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| Ruben Gutierrez |
Gutierrez was convicted of capital murder in 1999 of the September 5, 1998 murder of 85 year old Escolastica Harrison, a retired Cromack Elementary 3rd grade teacher and manager of a Brownsville trailer park.
Two other men were also charged; Rene Garcia and Pedro Gracia. Garcia pled guilty and is serving a life sentence while Gracia remains at large.
Gutierrez reportedly had been friends with Mrs. Harrison's nephew, Avel Cuellar, learning that Harrison, who did not believe in banks, had as much as $600,000 stashed under the flooring of her home, although the three men evidently found only $56,000.
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| Escolastica Harrison |
Gutierrez' claim that he did not enter Harrison's home may be irrelevant because of the Texas Penal Code's "law of parties" stance, that is that participants in a crime are equally culpable.
At stake is the death penalty associated with a capital murder conviction.
"the law of parties" is not limited to Texas. It is pretty much national and federal. The DOJ uses it to prosecute large groups. In a key case a man whose only tie to the drug case was his name on the lease. The DOJ admitted they had no evidence beyond that. He went to federal prison., but not before the Supreme Court opened the door to the abuse of the tactic to prosecute everyone the paint splattered on. If the DNA shows he was not in the house it can open the entire case.
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