WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday in favour of a Texas death row inmate requesting DNA testing to prove he is ineligible for execution.

The 6-3 decision in favour of Ruben Gutierrez opens the door to having evidence analysed, which his attorneys claim will help prove he was not guilty for the fatal stabbing of an 85-year-old lady during a house robbery decades ago.

His lawyers have stated that there was no physical or forensic evidence linking him to the murder and that he was not a prominent player in the crime. Two more people were charged in the case.

Gutierrez’s lawyers said that his case was comparable to that of Rodney Reed, a long-time Texas death row inmate who won a round at the Supreme Court in his struggle for DNA testing, which he claims would prove he is innocent of murder.

In July, the Supreme Court granted Gutierrez a stay of execution 20 minutes before his deadly injection.

Gutierrez was condemned to death for the 1998 murder of Escolastica Harrison at her house in Brownsville, Texas’ southern point. Prosecutors said the slaying of the mobile home park manager and retired teacher was part of a plot to steal more than $600,000 that she had stored in her home due to her distrust of banks.

Gutierrez’s execution dates have been delayed multiple times in recent years, including complications with having a spiritual counsel in the death chamber. Gutierrez was just an hour away from death in June 2020 when the Supreme Court granted him a stay.