[Samirol]

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2008/08/200885172036195832.html

The US state of Texas has defied the International Court of Justice and executed a Mexican prisoner convicted of murder.

Jose Medellin, 33, was executed by lethal injection on Tuesday and pronounced dead at 9:57pm (02:57 GMT on Wednesday), the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said.

His execution came after the US Supreme Court rejected his final appeal on Tuesday night.

Medellin was convicted for his part in the gang rape, beating and strangling death of two teenage girls 15 years ago.

Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, had called on the US to abide by an International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling to stay Medellin's execution.

The ICJ had said that Medellin and about 50 other Mexicans on death row in the US should have new hearings to determine whether the Vienna Conventions were violated during their arrests.

Medellin's lawyers said he was denied access to Mexican consular officials during his arrest, a key part of the conventions

He was the first among the 50 to be executed.

Protest warning

The US embassy in Mexico ha warned of potential protests there if the execution took place.

Jorge Montano, a former Mexican ambassador to the US, told Al Jazeera that the US should respect international law.

"The biggest lesson once again for the rest of the world, the US is not prepared to respect any ruling when that ruling is not in their favour and that, for me, is like the law of the jungle once again. If we don't respect the international legislation, then how can we ask other countries to do so?"

George Bush, the US president, has asked states to review the cases affected by the ruling, but the US Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that neither the president nor the international court can force the Texan state government's hand.

David Fathi, the US programme director from the Human Rights Watch group, told Al Jazeera that the decision to go ahead with the execution had grave implications for US citizens possibly facing execution abroad.

The US would find it difficult to say other countries should honour their obligations not to execute US citizens when the US has itself violated international law, he said.

Brutal attack

Medellin was the fifth Texas inmate to be executed this year.

Trial testimony showed Medellin was the first of six members of a street gang to attack the girls when the incident took place in 1993.

Sixteen year old Elizabeth Pena and 14-year-old Jennifer Ertman were taking a shortcut home across a railway bridge in Houston, Texas.

The gang attacked the girls for an hour before strangling them and leaving their bodies to decompose in a field.

The Constitution specifically grants treaties equal weight as the Constitution. If the US is party to an international treaty, and a state is in violation of said treaty, then isn't it the president's duty to bring the state in line with the treaty? When San Francisco issues marriage licenses, Bush talks about the threat to the entire nation. When Texas breaks international law by executing a Mexican criminal, nothing happens.

 

[sanjuro]

This is Texas, son.

 

[BurlyShirley]

Meh.
Texas could probably win a war with Mexico on their own if they had to. There's a rifle behind every ATV.

 

[reflux]

Meh.
Texas could probably win a war with Mexico on their own if they had to. There's a rifle behind every ATV.

True, but at least the Mexicans would take a few Texans with 'em. It'd be a fight worth watching, maybe PPV with Joe Rogan and Gus Johnson announcing.

 

[sanjuro]

Meh.
Texas could probably win a war with Mexico on their own if they had to. There's a rifle behind every ATV.

They already did, son.

 

[Arkayne]

sounds like a job for Bronson

 

[MikeD]

Just a guess here, but perhaps Mr. Medellin didn't exactly fess up to being Mexican upon his arrest...? Shockingly, that's quite common. You can't make consular notification unless you can positively identify your subject and his citizenship. (Nor do Mexican consulates generally respond to or care about consular notifications of arrest...but I've never been involved in a rape/murder, either, so maybe they actually perk up when one of those comes across the fax.)

But since we're not arguing the facts of the case anyhow...

What specific international treaty has been violated here? "Not doing what the ICJ asks" isn't a treaty.

 

[Samirol]

Just a guess here, but perhaps Mr. Medellin didn't exactly fess up to being Mexican upon his arrest...? Shockingly, that's quite common. You can't make consular notification unless you can positively identify your subject and his citizenship. (Nor do Mexican consulates generally respond to or care about consular notifications of arrest...but I've never been involved in a rape/murder, either, so maybe they actually perk up when one of those comes across the fact.)

