“In this case, the criminal didn’t raise the issue in a timely fashion. So the question basically was, ‘Do illegal aliens have greater rights than do American citizens?’
No, the issue is do foreigners have the right to confer with their embassies if they are arrested. Who cares if at first they said no and then later decided maybe it would be prudent.
Playing “gotcha” with the law only gets you stung later on. Anyone who refused allowing a foreign perp, at any point of the judicial proceeding, access to their embassy is a knuckle dragging troglydyte who doesn’t have the sense to wear a badge or represent the people in any capacity of public service.
So you want the Houston PD to presume every guy they catch with a Spanish accent is Mexican, and call the consulate whether the criminal asks or not? That may work in California, but here there are lots of Guatemalans and Hondurans.
Who cares if at first they said no and then later decided maybe it would be prudent.
So if he decides 10 years down the road that he made a mistake in not asking for a diplomat, you'd throw out his confession, and turn him loose?
You have a two hour advantage on me, so I'll probably not be back here until tomorrow evening. And lest you try to lump me in with the jingoists, click on my FR page to see some of the places I've been.
Just as any American entering a foreign country illegally still has his civil rights in America, the rights he must deal with first in order to exercise those rights are his rights in the country whose laws he became suddenly reliant upon. Definitely two entirely different lists of rights! Should he get lucky and be in a country that allows that ‘call to the US Embassy’ he may get off eventually, otherwise, he gets to play the Hanoi Hilton game! We probably all tend to agree with you that if an illegal alien says he’s mexican, he’ll get a call to the Mexican Embassy/consulate/whatever the nearest option offers. Pretty sure we all agree on that. So some of us aren’t sure where the demarcation line exists in felonies v misdemeanors on that call...and criminal rights of foreigners in general! Much of what this thread offers is ‘opinion’, not fact.