May 3
TEXAS----new execution date
Brownsville death row inmate who won stay last year now scheduled for execution
in July
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 2
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 2 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, 2 other prisoners are scheduled for execution this
year, including a Montgomery County man convicted of killing a college student.
(source: Houston Chronicle)
*******************
Executions under Greg Abbott, Jan. 21, 2015-present----43
Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982----present-----561
Abbott#--------scheduled execution date-----name------------Tx. #
44---------July 31----------------Ruben Gutierrez---------562
45---------Aug. 21----------------Larry Swearingen--------563
46---------Sept. 4----------------Billy Crutsinger--------564
47---------Sept. 10--------------Mark Anthony Soliz-------565
(sources: TDCJ & Rick Halperin)
************************
USA----countdown to nation's 1500th execution
With the execution of Scotty Morrow in Georgia on May 2, the USA has now
executed 1,494 condemned individuals since the death penalty was
re-legalized on July 2, 1976 in the US Supreme Court Gregg v Georgia decision.
Gary Gilmore was the 1st person executed, in Utah, on January 17, 1977. Below
is a list of scheduled executions as the nation approaches a terrible milestone
of 1500 executions in the modern era.
NOTE: The list is likely to change over the coming months as new execution
dates are added and possible stays of execution occur.
1496-------May 16-------------Donnie Johnson-----------Tennessee
1497-------May 16-------------Michael Samra------------Alabama
1498-------May 23-------------Bobby Joe Long-----------Florida
1499-------May 30-------------Christopher Price--------Alabama
1500-------July 31-------------Ruben Gutierrez----------Texas
1501-------Aug. 15------------Stephen West-------------Tennessee
1502-------Aug. 21------------Larry Swearingen---------Texas
1504-------Sept. 4------------Billy Crutsinger---------Texas
1505-------Sept. 10-----------Mark Anthony Soliz-------Texas
1506-------Sept. 12------------Warren Henness-----------Ohio
Learn more about efforts to #StopThe1500th Execution and how you can be
involved at
http://deathpenaltyaction.org/1500th [deathpenaltyaction.org]
(source: Rick Halperin)
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