But since we're not arguing the facts of the case anyhow...

What specific international treaty has been violated here? "Not doing what the ICJ asks" isn't a treaty.

Vienna Convention on Consular Relations

 

[jimmydean]

I say we cut Texas out of the union and make everyone happy.

 

[MikeD]

Gotcha. I thought you were saying that telling the ICJ to get bent was the violation.

But the VCCR may or may not have been violated depending on the facts of the case. The defense is (was) claiming it had been, but I'd need to know a lot more before I decided that.

 

[JohnE]

Medellin never asked for Counsular Support. Texas has a great record of allowing Counsular contact. He never bacame a Mexican until he realized he was going to get the needle. Kind of like OJ who was never black until he needed to be.
He was a scumbag who took part in the horrible rape and murder of two young girls, strangling one with her own shoelace. I am glad he is dead, the world is a better place without him. Rot in the ground.

 

[Upgr8r]

"The biggest lesson once again for the rest of the world, the US is not prepared to respect any ruling when that ruling is not in their favour and that, for me, is like the law of the jungle once again. If we don't respect the international legislation, then how can we ask other countries to do so?"

This to me is the biggest part of the problem. The USA has a bad "Do as I say, not as I do" attitude. It's no wonder the rest of the world views us as they do

 

[sanjuro]

This to me is the biggest part of the problem. The USA has a bad "Do as I say, not as I do" attitude. It's no wonder the rest of the world views us as they do

Texas doesn't care about "World Views", son.

 

[MikeD]

Medellin never asked for Counsular Support. Texas has a great record of allowing Counsular contact. He never bacame a Mexican until he realized he was going to get the needle. Kind of like OJ who was never black until he needed to be.
He was a scumbag who took part in the horrible rape and murder of two young girls, strangling one with her own shoelace. I am glad he is dead, the world is a better place without him. Rot in the ground.

So you're saying it's an activist revisionism on the part of the international community? Again, I'm bowled over.

But yes, ignoring international bodies on one hand and using them to enforce your will on the other is certainly problematic.

 

[MikeD]

Oh, and hearing from the Mexican gov't on hypocrisy, as it encourages its citizens to violate our borders while dealing, let's say, harshly with its own illegal problem to the south, is laughable.

**** you, Mexico.

Ban Ki-Moon, however, is a pretty decent guy.

 

[JohnE]

Further, this is a TEXAS thing, not a US matter. GW tried to get his compadres in Tejas to grant a stay of execution. But they ignored the lame duck Pres...

Mike, whats up w/ Mexico and the south borders? Enlighten me please, I have heard nothing about it.

 

[Samirol]

Further, this is a TEXAS thing, not a US matter. GW tried to get his compadres in Tejas to grant a stay of execution. But they ignored the lame duck Pres...

Mike, whats up w/ Mexico and the south borders? Enlighten me please, I have heard nothing about it.

It affects all Americans abroad, if the US rules that the VCCR doesn't apply to us, then it could have effects worldwide with US citizens held.

e: The Supreme Court ruled with Texas on this, this is a US matter.

 

[moff_quigley]

Further, this is a TEXAS thing, not a US matter.

State's Rights biznitches!!!!

Mike, whats up w/ Mexico and the south borders? Enlighten me please, I have heard nothing about it.

They treat their immigrants from the south even worse than we treat ours.

 

[$tinkle]

It affects all Americans abroad, if the US rules that the VCCR doesn't apply to us, then it could have effects worldwide with US citizens held.

are you trying to insinuate mexico (along w/ turkey & france) will stop being gracious toward u.s. citizens when detained b/c of this ruling?

i honestly don't see how prisons in 2nd world countries could be any worse

 

[ire]

are you trying to insinuate mexico (along w/ turkey & france) will stop being gracious toward u.s. citizens when detained b/c of this ruling?

i honestly don't see how prisons in 2nd world countries could be any worse

I saw a thing on prisons in Columbia and El Salvador.....hope I never get locked up there.

