Ruben Gutierrez, convicted of a 1998 murder, argues DNA evidence could clear his name.

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear the appeal of Ruben Gutierrez, a Texas death row inmate who maintains that DNA testing on key evidence could prove his innocence in the 1998 murder of 85-year-old Escolastica Harrison during a home robbery in Brownsville. The court’s decision follows its intervention to halt Gutierrez’s execution just 20 minutes before it was to be carried out earlier this year.

Gutierrez was convicted of fatally stabbing Harrison, a retired teacher and mobile home park manager, during a robbery believed to target more than $600,000 she kept hidden due to a mistrust of banks. Prosecutors argue that Gutierrez’s conviction is based on substantial evidence, including his confession about planning the robbery and being present during the murder. Despite this, Gutierrez’s attorneys have consistently requested DNA testing of evidence such as Harrison’s nail scrapings, a loose hair found on her finger, and blood samples from the crime scene, asserting that none of these physically tie him to the murder.

While prosecutors claim the request for DNA testing is merely a delaying tactic, Gutierrez’s legal team insists the analysis could exonerate him and provide clarity about the crime. Under Texas’ “law of parties,” Gutierrez was found culpable for Harrison’s murder due to his role in planning the robbery, even if he did not directly commit the killing. The case, which has seen several delayed execution dates, raises significant questions about the role of DNA evidence in criminal convictions and the rights of those on death row.