Jose Medellin |
WASHINGTON
– The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case Wednesday in which the Bush
administration will seek to overturn the death penalty of a convicted
rapist-murderer at the behest of the International Court of Justice.
Jose
Medellin confessed in 1993 to participating in the rape and murder of
two Houston teenagers. Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena were
sodomized and strangled with their shoe laces. Medellin bragged about
keeping one girl's Mickey Mouse watch as a souvenir of the crime.
Medellin
and four others were convicted of capital murder and sent to Texas'
death row. A juvenile court sentenced Medellin's younger brother, who
was 14 at the time, to 40 years in prison.
(Story continues below)
The
intervention in the case by the Bush administration comes after the
International Court of Justice found Medellin was not informed of his
right to contact the Mexican Consulate for legal assistance.
That, according to the Hague, was a violation of a 1963 treaty known as the Vienna Convention.
"We
find ourselves in an unusual position," Texas Solicitor General Ted
Cruz told the Houston Chronicle. "Texas is not regularly litigating
against the United States. But sadly enough, the United States will
appear alongside Medellin at the argument."
Medellin
v. Texas will be argued Wednesday and could determine the fate of
Medellin and 50 other Mexican killers on death rows in the United
States, including more than a dozen in Texas. All of them say they were
not told of their right to contact Mexico for legal help.
The
court is expected to produce a ruling clarifying which powers reside
with the president, Congress and courts, which powers belong to the
federal government versus the states, and what the relationship is
between international and domestic law.
The
Bush administration became involved in the Medellin case in 2003 when
Mexico sued the U.S. over the consular issue in the International Court
of Justice at the Hague. The so-called "World Court" is the United
Nations' top court for resolving international disputes.
The
court ruled in Mexico's favor in late 2004 and ordered the U.S. to
reconsider the Mexican inmates' murder convictions and death sentences.
In February 2005, Bush announced that while he disagreed with the World
Court's decision, the U.S. would comply. He ordered courts in Texas and
elsewhere to review the cases.
A
few days later, however, the president withdrew the U.S. from the part
of the Vienna Convention that gives the World Court final say in
international disputes.
The
Supreme Court, which had agreed to hear Medellin's case, dismissed it
later in 2005 to allow the case to play out in Texas. Last November,
the all-Republican Texas Court of Criminal Appeals balked at the
president's order, saying Bush had overstepped his authority.
The
Texas court said the judicial branch, not the White House, should
decide how to resolve the Mexican cases. It also said Medellin wasn't
entitled to a new hearing because he failed to complain at his original
trial about any violation of his consular rights and had therefore
waived them.
Medellin
appealed again to the U.S. Supreme Court, which announced last May it
would hear his case. His lawyer, Donald Donovan of New York, will argue
this week that Bush was correct when he took action to comply with the
World Court's decision.
The
Bush administration, now siding with Medellin and Mexico, will try to
help Donovan's team convince the justices that the Texas court is
undermining the president's efforts to conduct foreign policy.
Cruz,
who will argue the case for Texas, called Bush's unprecedented attempt
to issue orders to the judicial branch – and the state courts in
particular – "breathtaking."
"It
is emphatically not the province of the president to say what the law
is," he told the Houston Chronicle. "If this president's assertion of
authority is upheld in this case, it opens the door for enormous
mischief from presidents of either party. What might these presidents
be inclined to do if they had the power to flick state laws off the
books?"
Meanwhile,
Randy and Sandra Ertman, the parents of one of Medellin's victims, also
have weighed in. In a court brief filed on their behalf by the
California-based Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, the Ertmans argue
that their 14-year-old daughter's rights, and the rights of other
victims, will be given short shrift if the justices further delay the
"already long-overdue execution of this well-deserved sentence."
"This
case has produced much lofty discussion about international law and the
separation of powers. We must not forget, though, that this case is
about a real crime against real people," they wrote. "Enough is
enough."
Related special offers:
Get "The Late Great USA" and find out how America is giving away its sovereignty
Tom Tancredo: America itself 'In Mortal Danger'
Get the astounding Whistleblower issue: "SECRETS OF THE INVASION"
"Conquest of Aztlan": Will Mexicans retake American Southwest?
Previous stories:
Ultra-violent gang found in 42 states
Crackdown on gangs goes international
Police targeting urban marauders
More illegal aliens tried in gang rapes
Sting rounds up 25 foreigners for sex crimes
Illegal aliens linked to gang-rape wave
Prostituion ring run by illegals, for illegals
Illegal alien rapes puppy
Feds arrest 2,100 in illegals sweep
Suspected illegal 'tries to rape girl'
Study: 1 million sex crimes by illegals
5 illegals face deportation after killing principal
'Illegal runs red light,' kills popular principal
Illegal-alien offenders flout U.S. justice system
Illegal 'hits American jackpot' with $44,000 job, crime spree
Murder suspect – an illegal with driver's license
Illegal, 17, runs down hero cop
3 illegals beat pregnant woman
Illegal alien accused of triple homicide
Illegal alien wanted for hunter murder
'Cop-killing' illegal snagged in Mexico
Alleged cop killer an illegal immigrant
