Medellin execution on hold while Supreme Court considers case
By ROSANNA RUIZ Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Aug. 5, 2008, 7:06PM
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Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Politicians worry about the impact on Americans arrested in foreign countries should Texas execute Jose Medellin.

Prison officials moved Jose Ernesto Medellin from his death row cell to another just steps from Texas' death chamber Monday.

But prison officials were still waiting for the final go-ahead from the U.S. Supreme Court as the scheduled 6 p.m. execution time passed.

The 33-year-old is set to die by lethal injection this evening, barring a reprieve, for the 1993 gang rape and murder of Houston teenagers Elizabeth Peña and Jennifer Ertman.

On Monday, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles denied Medellin's request for a 240-day reprieve and a request to commute his sentence to life in prison.

Donald Francis Donovan, one of Medellin's attorneys, said in a prepared statement he was disappointed with the board's action, saying it went against "the interests of the nation and risks the safety of thousands of Americans traveling and living abroad."

If the sentence is carried out, Medellin would be the first of 51 Mexican nationals on American death rows whose cases were at the center of a 2004 U.N. International Court of Justice order.

His lawyers asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to stop the execution until legislation can be passed to formalize case reviews ordered by the International Court of Justice. Medellin's supporters say either Congress or the Texas Legislature should be given a chance to pass a law setting up procedures for new hearings.

The U.N. court ordered a review of the cases because the men had not been allowed to speak with their nation's consular officials following their arrests, in violation of international treaty.

President Bush directed state courts to abide by the court's decision, but the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year ruled the president had overstepped his authority.

The U.N. court last month called for a stay in the cases of Medellin and four other Mexican nationals at the behest of the Mexican government.

Gov. Rick Perry, Texas courts and the Attorney General's office agree the execution should be carried out.

Medellin will be the second person involved in the Ertman-Peña murders to be put to death. Derrick O'Brien was executed two years ago. Gang leader Peter Cantu awaits an execution date.

The two teenage girls were attacked and strangled after stumbling into the scene of a gang initiation as they took a short cut through T.C. Jester Park on their way to Peña's home.

Death row inmates typically are moved the day of the scheduled execution, Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokeswoman Michelle Lyons said. Medellin was moved to the Walls Unit in Huntsville, the site of Texas' death chamber, a day early as a security precaution because of the high-profile nature of his case and pending execution.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

rosanna.ruiz@chron.com

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