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#Post#: 341--------------------------------------------------
~ Ruben Gutierrez, (TX) ~
By: BuzzC Date: May 14, 2019, 7:16 pm
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Brownsville death row inmate who won stay last year now
scheduled for execution in July--
Friday, May 3, 2019
[IMG]
HTML http://www.tdcj.texas.gov/death_row/dr_info/gutierrezruben2.jpg[/img]
A Texas death row inmate who won a stay of execution last year
after a last-minute change of attorney is now scheduled to die
in July, according to a prison spokesman.
Ruben Gutierrez, who has long professed his innocence in a 1998
screwdriver murder, was last scheduled to be put to death in
September 2018. But the courts called off the date after his
attorney at the time asked to be removed from the case, and the
new lawyers realized they needed additional time to investigate
possible appeals.
This year, a Cameron County judge signed off on a July 31 death
date, making Gutierrez the next man slated for execution in the
Lone Star State.
The South Texas man was sent to death row nearly two decades
ago, following the slaying of trailer park owner Escolastica
Harrison. The elderly woman didn't trust banks, so she'd stashed
roughly $600,000 of cash inside her home, according to court
records.
Gutierrez knew Harrison through her nephew and, prosecutors
argued that he'd befriended her just to rob her. That September,
authorities say he teamed up with two accomplices to carry out
their plan and make off with her money
Afterward, Harrison was found beaten and stabbed, face-down in a
pool of blood. When he was questioned about the slaying,
Gutierrez offered up different version's of the day's events,
and at one point admitted he'd been there - but he always said
he wasn't the killer.
After a judge greenlit his 2018 execution date - scheduled for
exactly two decades after his arrest - his then-attorney
Margaret Schmucker filed a motion asking to be taken off the
case, saying she didn't have the relevant experience for an
appeal that would could include a demand for DNA testing.
On top of that, Schmucker had been recently disqualified from
handling court-appointed work in the federal appeals court as
the result of what court papers called "rude and unprofessional
communications with court staff" and she described as a dispute
over getting paid.
By the time the court agreed to appoint new attorneys to the
case, the execution was less than two months away, so a federal
judge in the Southern District of Texas granted a stay.
The condemned man's attorneys did not immediately respond to a
request for comment on Thursday.
In addition to Gutierrez, two other prisoners are scheduled for
execution this year, including a Montgomery County man convicted
of killing a college student.
8)
#Post#: 342--------------------------------------------------
Re: ~ Ruben Gutierrez, (TX) ~
By: BuzzC Date: May 14, 2019, 7:23 pm
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Death Row Information
Name Gutierrez, Ruben
TDCJ Number 999308
Date of Birth 06/10/1977
Date Received 05/14/1999
Age (when Received) 21
Education Level (Highest Grade Completed) 8
Date of Offense 09/05/1998
Age (at the time of Offense) 21
County Cameron
Race Hispanic
Gender Male
Hair Color Black
Height 5' 10"
Weight 155
Eye Color Brown
Native County Lee
Native State Florida
Prior Occupation
fork lift operator, laborer
Prior Prison Record
None
Summary of Incident
On 09/05/98 in Brownsville, Gutierrez and co-defendants, Rene
Garcia and Pedro Gracia Garza, Jr., fatally injured an 85-year
old Hispanic female in her home. The victim was the owner of a
mobile home park. The victim was in her mobile home, which she
also used as an office at the time of the offense. Gutierrez and
his co-defendants entered into the victim's office with the
intent to rob the victim of money she kept in a safe. Upon
entering into the office, the victim was struck one time in the
head, with the intent of knocking the victim out. When the
victim struggled, she was repeatedly struck in the head multiple
times with blows from fist and steel toe shoes. The victim was
also stabbed multiple times in the head with a screwdriver.
Autopsy reports indicate that multiple head bashing resulted in
broken cheekbones and damage to the brain, resulting in death.
The subject and the codefendants fled the victim's home with a
minimum of $56,000.
Co-Defendants
Garcia, Rene;
Garza, Pedro
Race and Gender of Victim
Hispanic female
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