|
Divided U.S. Supreme Court Allows Mexican National's Execution
2008-08-06
Aug. 6 (Bloomberg) -- A divided U.S. Supreme Court allowed the execution of Jose Ernesto Medellin, a convicted murderer whose case became an international dispute because he wasn't told of his right to seek help from the Mexican consulate. The justices, voting 5-4, rejected Medellin's bid for a stay of execution, clearing the way for Texas officials to put him to death yesterday by lethal injection. The majority rejected Medellin's contention that Congress and Texas lawmakers needed more time to respond to the court's March 25 ruling in his case. ``Neither the president nor the governor of the state of Texas has represented to us that there is any likelihood of congressional or state legislative action,'' the five-justice majority said. Medellin sought to invoke a 2004 International Court of Justice declaration that he and 50 other Mexican nationals were deprived of their rights and were entitled to new hearings in their cases. The Supreme Court in March said Texas courts didn't have to grant Medellin a new hearing. The ruling said the U.S. wasn't obligated to comply with the World Court's judgment in the absence of legislation enacted by Congress. The four dissenting justices yesterday -- John Paul Stevens, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, David Souter and Stephen Breyer -- all said they would have sought input from the Bush administration before letting Texas proceed with the execution. Breyer wrote that Medellin's execution ``will place this nation in violation of international law.'' Stevens Switch Stevens was part of the 6-3 majority when the court ruled in March. He said yesterday he voted to delay the execution because ``it appears that Texas has not taken action to address the serious national security and foreign policy implications'' of the case. Medellin, 33, was convicted in a Texas state court of taking part in the 1993 gang rape and murder of two teenage girls in Houston. His lawyers argued that he wasn't aware of his consular rights during his trial and that Mexican authorities didn't learn of his detention until he wrote to them after his conviction was upheld in 1997. Texas officials argued that under state law, Medellin waived his right to argue about consular notification because he didn't raise the issue until his conviction and death sentence had been upheld on appeal. The stay application is Medellin v. Texas, 08A99. The petitions for Supreme Court review are Medellin v. Texas, 08- 5573, and 08-5574. To contact the reporter on this story: Greg Stohr in Washington at gstohr@bloomberg.net .
|  | | | Profile |
News104 | Gallery | Links | |
| |
|
|
| 
