Appeal for DNA test denied death-row inmate

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has denied a request for additional DNA testing by a Brownsville man on death row for the 1998 stabbing death of a mobile home park manager.

Ruben Gutierrez had asked the higher court to appoint an attorney to assist him in filing a motion for DNA testing. His request was denied.

Gutierrez, 33, remains on death row at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s Polunsky Unit in Livingston, following his 1999 conviction for murdering 85-year-old Escolastica Harrison at Harrison Mobile Home Park on Morningside Road.

He was 21 when he committed the crime.

In part the court states "granting DNA testing in the case would ‘merely muddy the waters.’"

Authorities said Gutierrez befriended Harrison so he could rob her of some $600,000 in cash that she had hidden in her trailer home. According to police statements, Harrison didn’t like banks so she kept her money in suitcases at her home.

An autopsy revealed Harrison had been stabbed 13 times with two different screwdrivers and was also beaten. During his 1999 trial, authorities said Gutierrez masterminded her killing.

Gutierrez has repeatedly disputed his involvement in the crime, stating that there was no evidence that he directly caused Harrison’s death. In his appeal, he also said no evidence was presented that indicated he was in her house at the time she was killed.

He also alleges he was denied his 14th Amendment right to equal protection. Gutierrez said Brownsville police coerced multiple statements from him and that the statements were involuntary. He says the trial court denied his motion to suppress his statements.

Gutierrez’s capital murder trial was tried before 107th state District Judge Benjamin Euresti Jr. A jury found him guilty and sentenced him to death.

It is not known whether a date has been set for his execution.