Thread: Texas: Mexican-born murderer should be executed

Texas: Mexican-born murderer should be executed
By Michael Graczyk
The Associated Press
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 08.04.2008

HOUSTON — The planned execution this week of a man convicted in one of Houston's most brutal murder cases in a generation has become among the most contentious in the state that has the nation's busiest capital punishment system.

International attention has been focused on the execution of convicted killer Jose Medellin scheduled for Tuesday.

The International Court of Justice, also known as the World Court, said the Mexican-born Medellin and about 50 other Mexicans on death row around the nation should have new hearings in U.S. courts to determine whether a 1963 treaty was violated during their arrests.

Medellin, now 33, is the first among the 50 who is set to die.

His attorneys contend Medellin was denied the protections of the Vienna Convention, which calls for people arrested to have access to their home country's consular officials. He has been in the United States since the age of 3.

"The United States' word should not be so carelessly broken, nor its standing in the international community so needlessly compromised," Medellin's attorneys said, seeking a reprieve in a filing late last week with the U.S. Supreme Court. The high court had not issued any ruling as of Sunday.

President Bush has asked states to review the cases. Texas has refused to budge.

The U.S. Embassy in Mexico warned of possible protests there Tuesday.
Medellin's lawyers went to the Supreme Court after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the state's highest criminal court, refused to stop the lethal injection. The justices ruled in March that neither the president nor the international court can force Texas' hand.

"There is no dispute that if Texas executes Mr. Medellin in these circumstances, Texas would cause the United States irreparably to breach treaty commitments made on behalf of the United States as a whole and thereby compromise U.S. interests that both this Court and the president have described as compelling," Medellin's attorneys said in their filing.

Texas officials acknowledge that Medellin was not told he could ask for help from Mexican diplomats but argued he forfeited the right because he never raised the issue until four years after his conviction.

In any case, the diplomats' intercession wouldn't have made any difference in the outcome of the case, they said.

Medellin speaks, reads and writes English and gave a written confession.
"Don't feel sorry for me," he said on an anti-death penalty Web site where inmates seek pen pals. "I'm where I'm at because I made an adolescent choice."

Medellin, on death row for almost 14 years, was one of six teenagers arrested and charged with the gang rape and murders of Elizabeth Pena, 16, and Jennifer Ertman, 14.

The two Houston girls, returning from a friend's house, took a shortcut home and stumbled on a group of teenagers drinking beer after initiating a new gang member.

Evidence showed the girls were gang raped for more than an hour, then were kicked, beaten and strangled. Their bodies were found four days later.

A tip from the brother of one of the gang members led police to Medellin and the others.

One of the gang members, Derrick O'Brien, was executed last year. The death sentences of two others, Efrain Perez and Raul Villarreal, were commuted to life in prison when the Supreme Court barred executions for those who were 17 at the time of their crimes.

A fourth, Peter Cantu, described by authorities as the ringleader, is on death row, but no execution date has been set.

The sixth person convicted, Medellin's brother, Vernancio, was 14 at the time and is serving a 40-year prison term.

In the legal frenzy to save Medellin, the fact that two girls were killed is being lost, said Randy Ertman, father of one of the victims.

"This is not about vengeance. This is not about a deterrent or about closure. It's about the punishment," Ertman said.

"Everybody wants me to say closure or vengeance. I'm never going to have closure. It's just a miracle word that's going to make us feel good, but it ain't going to happen."

Mexico, which has no death penalty, initially sued the United States in the World Court in 2003. Mexico and other opponents of capital punishment have sought to use the court to fight for foreigners facing execution in the U.S.

"The law is clear: Texas is bound not by the World Court, but by the U.S. Supreme Court, which reviewed this matter and determined that this convicted murderer's execution shall proceed," said Jerry Strickland, a spokesman for the Texas Attorney General's Office.

If executed, Medellin would be the 410th condemned prisoner to die in Texas since the state resumed carrying out capital punishment in 1982, far more than any other state. At least six other Mexican nationals are in that total.

http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/fromcomments/251208.php

hey Jose, one more day, you scumbag parasite

Medellin speaks, reads and writes English and gave a written confession.
"Don't feel sorry for me," he said on an anti-death penalty Web site where inmates seek pen pals. "I'm where I'm at because I made an adolescent choice."

He didn't make an adolescent choice. He was 19 at the time. And as he had been in this country since he was 3 and admits he speaks, reads, and writes English, he was quite aware of what he was doing and what the penalty would be. I don't feel one bit sorry for this slime who robbed our country of 2 innocent citizens.

