Ruben Gutierrez, 43, had been set to die at 6 p.m. CDT (7 p.m. EDT) at the
Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville for the 1998 murder of an elderly mobile-home park owner during a robbery.
The
Supreme Court granted an emergency petition by lawyers for Gutierrez for a stay of execution over a new Texas Department of Criminal Justice policy banning chaplains and other religious advisers in the death chamber.
"The District Court should promptly determine, based on whatever evidence the parties provide, whether serious security problems would result if a prisoner facing execution is permitted to choose the spiritual adviser the prisoner wishes to have in his immediate presence during the execution," the top court said in issuing the stay.