with him in the execution chamber.
In a statement Tuesday, Gutierrez’s attorney, Shawn Nolan, said he was “hopeful that now that the court has intervened to stop this execution, we can finally conduct the DNA testing to prove that Mr. Gutierrez should not be executed now or in the future.”
In September 1998, 85-year-old Escolastica Harrison was beaten to death in her Texas mobile home, where she kept about $600,000, according to court documents.
Police arrested Gutierrez, who prosecutors said befriended Harrison because he knew she kept a large amount of cash in her home. Two other people were also charged. One of them, 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, the Associated Press reported.
In a petition Gutierrez filed with the Supreme Court in June, his attorneys say he has maintained for more than a decade that he did not enter Harrison’s home and did not know anyone would be in danger.
The attorneys said Gutierrez was convicted under Texas law, which allows people to be held criminally liable for the actions of others.
“He has fought for over a decade to test the biological evidence collected at the crime scene to establish that he did not actually kill, intend to kill, or expect anyone to be killed,” they wrote in their petition.
Over the years, Gutierrez has repeatedly filed requests with the court for DNA testing of samples from the crime scene, including Harrison’s nail fragments and a loose hair found wrapped around her finger, the petition said.
In their response to Gutierrez’s request for Supreme Court review, the offices of the Texas attorney general and the Cameron County district attorney said the requests for DNA testing were denied because state law does not allow testing to be performed to avoid the death penalty after a conviction.
“Even if that were the case,” the court filing states, “Gutierrez would not be entitled to it.”
Online records show that Gutierrez’s request for a stay was referred to the Supreme Court on Tuesday, the same day the court granted the request.
Amanda Hernandez, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, told the AP that Gutierrez did not expect to receive a stay and that she was “visibly emotional” Tuesday.
“He turned to the back of the cell, covered his mouth,” Hernandez told the AP. “He was crying, speechless. He was in shock.”