Mexican on Death Row Executed in Texas (Update)

Update (11:55 PM): Edgar Tamayo was executed via lethal injection on Wednesday night.

According to a report from the Associated Press:

Asked by a warden if he had a final statement, he mumbled "no" and shook his head. As the lethal dose of pentobarbital began taking effect, he took a few breaths and then made one slightly audible snore before all movement stopped. He was pronounced dead 17 minutes after the drug was administered, at 9:32 p.m. CST.

Tamayo never looked toward (murdered policeman Guy) Gaddis' mother, two brothers and two other relatives who watched through a window. He selected no witnesses of his own.

There were several dozen police officers and supporters of the slain patrolman were revving their motorcycles outside of the prison before witnesses were let inside the death chamber.

Afterwords, Gaddis' mother admitted that "my broken heart is feeling better" while one of the slain officer's brothers deemed Tamayo as a "coward who shot my brother in his back."

Meanwhile, Tamayo's  father claimed that he was innocent and that members of his family had been praying for him. 

Update (10:20 PM): The U.S. Supreme Court denied a stay of execution for Mexican national and death row inmate Edgar Tamayo.  As a result, it's expected that Tamayo will be executed via lethal injection sometime tonight.

"Twenty years have been long enough.  I'm ready," said part of a statement issued by Tamayo on Wednesday.  Prison officials claimed that he has been calm in anticipation of his execution.
 Update (9:00 PM): Authorities in Texas have temporarily delayed the execution of convicted murderer Edgar Tamayo while the U.S. Supreme Court hears a legal appeal.

The high tribunal has until midnight to make a decision on the fate of Tamayo though if no ruling is made a new date for execution may need to be set.

As mentioned in our original text below, the Mexican government called for Tamayo's execution to be suspended since it violates international law while the U.S. State Department expressed its concern that the punishment could impact the way U.S. citizens are treated in other countries.  Yet Texas state officials had been vehemently opposed to either postponing the execution or commuting Tamayo's sentence.

Original Post: A Mexican national sitting on death row in Texas is only a few hours away from being executed. 

Barring a last-second reprieve from the U.S. Supreme Court or Gov. Rick Perry, Edgar Tamayo is scheduled to die via lethal injection at approximately 6:00 pm local time.  The odds that he will avoid being executed at the appointed hour are very slim as he faces decreasing legal options.  The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles rejected a clemency request this morning while a U.S. federal court denied an appeal contending that Tamayo is mentally impaired.

Tamayo, who was convicted of murdering Houston police officer Guy Gaddis in 1994, would be the first execution this year in Texas.  (Texas was the most active capital punishment state last year with sixteen people were put to death in 2013).

Tamayo’s planned execution comes amidst protests from Mexican officials such as the country’s Foreign Secretary and Ambassador to the U.S.

“If Edgar Tamayo's execution were to go ahead without his trial being reviewed and his sentence reconsidered ... it would be a clear violation of the United States' international obligations,” read a recent statement issued by the Mexican foreign ministry.  The ministry also argued that Tamayo was never advised under an international treaty that he could get legal help from his home nation after his arrest.

Yesterday the U.S. State Department reiterated the stance of Secretary of State John Kerry alleged that the possible death of Tamayo “could impact the way American citizens are treated in other countries”.  In an article written last week, ex-Texas Gov. and self-professed capital punishment backer Mark White said, “This case is not about whether we support or oppose the death penalty. It’s about fairness and having the courts hear all the key facts”.

Despite these objections and others including an appeal from Tamayo’s father, it appears as if Gov. Perry will not delay the 46-year-old’s execution.

ICJ: Jose Medellin’s execution “breached” order

The execution of a Mexican national by the U.S. defied an International Court of Justice (ICJ) decision according to an ICJ ruling emitted today.

In 2004, the ICJ decided that the U.S. should review the sentences of 51 Mexicans facing the death penalty. Despite pressure from the U.N., the Bush administration, and legal maneuvers by the Mexican government Jose Medellin (image) was executed in August 2008 in Texas. Texan authorities got the green light to execute Medellin last July after the U.S. Supreme Court decision claimed that President George W. Bush lacked the power to delay the pending executions.

Medellin was convicted along with five other teen gang members for the rape and murder of two teenage girls in 1993. The others involved with Medellin were convicted and are serving sentences ranging from forty years in jail to being on death row.

