Posted on 08/05/2008 12:41:04 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON (AFP) - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon issued a last-minute appeal to the United States Tuesday to halt the scheduled execution of a Mexican national sentenced to death for murder in defiance of an International Court of Justice (ICJ) order.
Jose Ernesto Medellin, 33, was due to be executed by lethal injection at 2300 GMT in the state of Texas. He was convicted of the 1993 rape and murder of two teenagers and is one 51 Mexican nationals on death row in the United States.
Less than 12 hours before Medellin's planned execution, Ban called on the US government to abide by an ICJ ruling calling for the executions of all Mexican nationals to be suspended.
"All decisions and orders of the International Court of Justice must be respected by states," Ban warned on local television in Mexico City where he was attending a world AIDS conference.
"The United States should take every step to make sure the execution does not take place," he added, saying he had taken all the necessary steps to delay Medellin's execution, detailed in a letter to the United States and that he was "confident" his demands would be accepted.
Mexico has complained that its nationals on death row were not informed of their right to consular access and assistance during trial, a right under the Vienna Convention.
Medellin's family anxiously waited at the prison near Houston where the 33-year-old is due to be executed at 2300 GMT by lethal injection.
Medellin's request for a reprieve was unanimously turned down on Monday by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and his fate lies in the hands of Texas Governor Rick Perry.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
on hold - is it Scalia who is reviewing it?
Oh, give me a break. They’ve already said the Federal Government has no jurisdiction.
More Bravo Sierra!
I wish I could say "nice try", but that would be as valid as using CNN for a reference.
OH NO
Nope. Temporarily on hold until SCOTUS can review, AGAIN.
Execute him.
A stay....maybe temporary...but a stay just the same
..words cannot express
I thought that I read that that Scalia had responsibilty for this circuit.
If so, there’s a good chance that Jose will die tonight.
Yep. Ridiculous!
If so, there’s a good chance that Jose will die tonight.
The article linked said the stay would last until midnight. I doubt SCOTUS will look seriously into it. They already passed judgment on Federal control back in March.
The scheduled execution of Jose Medellin in Texas is on hold while the U.S. Supreme Court considers an appeal in his case. The death warrant, which allowed the lethal injection to be carried out after 6 p.m., remains in effect until midnight.
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Come on Roberts, come on Alito...
Make a decision,...
THEN go to dinner...
Then on with the execution...
Is this from his attorney....or someone ‘higher’
It is not a stay. It is that the death warrant is valid until midnight.
It's a hold. I was writing from memory of what the article said.
Jose, can you see,
that big, long IV?
Going into your arm,
gonna do you some harm.
When the levers are pulled,
it’s gonna cause you to die.
(OK, the last line is a little rough . . . )
The STAY is not til midnight. The article said the death warrant is good til midnight. I take that to mean the stay will have to be lifted before midnight for the execution to go forward tonight.
Now he is sweating it. He is pleading for his life while his victims had no chance. Ironic.
Well, my line was at least as bad as yours.....LOL.
Leni
He denied his last meal and some lawyer said that this is a very emotional time for him...
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