Execution Report: Jose Medellin

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A jury convicted Medellin of the capital murder of Elizabeth Pena in September 1994 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in October 2001.

Four of the other assailants that night were also convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. Derrick O'Brien was executed in July 2006, apologizing for the crime in his last statement. Peter Cantu, who reports describe as the leader of the gang, remains on death row. Raul Omar Villareal and Efrain Perez had their sentences commuted to life in June 2005 because they were 17 at the time of the crime. A sixth assailant, Vernancio Medellin, who was 14 at the time, was convicted of aggravated sexual assault and sentenced to 40 years in prison. He remains in custody as of this writing. No information was available on the disposition or status of Roman or Frank Sandoval.

Medellin's case came under international scrutiny because he was a Mexican citizen. According to the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, a treaty signed by the United States and 165 other nations, foreign citizens must be informed of their consular rights - that is, their right to seek assistance from consular officials from their home countries - whenever they are arrested. Medellin was not informed of his consular rights at the time of his arrest. Prosecutors have said he never informed authorities of his nationality, but Medellin insisted that he told them at the time of his arrest.

In 2004, Mexico filed a lawsuit against the United States in the United Nations' world court over the denial of Medellin's consular rights. In response, President Bush issued a memorandum ordering Texas to hold hearings for Medellin and dozens of other inmates. In November 2006, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that Bush's order did not constitute binding federal law, and dismissed Medellin's appeal. The case went to the U.S. Supreme Court, which upheld the Texas courts' position. Governor Rick Perry also argued that the states are not bound by the rulings of international courts and that Texas is determined to hold killers responsible for their crimes, regardless of their nationality.

Medellin granted few interviews while on death row. In a letter he wrote that was posted on a Canadian anti-death-penalty site, he referred to the murders that sent him to death row as "an adolescent choice."

Medellin was visited by his parents the day before his execution. They returned for another visit the next day. Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokeswoman Michelle Lyons said they were barred from the prison after the second visit because they were overheard plotting an escape for Medellin.

Medellin's execution was delayed nearly four hours as the U.S. Supreme Court considered one last appeal.

"I'm sorry that my actions brought you pain," Medellin said to his victims' families in his last statement. I hope this brings you the closure that you seek." He also expressed love to his witnesses. The lethal injection was then started. He was pronounced dead at 9:57 p.m.

The Pena and Ertman families were instrumental in getting Texas law changed so that victims' relatives are allowed to make statements at a trial's conclusion and to witness the execution of their loved ones' killers. According to Andy Kahan, crime victims advocate for Houston Mayor Bill White, 75 percent of victims' families elect to witness executions.

By David Carson. Posted on 6 August 2008.
Sources: Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Texas Attorney General's office, Associated Press, Houston Chronicle, Huntsville Item, court documents.