Texas executes rapist-murderer, defies World Court

Texas, true to its word, executed convicted rapist and multiple murderer, Jose Medellin, a Mexican national, last night after the Supreme Court declined to stay the execution, in a 5-4 ruling issued Tuesday evening. Texas' execution was in defiance of the World Court's order that Medellin's Vienna Convention rights were violated and that his case must receive additional judicial review.

See my earlier post here for further background on this case.

From Reuters:

DALLAS, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Texas defied the World Court and executed a Mexican national by lethal injection on Tuesday over the objections of the international judicial body and neighboring Mexico.

Jose Medellin, 33, was pronounced dead at 9:57 p.m. CDT (0257 GMT) in the state's death chamber in Huntsville, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said.
...
The World Court last month ordered the U.S. government to "take all measures necessary" to halt the upcoming executions of five Mexicans including Medellin's on the grounds that they had been deprived of their right to consular services after their arrests. ...

From FoxNews:

HUNTSVILLE, Texas — A Mexican-born condemned prisoner was executed Tuesday night for the rape and murder of two teenage girls 15 years ago after a divided U.S. Supreme Court rejected his request for a reprieve.

"I'm sorry my actions caused you pain. I hope this brings you the closure that you seek. Never harbor hate," Jose Medellin said to those gathered to watch him die. Nine minutes later, at 9:57 p.m., he was pronounced dead.

Fifteen years are his heinous crime, Texas justice finally caught up to Mr. Medellin. I believe that several other convicted murderers on Texas' Death Row who are foreign nationals are also named in, or are the subject of, the World Court's order, but no execution dates have been set for them. We'll have to see what Texas decides to do in those cases.