In anticipation of today’s ICJ decision, the State Department said that they can do nothing to help other foreigners on death row:

The U.S. State Department's chief advocate said Sunday the ruling will not help other inmates on death row because Washington cannot force individual states to comply…

State Department legal adviser John Bellinger III said Bush had done all he could, and it was up to Congress to enact legislation giving precedence to international law over U.S. state law…

"The court has no enforcement powers," he told a small group of reporters. "It is not the role of the court" to issue a reprimand.

Image- BBC News
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, AP, Guardian UK, The Australian, AFP,

Honduran executed in Texas

A convicted Honduran murderer was killed by lethal injection in Texas roughly 48 hours after a Mexican national met the same fate. “God forgive them, receive my spirit” 29-year-old Heliberto Chi reportedly muttered before he died in front of a small audience including his relatives and the sons of the man he was convicted of robbing and killing in 2001.

Chi was scheduled to be executed last year though that was delayed while the U.S. Supreme Court (USSC) decided on the constitutionality of death via lethal injection. (Their verdict allowing lethal injection was announced in April.)

Much like the defense behind Jose Medellin- who was executed on Wednesday- Chi’s lawyers tried to argue that international law was broken. They argued that local authorities neglected Chi's rights; that notion was ultimately nixed by the USSC:

Chi's lawyers argued in a final appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court that he should be granted a stay because he had not been notified of his right to consular services.

The court denied the appeal, paving the way for Chi's execution by lethal injection in the state's death chamber in Huntsville…

In Chi's case, separate from the World Court proceedings, the state argued that upon his arrest, Chi had not immediately identified himself to police as a foreign national.

Chi thus becomes the second foreign national to be executed by Texas this week despite interventions by the International Court of Justice and President George W. Bush.

Image- BBC News (“Chi was the 411th Texas inmate to die by lethal injection.”)

Sources- New York Times, Reuters, The Latin Americanist, JURIST, MSNBC,

Update: Mexico denounces Texas execution

The Mexican government, along with UN Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon, have denounced the state of Texas' Tuesday execution of Jose Ernesto Medellin, the Mexican national convicted for his involvement in the 1993 gang rape and murder of two teenaged girls.

From a prepared statement by the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Relations yesterday:

"The government of Mexico sent the U. S. Department of State a diplomatic note of protest for this violation of international law, expressing its concern for the precedent that it may create for the rights of Mexican nationals who may be detained in that country...The Ministry of Foreign Relations reiterates that the importance of this case fundamentally stems from the respect to the right to consular access and protection provided by consulates of every state to each of its nationals abroad."

In Mexico, muted outcries followed Medellin's execution, mostly in his hometown of Nuevo Laredo. One Texas news station's coverage of reactions in Mexico City depicted interviewees that suggested many Mexicans are upset by rampant violence in interested by the adoption of the death penalty by Mexico.

For details on the case and it's controversial proceedings, see Erwin C's post earlier this week.

Sources: CNN, All Academic, SCOTUS Blog, Amnesty USA, KHou

Death row Mexican to be executed

Update (11:45pm): Despite the Supreme Court's intervention, Medillin was executed by lethal injection on Tuesday night.

Update (10:00pm): Medillin's execution was halted at the last minute as the U.S. Supreme Court considers his appeal.

The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles unanimously voted yesterday against a reprieve for José Medellin- a Mexican national whose death row case has complicated U.S.-Mexico relations. Medellin is scheduled to be executed tonight despite appeals from his lawyers and a recent International Court of Justice (ICJ) request to halt the executions of Mexican nationals on death row.

At the heart of the matter is the argument that the executions of Mexican nationals in Texas violates international law; even U.S. president George W. Bush attempted to intervene by using executive privilege. However, that claim has been denied by Texan officials as well as by a March Supreme Court decision.

One of the biggest Spanish-language dailies in the U.S.- La Opinion- gave its two cents on the issue:

The execution in Texas of Mexican national José Medellín scheduled for today violates international treaties…

The core issue is the violation of a treaty that has been in effect for decades, under which, when a foreigner is arrested, the authorities are obligated to notify the consul of that person’s country. The idea behind this process is to prevent local authorities from committing procedural abuses against a detainee…

Federalism is important, but international treaties ratified cannot be ignored. Other states of the Union have respected the ICJ’s decision. Texas should do likewise and cease acting as if it were independent. Its refusal to review the case is an aberration and affects the credibility of the United States as a country.

Image- Wall Street Journal

Sources- The Latin Americanist, La Opinion, AFP, Guardian UK, DentonRC.com