T1B

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A Mexican national on Texas' death row is awaiting possible last-minute intervention from the Supreme Court, just hours before he is scheduled to be put to death Tuesday for two brutal slayings.

Jose Ernesto Medellin's execution by lethal injection could be the final act in an unusual capital appeal that pitted President Bush against his home state in a dispute over federal authority, local sovereignty and foreign treaties.

The high court in March ruled for Texas, allowing the execution to proceed, but Medellin's
lawyers have filed a flurry of emergency appeals in state and federal courts requesting a stay.

They argue Congress and the Texas legislature should be given a chance to pass legislation that would give their client a new hearing before any punishment is carried out.

Such a bill is pending in Congress, but no recent action has been taken in either chamber.
In an August 1 letter, three Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee urged Texas Gov. Rick Perry to postpone upcoming executions "in order to provide Congress with the time needed to consider this situation."

Texas lawmakers will not gather in session until January.
At issue is whether the state has to give in to the president's demand that the prisoner be allowed new hearings and sentencing.

Bush made that demand reluctantly after an international court concluded Medellin and about 50 other Mexicans on American death rows were improperly denied access to their consulate upon arrest, a violation of a treaty signed by the United States decades ago.

Medellin's execution would be the first of what promises to be a busy month at the state's death chamber in Huntsville. Five other men are scheduled to die by lethal injection in the next four weeks, including inmate Heliberto Chi Acheituno on Thursday.

Medellin was 18 when he took part in the June 1993 gang rape and murder of two Harris County girls, Jennifer Ertman, 14, and Elizabeth Pena, 16. He was convicted of the crimes and sentenced to death.

The prisoner's lawyers argued Mexican consular officials were not able to meet with the man until after his conviction.

The Big Pickle wrote:
Can anyone say "Pitchforks and torches"?

Medellin was 18 when he took part in the June 1993 gang rape and murder of two Harris County girls, Jennifer Ertman, 14, and Elizabeth Pena, 16. He was convicted of the crimes and sentenced to death.

rozy wrote:Here's Jose for ya...

dead mexican wrote:
I dropped out of school in the 9th grade, not because I couldn't handle the work, because if you give me the time of day, you'll see that I've quite intelligent.

This is another murder because no one has the right to take someone else's life, only God," said Medellin's cousin Reyna Armendariz.

War Wagon wrote: What of the other pieces of shit who participated in this? Are they still sucking oxygen?