Believe In America.com

butterbean · Joined: 21 Jun 2006 Posts: 2271

HOUSTON (AP) -- A state appeals court chastised President Bush on Wednesday for intervening in the case of a condemned killer born in Mexico, one of several dozen cases in which Bush ordered new hearings amid international complaints.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rejected the argument from Jose Ernesto Medellin that he was denied legal help he should have received under international treaties.

Medellin, who spent most of his life in Texas, was sentenced in 1994 to die for the rapes and killings of two teenage girls.

"We hold that the President has exceeded his constitutional authority by intruding into the independent powers of the judiciary," the court said in a 64-page ruling.

Bush administration officials had no immediate comment Wednesday night.

Medellin was supported in his appeal by dozens of countries, legal groups and human rights organizations, as well as former American diplomats and the European Union. Much of the international community is opposed to capital punishment and the execution of Mexican nationals in Texas, the nation's most active death penalty state, is a particularly touchy point.

At issue overall was how much weight U.S. courts should give to decisions of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, which ruled the convictions of Medellin and 50 other Mexican-born prisoners violated the 1963 Vienna Convention. The pact requires consular access for Americans detained abroad and foreigners arrested in the United States.

In February 2005, Bush unexpectedly ordered new state court hearings for all 51 prisoners. The Texas court said Wednesday neither the Constitution nor any act of Congress gives the president the power to issue such an order.

The decision means Medellin, 31, is not entitled to additional review of his international rights claim.

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http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EXECUTION_MEXICAN_NATIONAL?SITE=TXELP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

That Mexican killer got what he deserves. Sad