USA - Texas. Mexico appeals to Supreme Court to spare Leal from death penalty

Mexico appeals to Supreme Court to spare Leal from death penalty. The Mexican government filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the Supreme Court that demands Humberto Leal Garcia be given a reprieve from the death penalty. He has been sentenced to die July 7 by a Texas judge after he was convicted in 1995 of raping and murdering a 16-year-old girl. The Mexican government’s brief says the execution of Leal would violate the Vienna Convention of Consular Rights because he was not allowed to seek legal advice from his embassy before he was convicted. The United States signed the treaty in 1969. Article 36 requires each participating country to promptly notify foreign embassies when their citizens are arrested abroad. “The United States’ word should not be so carelessly broken, nor its standing in the international community so needlessly compromised,” the Mexican government’s brief says. The brief was filed to support a petition by Leal’s attorneys to the Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari and a stay of execution. Because an international treaty comes into play in executing a foreign citizen, “that judgment should be made by the U.S. Congress, not Texas,” the Mexican government’s brief says. Civil rights advocates are drawing hope for their efforts from a bill introduced in the Senate two weeks ago by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Huffman said. The bill would require that federal courts review all death sentences against foreign citizens to determine whether they were denied access to legal advice from their embassies. If they were not given “consular access,” the death penalties could be commuted. “Each year, thousands of Americans are detained abroad while they study, travel, work, and serve in the military,” Leahy said in a statement. “From the moment they are detained, their safety and well-being depends on the ability of United States consular officials to meet with them, monitor their treatment, help them obtain legal assistance, and connect them to family back home." Leahy said his proposed Consular Notification Compliance Act “will bring the United States one step closer to compliance with the convention." More than 100 foreign citizens from 30 countries have been sentenced to death by American courts. More than 6,600 Americans were arrested in foreign countries last year, according to the U.S. State Department. Of those, about 3,000 were incarcerated.