The Case of Medellin

Although federal and state courts rejected the defendant’s claim, it was Mexico who sued the United States in the International Court of Justice in the Hague in 2003.

An international court ruled in 2004 that the convictions of Medellin and 50 other Mexicans on death row around the United States violated the 1963 Vienna Convention, which provides that people arrested abroad should have access to their home country’s consular officials.

The International Court of Justice, known now as the World Court, said the Mexican prisoners should have new court hearings to determine whether the violation affected their cases.

However, in doing so this placed President Bush in the unusual position of siding with death row prisoner, Jose Ernesto Medellin, a Mexican citizen whom police prevented from consulting with Mexican diplomats, as provided by international treaty. Although this ‘prevention’ is questionable at best.

Originally in the Medellin case, as well as others, the suspects at the time were advised and offered the assistance of their home nation’s consular officials. However, whether it be from fear of their own nation’s wrath for crimes committed there, or maybe even fear of incarceration in their own country’s the defendant’s originally waived their rights to seek assistance from the consular corps.

Medellin was arrested a few days after the killings of Jennifer Ertman, 14, and Elizabeth Pena, 16, in June 1993. He was told he had a right to remain silent and have a lawyer present, but the police did not tell him that he could request assistance from the Mexican consulate, which stated earlier, is at controversy.

It is very, very interesting to note that Medellin, speaks, reads and writes English, even provided a written confession of his guilt. And of course he was given all the privileges of a fair trial: an attorney, judge, jury and the due-process of law. Jose Medellin was sentenced to death in October 2004.

The state of Texas acknowledged that Medellin did not speak to consular officials; however they argued that he forfeited the right insofar as he never raised the issue during the entire proceedings. Nonetheless, the state did say that it would not have had any difference on the outcome of the decision.

Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority stated, the international court decision cannot be forced upon the individual (’several’) states.

President Bush has since gone on record as stating the United States will no longer allow the World Court to judge the consular access cases because the death penalty opponents and the international rhetoric.

More reading right here at the X.

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