 

[Durt]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26042832


updated 1:57 a.m. CT, Wed., Aug. 6, 2008
HUNTSVILLE, Texas - A Mexican-born condemned prisoner was executed Tuesday night for the rape and murder of two teenage girls 15 years ago after a divided U.S. Supreme Court rejected his request for a reprieve.

“I’m sorry my actions caused you pain. I hope this brings you the closure that you seek. Never harbor hate,” Jose Medellin said to those gathered to watch him die. Nine minutes later, at 9:57 p.m., he was pronounced dead.

Medellin’s execution, the fifth this year in the nation’s busiest capital punishment state, attracted international attention after he raised claims he wasn’t allowed to consult the Mexican consulate for legal help following his arrest. State officials say he didn’t ask to do so until well after he was convicted of capital murder.


Two teens raped, murdered
Medellin, 33, was condemned for participating in the 1993 gang rape, beating and strangling of Elizabeth Pena, 16, and Jennifer Ertman, 14. He and five fellow gang members attacked the Houston girls as they were walking home on a June night, raped and tortured them for an hour, then kicked and stomped them before using a belt and shoelaces to strangle them.

Their remains were found four days later. By then, Medellin already had bragged to friends about the killings.

Pena’s father, who was among the witnesses, gently tapped the glass that separated him from Medellin as he turned to leave the witness chamber after the execution.

“We feel relieved,” Adolfo Pena said after leaving the prison. “Fifteen years is a long time coming.”

Several dozen demonstrators, about evenly divided between favoring and opposing capital punishment, stood outside on opposite sides of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Huntsville Unit.

Medellin’s attorneys contended he was denied the protections of the Vienna Convention, which calls for people arrested to have access to their home country’s consular officials.

“Under the circumstances, it’s hard to talk about what comes next,” lawyer Sandra Babcock said, noting her thoughts were with Medellin’s family and the family of his victims. “But now more than ever, it’s important to recall this is a case not just about one Mexican national on death row in Texas. It’s also about ordinary Americans who count on the protection of the consulate when they travel abroad to strange lands. It’s about the reputation of the United States as a nation that adheres to the rule of law.”

International scrutiny
In Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, where Medellin was born, a small group of his relatives condemned his execution.

“Only God has the right to take a life,” cousin Reyna Armendariz said.

Six of his relatives, including Armendariz, and several activists gathered earlier Tuesday in a working-class neighborhood to await word on Medellin’s fate.

A large black bow and a banner that read “No to the death penalty ... may God forgive you,” hung from an iron fence in front of the house where Medellin lived until moving to the United States at the age of 3. He grew up in Houston, where he learned English and attended school.

The International Court of Justice said Medellin and some 50 other Mexicans on death row around the United States should have new hearings in U.S. courts to determine whether the 1963 treaty was violated during their arrests. Medellin was the first among them to die.

President Bush asked states to review the cases, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled earlier this year neither the president nor the international court can force Texas to wait.

Gov. Rick Perry, Texas courts and the Texas attorney general’s office all said the execution should go forward and that Medellin has had multiple legal reviews. State officials noted Medellin never invoked his consular rights under the Vienna Convention until some four years after he was convicted.


High court divided
His lawyers asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to stop the execution until legislation could be passed to formalize case reviews ordered by the International Court of Justice.

The high court said in its ruling that that possibility was too remote to justify a stay. Justice Stephen Breyer, one of four justices who issued dissenting opinions, wrote that to permit the execution would place the United States “irremediably in violation of international law and breaks our treaty promises.”

Medellin’s supporters said either Congress or the Texas Legislature should have been given a chance to pass a law setting up procedures for new hearings. A bill to implement the international court’s ruling wasn’t introduced in Congress until last month. The Texas Legislature doesn’t meet until January.

On Monday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a request for a reprieve and denied his lawyers permission to file new appeals. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles also rejected requests for clemency and a 240-day reprieve.

One of Medellin’s fellow gang members, Derrick O’Brien, was executed two years ago. Another, Peter Cantu, described as the ringleader of the group, is on death row. He does not have a death date.

