Supreme Court grants Texas man a stay of execution just before his scheduled lethal injection

Associated Press

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court granted a stay of execution for a Texas man shortly before he was to receive a lethal injection in a killing decades ago. The nation’s high court issued the stay about 20 minutes before Ruben Gutierrez was to have been taken into the Huntsville, Texas, death chamber Tuesday evening. The 47-year-old inmate was condemned for the 1998 stabbing of 85-year-old Escolastica Harrison. Gutierrez says he did not kill the woman and has long sought DNA testing he claims would help prove he had no role in her death. The Supreme Court said its stay of execution would remain in effect until it decides whether the justices should review his appeal request.