Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles denies Ruben Gutierrez’s request for clemency

The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles has voted to deny an application for clemency filed by 57-year-old Ruben Gutierrez, who is scheduled to be executed next Tuesday.

Ruben Gutierrez

In a letter obtained by The Brownsville Herald, the board said they “have completed their consideration of the above offender’s application requesting a Commutation of Death Sentence to Lesser Penalty or in the alternative a 90-day Reprieve of Execution.”

The letter was sent to Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz, Cameron County Sheriff Eric Garza, Brownsville Police Chief Felix Sauceda and state District Judge Benjamin Euresti Jr. on Friday.

“After a full and careful review of the application and any other information filed with the application, a majority of the Board has decided not to recommend a Commutation of Death Sentence to Lesser Penalty or in the alternative a 90-day Reprieve of Execution,” the letter reads.

A jury convicted Gutierrez in 1999 of murdering 85-year-old Escolastica Harrison in her trailer home in Brownsville on Sept. 5, 1998.

Gutierrez and two co-defendants wanted to rob the woman of about $600,000 they believed she had hidden in her home. Harrison did not trust banks.

The suspects ended up stealing $56,000 after repeatedly hitting her and stabbing her in the head.

Gutierrez’s appeals have apparently been exhausted, with multiple adverse state and federal court rulings over a period of approximately 16 years.

The latest adverse ruling came in late May when a federal appeals court declined to rehear his case.

He has repeatedly sought post-conviction DNA testing that he said would have changed the outcome of his conviction and sentencing, all of which have failed.

Gutierrez has admitted to being in the robbery, but claims he was not in Harrison’s home when she was murdered.

His appellate attorneys have recently indicated that they may take his case to the Supreme Court.

Executions in Texas are scheduled to take place at or after 6 p.m.

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