Two others, Efrain Perez and Raul Villarreal, had their death sentences commuted to life in prison when the Supreme Court barred executions for those who were 17 at the time of their crimes. The sixth person convicted, Medellin’s brother, Vernancio, was 14 at the time and is serving a 40-year prison term.




How many reviews and appeals is one person entitled to?
His guilt was never in question. Only nitpicking little details 15 years after the fact. Truly the last ditch efforts of a desperate man.

Where was the Mexican government, the UN, the ICJ 15 years ago when this case was fresh? His case has been reviewed multiple times by multiple different courts. The Consular issue was never raised before or during his trial, only after his conviction. The perp, his attorneys, his family, his supporters, not one signle person ever brought up this issue until AFTER he was already convicted. Its a mute point because even with Consular assistance or access, the evidence of his guilt was overwhelming. Going back and reviewing the case at ICJ direction is just wasted time because the answer is the same every time.

And as far as the USA's reputation....who f-ing cares? It was sullied long ago and this case doesn't change anything.

 

[manimal]

I say we cut Texas out of the union and make everyone happy.

Right after we cut california off as an island along with some new england states.


my personal feeling on this matter:

Eff the UN!

that is all.

 

[manimal]

It affects all Americans abroad, if the US rules that the VCCR doesn't apply to us, then it could have effects worldwide with US citizens held.

this is similar to the debate over the rules of war under the geneva convention. what difference does it make to follow those standards when we're the only country that attempts to do so?

We're not a member of the Global Union just yet and it would be nice if we could hang on to our national sovereignty a little while longer

 

[Silver]

this is similar to the debate over the rules of war under the geneva convention. what difference does it make to follow those standards when we're the only country that attempts to to so?

That's not even a false dilemma...:huh:

 

[JohnE]

It affects all Americans abroad, if the US rules that the VCCR doesn't apply to us, then it could have effects worldwide with US citizens held.

e: The Supreme Court ruled with Texas on this, this is a US matter.

It may effect those US citizens who are criminals overseas. In that case, let em hang. Like anyone would listen to US please for leniency these days anyway.

States rights...go Texas!

 

[MikeD]

To be entirely accurate, I don't believe the question is whether he invoked his consular rights, but if he was INFORMED of them, as he's required to be once in custody. That said, I'd take the bet that he said he was American when he was arrested.

Ed: JohnE, first Google result for me was http://www.vdare.com/awall/060518_memo.htm , not that I found it particularly compelling or organized. There's plenty out there if you search it.

 

[MMike]

Ahhh....America. Moral compass of the world......

 

[MikeD]

Did I hear something emanating from the Axis of Condescention?

 

[manimal]

Ahhh....America. Moral compass of the world......

i think there's a freedom hater in here who needs an attitude adjustment...so here's a vid of some uppity canucks getting the fascist smackdown

 

[drkenan]

Texas is the redheaded stepchild of the US anyway. They fvcking execute retarded people.

Did you guys actually think that some sort of international law would matter at all? Most Americans can't even see past the borders of their own state, much less their country. Even our fearless leader had only left our fair borders once before he took office.

 

[sanjuro]

To be entirely accurate, I don't believe the question is whether he invoked his consular rights, but if he was INFORMED of them, as he's required to be once in custody. That said, I'd take the bet that he said he was American when he was arrested.

Ed: JohnE, first Google result for me was http://www.vdare.com/awall/060518_memo.htm , not that I found it particularly compelling or organized. There's plenty out there if you search it.

Whether you are against or for the death penalty, I believe it should be rigorous process for the prosecution, because if it is not, then innocent people could be executed, which causes doubt for the death penalty.

Keep in mind that most murders are not OJ Simpson. They are indigent and have overworked, underqualified attorneys defending them.

Now I know this guy probably did it, but as long as the authorities gave him all his legal opportunities, including talking with his consulate, then this is a good conviction.

 

[ultraNoob]

Rat bastard had it coming.

