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Contact: Anna Koch
202.225.3605
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Conaway: Let Texans Do Their Justice
Washington,
Oct 10, 2007 -
Today, Congressman Mike Conaway made the following statement regarding the Medellin v. Texas case:
“Jose Ernesto Medellin was found guilty by a Texas court of the brutal killings of two young girls in Houston in 1993 when he was 18 years old. He confessed and was convicted of the heinous gang raping and strangling of these two girls. A judge sentenced him to death in October 1994. The decision that the State of Texas has made to execute Mr. Medellin is one based on solid facts and a well-informed courtroom. The President’s effort to halt the execution and interfere with state law is overstepping his Constitutional power. This is a states rights issue, and federal officials should allow Texans to administer justice as they see fit.”
Jose Medellin was arrested a few days after the murders took place. 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 under the 1963 treaty. President Bush wants to enforce a decision by the International Court of Justice that found the convictions of Medellin, along with 50 other Mexican-born prisoners, violated their rights to legal help as outlined in the 1963 Vienna Convention.
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