Texas and Supreme Court Ignore International Law and Execute Mexican National

Saturday, July 09, 2011
Humberto Leal Garcia

Humberto Leal Garcia, a Mexican national convicted in Texas of murdering a teenage girl, was executed on Thursday after the U.S. Supreme Court denied a last-ditch legal effort to postpone his death.

 
Leal’s case drew considerable attention from Democrats and Republicans in national circles because the citizen of Mexico was denied the right under international law to receive assistance from his government during his murder trial. The Obama administration sought to prevent Leal’s death by lethal injection, arguing to carry out the sentence would put the U.S. in violation of an international treaty that also protects Americans overseas from being tried without help from the U.S. government.
 
Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr. told the Supreme Court that Leal’s execution could do “irreparable harm” to U.S. foreign policy interests. Verrilli asked the court to stay the sentence until Congress could vote on legislation forcing state courts to review cases like Leal’s and those of other Mexican nationals convicted under similar circumstances.
 
In a 5-4 decision, the high court rejected the administration’s petition, which was supported by officials who served under President George W. Bush. “Our task is to rule on what the law is, not what it might eventually be,” read the unsigned majority ruling.
 
No action has been taken on the legislation, introduced in June by Sen. Patrick Leahy.
 
Following the death of Leal, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton criticized the Texas government for proceeding with the execution. A number of retired military officers, diplomats and prominent Republicans, including Laurence Wilkerson, a retired U.S. Army colonel and former chief of staff to Gen. Colin Powell, also backed the appeal.
 
A spokesperson for Republican Governor Rick Perry, who has White House aspirations, defended the decision, saying anyone convicted of committing the most heinous crimes in Texas can expect the ultimate penalty.
 
Leal was the seventh inmate put to death this year in Texas.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
 

Texas Defies Presidential Authority in Planned Execution of Mexican Citizen (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)

Comments

Toni 13 years ago
shushbear, wouldn't you expect to be able to consult with the american embassy when you were in a foreign country? have you ever been in a foreign country? you could get in a bad situation where you didn't know the language and didn't understand their laws and need help from our embassy. this is not "special treatment". this is our rights as a human in this world. this should not be whether you hate all the illegals in this country and what benefits they are getting. this was in violation of international law and his right as a mexican citizen. the u.s. is not above following international laws. pres. obama, pres.bush and congress was trying to get it delayed. this is not "special treatment". this is america where we believe and our constitution guarantees rights for everybody especially to make sure someone has had a fair trial before a person is put to death and evidently this man did not have adequate legal representation which would have happened if the mexican officials had been notified as required by law.
Toni 13 years ago
no matter what crime was committed every person has rights. that is what makes america, america. we would be outraged if an american was denied access to counsel in a foreign country. this was a violation of international law. there could have delayed the execution for a review. i live in texas and gov. perry made an unforgivable mistake that will affect our relationship with mexico, who does not have the death penalty. how many of you even know what countries have the death penalty? we along with japan are the only "civilized" countries.
Marine0311 13 years ago
what a waste of tax payers dollars.. hillary clinton should butt out and do what it is she is supposed to do. he raped a 16 year old girl, and then bashed her head in with a piece of concrete. he lived her since he was 2. he would be one of those kids that the government would say since he was either born here by his illegal parents or brought here by his illegal parents we should give him us citizenship. i say bullshit. you come here as an illegal immigrant and kill someone, you chose to live here, you will die here. no one said shit until a few day before he was to die. if they really cared, where were they a few days ago?? i'm glad texas and governor perry didn't let him live another day. add 1 vote for governor rick perry for president...
Shushbear 13 years ago
we were the leader of the free world.who gives a rats ass what the whole rest of the world thinks or does in their own countries.they are all fraidy cats and what ever they do or don't like about the us, piss on them.anybody legal or otherwise who does a crime should get swift punishment.i don't go to any country and expect them to do anything special for or to me. in fact if you are a guest in this country or any-other why would you expect some sort of special treatment?that said, think as our president shows what a worthless person and he makes me sick!you know the rule of laws does not mean anything to this guy.let illegals come here and benefit without prosecution ,get an education then whine about how unfair things are to them.don't treat our enemies as such give them civilian trials.we as the us have enemies and jealous people that want to defeat us.i care shouldn't you.thank heavens for the fly-over states you can have washington,dc,california and new york especially mayor bloomberg.i will insure mr. obama's return to community organizing he couldn't run a dairy queen.as tr roosevelt once said" the business of government is to help businesses to succeed and profit not to tell everybody how terrible this class of persons are and fat cats should do this or that"t.bigger and more government means less freedom and more kowtowing to bureaucrats.pure and simple
robert 13 years ago
your story left out a very important detail. garcia had lived in the us since the age of two. he did not ask to see a consulate, and the idea never occurred to the arresting officers. he raped a 16 year old girl with a foreign object and then bludgeoned her to death with a rock. i guess he was just here doing some job americans won't do.
Robert David 13 years ago
when is our gov't going to learn that our own citizens being murdered by people from another country should get justice. stop worrying about political correctness!!!
cre 13 years ago
so we have to check with other countries now before we can rid ours of useless trash? what a waste of a human being. you got what you deserved. next time stay in mexico.
matt 13 years ago
the united states is sovereign and is not held to international law. us courts make decisions the us. non citizens want equal protection offered by the constitution (free school for their children, medical care etc..) but then don't want to be held equally accountable to our laws? ill bet he got his free attorney. plus if oboma really wanted to stop the execution he could have pardoned the guy. bad article... or should i say editorial? .
C.A. 13 years ago
mexico consultant could have gone to the trial, could have visited him at any time and chose not to. anyone living in the u.s. knows the results of killing someone in texas. for this person who was living in the u.s. his whole life, he just didn't care about anyone except himself. and for the obama admin to say"...but this is what could happen if he is executed"..., shows their total lack of experience of running the country. maybe laurence wilkerson and others might feel different if it was their child that was killed.

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