Anyone who does anything that horrid deserves nothing but death. With all these politicians crying foul over this douche not being allowed to speak to a member of his consulate... I wonder if they realize that those two innocent girls cried and begged for them to stop. Rat bastard should have suffered and so should his cohorts.

 

[X3pilot]

Internet hand wringers, please help yourself to a dose of perspective:

Mexicans struggling with increasingly gruesome crimes at home devoted the least attention in recent memory to the execution of one of their citizens in Texas

.

With Mexico riveted on its own kidnap and killing of a 14-year-old boy, the normally anti-death penalty country expressed far less outrage at the death on Tuesday of Jose Medellin, a Mexican national convicted in the 1993 rape and murder of two Texas girls.

Some Mexicans on Wednesday even called for the death penalty at home.

"There is no reason for outrage. The man was a rapist," said lawyer Gustavo Sanchez, 40, as he got his shoes shined on a Mexico City street. "If we had the death penalty here, there wouldn't be so many crimes."

A large black bow and a banner that read "No to the death penalty ... may God forgive you," hung from an iron fence in the front of a house where Medellin lived before moving to the United States at the age of 3.

If he lived here since age 3, he's been here long enough to know our laws and reap our justice.

Full article

 

[sanjuro]

Rat bastard had it coming.

Anyone who does anything that horrid deserves nothing but death. With all these politicians crying foul over this douche not being allowed to speak to a member of his consulate... I wonder if they realize that those two innocent girls cried and begged for them to stop. Rat bastard should have suffered and so should his cohorts.

And he is dead.

I'm saying for the innocent people who sentenced to the death, a more rigorous process would protect them.

 

[Samirol]

It doesn't matter WHAT his crime is or what he did, if his rights were violated then it should be retried, or whatever. It is like if someone isn't read their Miranda rights when they are arrested, if they say stuff in jail, then that evidence can't be used against them.

 

[ALEXIS_DH]

It doesn't matter WHAT his crime is or what he did, if his rights were violated then it should be retried, or whatever. It is like if someone isn't read their Miranda rights when they are arrested, if they say stuff in jail, then that evidence can't be used against them.

i was going to answer this.... but then i saw your avatar.

i dont have much to say now.

 

[sanjuro]

It doesn't matter WHAT his crime is or what he did, if his rights were violated then it should be retried, or whatever. It is like if someone isn't read their Miranda rights when they are arrested, if they say stuff in jail, then that evidence can't be used against them.

And that's fine in a perfect world. This guy raped and killed a 16 and a 14 year old.

On a higher level, this was reviewed by the Supreme Court and deemed a legal execution.

I would be glad to discuss how a conservative Supreme Court sided with the President, but I read the Chief Justice Roberts' majority opinion, and I can agree with most of it.

 

[Samirol]

And that's fine in a perfect world. This guy raped and killed a 16 and a 14 year old.

On a higher level, this was reviewed by the Supreme Court and deemed a legal execution.

I would be glad to discuss how a conservative Supreme Court sided with the President, but I read the Chief Justice Roberts' majority opinion, and I can agree with most of it.

The question really is, was the treaty self-executing. I believe that it is, Supreme Court disagrees.

 

[sanjuro]

The question really is, was the treaty self-executing. I believe that it is, Supreme Court disagrees.

You're talking my language, son.

None of the relevant treaties—the Optional Protocol, the U.N. Charter, or the ICJ Statute—were self-executing, and no implementing legislation had been enacted, the Court found.[

 

[MikeD]

Been reading into the decision itself, and the international legal wrangling is nice, but I simply can't get away from the fact pattern of the initial case. He confessed within 3 hours. At what point did he mention or was it discovered that he wasn't a US citizen?? To me, that's the most important fact of all.

Even if he was explicitly and intentionally denied his consular rights once his true citizenship was known, if he'd already confessed, there'd be no exclusion of his confession in court. I guess he could still argue, however, that the denial of rights had a material effect on his sentencing. Not that I think it would have mattered to Texas...

Ed: http://www.ccadp.org/josemedellin.htm . Yeah, he should have been killed just for that...