Introduction
In 1998, Ruben Gutierrez of Texas was convicted of capital murder, and was sentenced to the death penalty, for the murder of Escolastica Harrison. Over the last couple decades, Mr. Gutierrez has filed numerous post-conviction motions to challenge his conviction, also known as habeas corpus petitions, and has been repeatedly rebuked. One of these habeas corpus petitions included a petition to review DNA evidence at the crime scene which had not been previously reviewed in court. This petition was rebuked
based on Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 64, which limited DNA reviews in court to those which could overturn a conviction, rather than simply reduce the sentence. Mr. Gutierrez sued, stating that this limited DNA review violated his due process rights. Filed 20 minutes before his scheduled execution, Mr. Gutierrez headed to a Federal court, where a judge ruled that the Texas limited DNA review made the
idea of a post-conviction DNA appeal “illusory,” thus violating his rights. The 5th circuit reversed this decision, stating that Mr. Gutierrez has no standing to sue. A writ of ceritorari was given on October 4th, and the argument date will be February 24th, 2025.
The Case
Mr. Gutierrez goes into court on the argument of a similar case, in Reed v. Goertz (2023), on whether or not he has standing to sue the Government. In Reed, there was three parts to standing: whether or not the person is injured, whether or not the defendant’s conduct caused the injury, and whether or not the court ruling favorably would correct the injury. Since this test was made in Reed, numerous other states have
utilized it in death penalty rulings. Mr. Gutierrez, in the 5th circuit, was rejected on the latter part of this test, stating that it was likely the state prosecutor would not follow the court’s order, thus Mr. Gutierrez would not have had his injury corrected. This departs from Reed and other circuit court rulings, creating a conflict for the Supreme Court to resolve.
Potential Results
Should the court affirm Reed and rule in Mr. Gutierrez’s favor, DNA information will be released and Mr. Gutierrez will be able to utilize it to appeal his death penalty conviction. Should the court go back on the precedent it established in 2023, it would surely be surprising, as no new members are on the court from when the precedent was established. It will also mean a change for death penalty rulings across the country, which will be able to consider what the prosecutor would do regarding following a court order.
Arguments for this case can be heard on February 24th, on C-SPAN.
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