"The United States' word should not be so carelessly broken, nor its standing in the international community so needlessly compromised," Medellin's attorneys said, seeking a reprieve in a filing late last week with the U.S. Supreme Court. The high court had not issued any ruling as of Sunday.

Ha. Mexico first ...

Then we'll consider letting the consulates look over the cases, then we'll fry the criminals.

Mexico, which has no death penalty, initially sued the United States in the World Court in 2003.

Maybe thats ONE of the problems! Mexicans are killing Americans and running back home.

I wonder what time tomorrow this scumbag is scheduled to meet his maker?

Scheduled Execution Start Time: Tuesday 5 August 2008, 20:00

Can you believe this??

Statewide Execution Vigils

Huntsville - Corner of 12th Street and Avenue I (in front of the Walls Unit) at 5:00 p.m.

Austin - At the Governor's Mansion on the Lavaca St. side between 10th and 11th St. from 5:30 to 6:30 PM.

Beaumont - Diocese of Beaumont, Diocesan Pastoral Office, 703 Archie St. @ 4:00 p.m. on the day of an execution.

College Station - 5:30 to 6 PM, east of Texas A &M campus at the corner of Walton and Texas Ave. across the street from the main entrance.

Corpus Christi - at 6 PM in front of Incarnate Word Convent at 2910 Alameda Street

Dallas - 5:30 pm, at the SMU Women's Center, 3116 Fondren Drive

Houston - call Burnham Terrell, 713/921-0948 for location.

Lewisville - St. Philip the Apostle Catholic Church, 1897 W. Main Street. Peace & Justice Ministry conducts Vigils of Witness Against Capital Punishment at 6:00 pm on the day executions are scheduled in Texas.

McKinney - St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Community located at 110 St. Gabriel Way. We gather the last Saturday of the month between 6:00 to 6:30 to pray for those men/women scheduled to be executed in the next month and to remember the victims, their families, and all lives touched, including us as a society.

San Antonio (Site 1) - Archdiocese of San Antonio, in the St. Joseph Chapel at the Chancery, 2718 W. Woodlawn Ave. (1 mile east of Bandera Rd.) at 11:30 a.m. on the day of execution. Broadcast on Catholic Television of San Antonio (Time-Warner cable channel 15) at 12:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. on the day of execution.

San Antonio (Site 2) - Main Plaza across from Bexar County Courthouse and San Fernando Cathedral - Noon

Spring - Prayer Vigil at 6 PM on evenings of executions at St Edward Catholic
Community, 2601 Spring Stuebner Rd for the murder victim, for family
and friends of the murder victim, the prison guards and correctional officers, for the family of the condemn man/woman, for the man/woman to be executed and to an end to the death penalty.

Justice will be served for Jennifer and Elizabeth who didn't deserve horrible deaths. Their killer had no right to be in this country. I hope justice will be served for Jamiel Shaw and other American childen who lost their lives to the crimes of illegals.

Originally Posted by tinybobidaho

Medellin speaks, reads and writes English and gave a written confession.
"Don't feel sorry for me," he said on an anti-death penalty Web site where inmates seek pen pals. "I'm where I'm at because I made an adolescent choice."

He didn't make an adolescent choice. He was 19 at the time. And as he had been in this country since he was 3 and admits he speaks, reads, and writes English, he was quite aware of what he was doing and what the penalty would be. I don't feel one bit sorry for this slime who robbed our country of 2 innocent citizens.

I agree. He is a complete moron to blame "immatuirity" for his choice. Many adolescents at 12 and 13 know rape and murder is wrong. People like Jose don't deserve sympathy at all. They stole another other people's lives and ruined the lives of their loved ones. I have relatives in the Houston area and they have told me that the murders and tortues of Jennifer and Elizabeth still haunt many people and communities in Houston.

Originally Posted by browneyes106

Originally Posted by tinybobidaho

Medellin speaks, reads and writes English and gave a written confession.
"Don't feel sorry for me," he said on an anti-death penalty Web site where inmates seek pen pals. "I'm where I'm at because I made an adolescent choice."

He didn't make an adolescent choice. He was 19 at the time. And as he had been in this country since he was 3 and admits he speaks, reads, and writes English, he was quite aware of what he was doing and what the penalty would be. I don't feel one bit sorry for this slime who robbed our country of 2 innocent citizens.

I agree. He is a complete moron to blame "immatuirity" for his choice. Many adolescents at 12 and 13 know rape and murder is wrong. People like Jose don't deserve sympathy at all. They stole another other people's lives and ruined the lives of their loved ones. I have relatives in the Houston area and they have told me that the murders and tortues of Jennifer and Elizabeth still haunt many people and communities in Houston.

IMHO he's more than a "moron." He's EVIL.