Arrested foreigners lose high court appeals

The Oregonian ^ | June 29, 2006 | Unattributed

[Ben Mugged]

In an Oregon case, a Mexican national said he wasn't told he could call his consulate The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled against two foreign nationals who said their convictions should be overturned because the police did not advise them of their international treaty rights to contact their consulates. The ruling involved cases from Oregon and Virginia and centers on the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, an international treaty that gives foreign nationals in the U.S. the right to contact their consulate if they are arrested.

The same rules apply to Americans who are arrested in one of the 167 other countries that adopted the treaty.

Moises Sanchez-Llamas, a Mexican national, was arrested and charged with wounding a Medford police officer in 1999. Although police gave him a Miranda warning, they did not also tell him he had a right to contact his consulate. He later made incriminating statements used against him at trial where he was convicted of attempted murder.

On appeal, Sanchez-Llamas asked the court to give him a new trial and not allow prosecutors to use the incriminating statements.

In the other case before the court, a Honduran convicted of murder in Virginia also sought a new trial on the grounds that police violated his treaty rights.

[Ben Mugged]

Trying to expand the Miranda rule......

[ncountylee]

Expect Mexico to add the right to contact their consulate to their "comic book" like illegal immigration manual.

[Schuck]

Actually, the Miranda rule already did (and continues to) apply to foreign nationals; the argument was that police should read an additional warning, regarding the right to consult with one's foreign consulate, as required by the Vienna Convention.

In theory, a good idea; were I arrested on trumped up charges in some third world nation, I'd at least like to know the ambassador is aware I am there. In practice, tho, do you really think the Mexican embassy could keep track of every Mexican national currently being held in the U.S.? Let alone offer them any sort of meaningful assitance? Same goes for a lot of countries.

[Dr. Marten]

There's nothing wrong with the Miranda rule. These guys were just trying for a "get out of jail free" card.

Keep their butts in prison and reduce aid to their home countries to cover their costs for jailing them.

[Bikers4Bush]

The fact of the matter is that since being an illegal is a crime unless the suspect informs officers that he or she is an illegal alien the suspect should expect to be treated as an American citizen.

[Ben Mugged]

the suspect informs officers that he or she is an illegal alien

Wouldn't that fall under the self-incrimination rule?

[untrained skeptic]

Does the treaty require that they be informed of their right to contact the consulate or simple require that they have the right to contact the consulate.

How are the police even going to know if they are foreign nationals before questioning them in many cases?

I suspect that the treaty merely grants them that right, and it is their lawyers that are trying to insist that the police must inform them of that right to prevent them from being held accountable for their crimes.

[The KG9 Kid]

See how it works?:

1. Advocates for illegals want it set up so that no civil servant in the USA can determine the legal residency status of aliens.

2. Civil rights attorneys claim that judgements against their clients should be vacated because the police didn't determine the accused was an illegal who therefore had a right to contact their home country's consulate.

No illegal alien can therefore be a criminal.

[Bikers4Bush]

They have a right not to self-incriminate, it doesn't mean that it's the smart thing to do if you expect to get help from your cosulate.

If an illegal doesn't tell the cops he's an illegal then how are they supposed to know? Illegals get drivers licenses and everything else depending on where in the country they live. Until the feds let local cops arrest illegals then the burden isn't on the local cops to find out one way or the other.

They just assume the person they have in custody is a citizen or legal resident and proceed accordingly.

[grjr21]

Nothing in the article says that he is an Illegal alien

[Ben Mugged]

In a 6-3 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that overturning the convictions and suppressing incriminating statements the men made to police prior to being informed of the consular rights would be too extreme.

Probably why the SC ruled this way.

[JamesP81]

In an Oregon case, a Mexican national said he wasn't told he could call his consulate The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled against two foreign nationals who said their convictions should be overturned because the police did not advise them of their international treaty rights to contact their consulates. The ruling involved cases from Oregon and Virginia and centers on the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, an international treaty that gives foreign nationals in the U.S. the right to contact their consulate if they are arrested.

Boo frikkin' hoo.

[Bikers4Bush]

Yeah, because it's an Oregon paper. Nobody is illegal in Oregon.

All of the criminals that had their cases before the Supreme court were illegals.

[usurper]

Let alone offer them any sort of meaningful assitance?

Actually Mexico offers probably the most assistance to their nationals abroad than any other country. They have offices in every major US city.

If you are arrested in some foreign country don’t expect the US Government to do anything other than notify your family where you are being held. That’s about all they do.