Supreme Court to hear death penalty case of Mexican national

Dallas Morning News ^ | 12/10/04 | ALLEN PUSEY

[B4Ranch]

Vicente Fox shows far more concern for those Mexicans who come to America to commit crimes than he does for the ones who live in Mexico.

[usadave]

In May, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals acknowledged that Medellin had never been informed of his right to contact the Mexican consul.

I'm just wondering if Medellin ever made a request to contact the Mexican consul. I know that if I were ever arrested on a serious charge in a foreign country, I would demand to speak to somebody from the U.S. embassy.

[getgoing]

...check these out:

http://www.internationaljusticeproject.org/nationals.cfm

http://www.internationaljusticeproject.org/nationalsCurCases.cfm

[FITZ]

This is about Mexico's lack of the death penalty

Well Mexico actually does have the death penalty --- Carlos Salinas's own brother just experienced it the other day. As did their brother-in-law did a few years ago. Many journalists in Mexico have been given the death penalty for speaking out against the government. They just have a different way of applying their death penalty.

[BikerNYC]

This paragraph is from another story:

At his 1994 trial for a gang-related murder, Mr. Medellín, an indigent 18-year-old, was given a court-appointed lawyer who called no witnesses. Unknown to the trial judge at the time, Mr. Medellín's lawyer had been suspended from law practice for ethical violations. At the penalty phase of the trial, which lasted two hours, the lawyer put on only one expert witness, a psychologist who had never met Mr. Medellín.

As someone who practiced criminal defense law for 15 years, all I can say is, shocking.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

I think if anyone desires protection under the 14th Amendment Sect. 1 of The Constitution of The United States of America, they should naturally be bound by all other laws of the land.

String him up and to hell with what any foreign state thinks about it.

[wildbill]

This notification issue is a requirement negotiated by treaty with Mexico--and it's damn important protection for Americans charged with felonies in Mexico.

How would you like to be in a Mexican jail where they "have ways of making you talk" and not have the right to get some assistance from American consular authorities?

At least they could notify your family where to pick up your body or direct your wife to the correct prison for conjugal visits.

If the Texas authorities screwed up, then they ought to be able to retry this guy and their case should be airtight, no matter what the Mexican government does to help defend him.

[Brownie74]

Perhaps that stinking Mexican government might try to work a bit more diligently at keeping their parasites off American soil......

That'll never happen as long as Bush is in office. If Bush had his way he would rename the Lincoln bedroom to the Fox bedroom.

I've never seen anything so screwed up. The America I'm living in today isn't the America I know in the 40's and 50's.

[hershey]

You nailed it.

[hershey]

Well, meddling in our courts and laws is the foot in the door, of course. Globalization, One world under the UN boot.

[hershey]

They've already made reading of the Declaration of Independence verboten in certain California school districts.

[26lemoncharlie]

We will have to invade KALIFORNIA and Place it under Marshall Law.

[AuntB]

" It's a double curse of Mexico sending us some of their worst. In this case the killer was in a Mexican gang. "

Mexico is sending us all their worst. They can't feed them, house them, employ them and they sure can't afford to jail them. Let the AMERICANO'S do it!!! AND then they won't let us kill the ones that kill our children. Any one need a nanny? I'm disgusted.

[dennisw]

martial