TCADP

Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death

Penalty

Central Office: 2709 South Lamar Blvd., Austin, Texas 78704 - Tel: 512-441-1808

Fax: 512-441-1808 – Email: info@tcadp.org – Website: www.tcadp.org

MEDIA ALERT

For Immediate Release Contact US: Dr. Rick Halperin

August 1, 2008 Phone: 214-732-8610

Email: rhalperi@smu.mail.edu

Contact Europe: Sandrine Ageorges

Phone: 06 09 75 77 09

Email: sandrine.ageorges@gmail.com

EXECUTION SET FOR MEXICAN-BORN TEXAS INMATE

(Dallas, TX)— The impending execution of Mr. Jose Medellin has set off an international dispute and a U.S.

Supreme Court rebuke of the White House. The pending execution of Jose Medellín in Texas threatens to put the United

States into irrevocable breach of its undisputed international obligations, damaging our national reputation as a reliable

player in the international community and threatening the security of individual Americans abroad – travelers, missionaries,

businesspeople, students, or any other American citizen who is in a foreign country for any reason. Mr. Medellin, a foreign

national, will be the 1116th U.S. execution since the death penalty was re-legalized in 1976, the 410th Texas execution, and

the 171st execution since Rick Perry became governor in 2001.

The Supreme Court refused to hear Mr. Medellin’s appeal in March, saying that President Bush overstepped his

authority by ordering Texas to reopen his case and the cases of 50 other Mexican nationals condemned for murders in the

U.S. Texas officials refused to comply with Bush’s demands. During the 6 years that President Bush served as Texas

governor, 152 inmates were executed in the Texas death chamber, the nation’s leading executioner.

Mr. Medellin was never advised by Texas authorities of his right as a detained foreign national to seek consular

assistance, as required under article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR). With the violation of the

treaty, Mr. Medellin was deprived of the extensive assistance that Mexico provides for the defense of its citizens facing

capital charges in the U.S. The Mexican Consulate did not learn about the case until nearly four years after Mr. Medellin’s

arrest, which was after the trial, the initial appeal affirming his conviction, and the death sentence had been granted.

An investigation funded by the Mexican Consulate has found that Mr. Medellin grew up in an abject poverty

environment in Mexico and was exposed to gang violence after he arrived in Houston where he joined his parents when he

was nine years old. He has also suffered from depression, suicidal tendencies and alcohol dependency. If his trial lawyers

had consulted with the Mexican consulate, experts and investigators could have been retained to present the full range of

mitigating evidence to the sentencing jury. Pretrial monitoring by the Consulate could have exposed and remedied the

inadequate legal representation that Mr. Medellin was receiving.

During the investigation and prosecution of Mr. Medellin’s case, his court-appointed lead lawyer was under a sixmonth

suspension from practicing law for acting unethically in another case, according to the clemency petition. While the

attorney was suspended, he continued to represent Mr. Medellin. Prior to the trial, the lawyer was held in contempt of court

and arrested for violating his suspension. The attorney was spending time on his own case instead of preparing for his

client’s defense.

Records indicate that the only investigator for the defense spent a total of eight hours on the case prior to the trial.

The defense attorney failed to oppose the selection of jurors who indicated that they would automatically impose the death

penalty and called no witnesses during the guilt phase of the trial.

On 14 July 2008, a bill known as the Avena Case Implementation Act was introduced in the U.S. House of

Representatives. Under its terms, José Medellín and other affected foreign nationals would be granted access to

"appropriate remedies" through the domestic courts for VCCR violations, including the reversal "of the conviction or

sentence, where appropriate." The bill has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee for review, but insufficient time

remains for it to be passed into law before Medellín’s scheduled execution. If the August 5th execution proceeds: In light

of this execution and the failure of the United States to abide by its international commitments, it is more crucial than ever

that Congress act quickly to restore the United States’ footing as a responsible and law-abiding leader of nations.

This must happen before any additional executions proceed without the necessary judicial hearing, lest we risk additional

damage to our international reputation and to the safety of Americans abroad. Similar legislation is expected to be

introduced in the Texas Legislature when it reconvenes in early 2009.

On July16, 2008, the International Court of Justice issued "provisional measures" in the cases of José Medellín and

four other Mexican nationals facing execution in Texas (the other four do not currently have execution dates). The ICJ

ordered the United States "to take all measures necessary" to ensure that these individuals “are not executed… unless and

until these five Mexican nationals receive review and reconsideration." The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

has also issued “precautionary measures" calling on Texas not to execute José Medellín until the Commission has ruled on

his petition asserting that he was deprived of a fair trial. The Avena case involves 51 Mexican nationals who did not receive

consular access when they were arrested in the United States, in violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

In 2004, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a decision in a case filed by Mexico on their behalf and determined

that each Mexican national was entitled to a judicial hearing to ascertain whether he was harmed by the violation of his

Vienna Convention rights. The ICJ is the agreed-upon arbiter of international disagreements such as this one. In the vast

majority of cases, the U.S. has failed to provide the judicial hearings mandated by the ICJ’s 2004 judgment.

The Bush Administration and every Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court agree that the U.S. has an international legal

obligation to comply with the Avena judgment, and Congress has prepared legislation to implement that judgment.

Mr. Medellin is scheduled to die for his participation in the 1993 gang rape and strangulation deaths of 2 teenage

girls, Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena, in Houston when they stumbled upon a gang initiation rite. It is a horrific crime

and the perpetrators of the crime must be held responsible for their actions, however Medellín has not received the judicial

review mandated by the ICJ; his execution without that review would result in an irrevocable breach of international law.

Dr. Rick Halperin, President of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, decried the execution stating,

"Despite the horrific nature of the crime, the state should not be resorting to using another act of homicidal violence to enact

what it labels as "justice". The willful disregard of international Vienna Convention rights endangers all Americans

everywhere in the world."

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