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By Kent Scheidegger et al.

Hand Wringing Over Medellin: Texas has defied the entire civilized world by refusing to delay the execution of confessed rapist/murderer Jose Ernesto Medellin, according to this story by Alan Turner from today's Houston Chronicle. Medellin. a Mexican citizen, was convicted 15 years ago of the gang-rape and strangulation murder of two teen-aged girls in Houston. A 1963 treaty, "the Vienna Convention on Counselor Relations", required Houston police to notify the Mexican consul of Medellin's arrest, but they failed to do this. The World Court's Avena decision in 2004, announced that in such situations, the convicted murderer is entitled to a court hearing to determine if his defense was undermined by the failure to notify. The claim today is that Medellin is entitled to such a hearing...continue to full post

Full post as published by Crime and Consequences on August 04, 2008 (boomark / email).