Humberto Leal Garcia, criminal alien rapist and murderer

Mexicans blast execution of criminal alien murderer in Texas

- Jim Kouri
Thursday, June 9, 2011

Mexicans on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border are protesting the upcoming execution of a criminal alien rapist and murderer scheduled for July 7, 2011, in Texas.

Because the convicted killer is a Mexican citizen, the Calderon government is questioning the procedures that were utilized in sentencing the death row prisoner, Humberto Leal Garcia. The Mexican ambassador to the United States requested this week that Texas Governor Rick Perry delay the execution until a review is completed of the sentencing procedures.

The 38-year old Garcia faces the death penalty for the rape and murder of 16-year-old Adra Sauceda in San Antonio, Texas on May 21, 1994 . Besides Garcia, 50 other Mexicans are sitting on death rows in the U.S.

In a 2004 ruling, the International Court of Justice determined that the United States was not granting death penalty convicts from Mexico their right to legal assistance by their own country.

Mexico’s legal system prohibits capital punishment and a treaty with the United States forbids Mexican authorities from extraditing criminals to the United States who face the death penalty if tried in states that utilize some method of execution.

However, a 2008 U.S. Supreme Court decision stipulates that the legal support of a foreign government—or governments—is not required in deciding whether to execute a foreign national convicted of a capital offense. The 6-3 majority ruled that state court judges are given the discretion to decide how a sentence is carried out.

That high court decision cleared the way for Texas to execute Mexican citizen Jose Ernesto Medellin by lethal injection in 2008.

However, the U.S. Congress is trying to resolve the conflicting court decisions with legislation. The pending congressional bill—supported by the liberal-left—would require states to obey requirements of international treaties, such as the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

The Mexican ambassador is urging Texas to delay final judgment on the execution until Congress decides what it will do.

Meanwhile, the Obama administration, which supports the bill, has threatened to withhold federal funding from states that stray from the rules of international treaties. His position angers U.S. Constitutionalists because it places foreign law on a par with U.S. founding documents and U.S. jurisprudence.

“President [Obama’s] position and that of the far-left is that the U.S. Constitution is an important document as long as its provisions coincide with those of the United Nations and other internationalist organizations such as the European Union,â€