As the U.S. Supreme Court considers whether to block a Mexican man's execution in Texas, the White House is pleading for a stay in the case that has pitted Texas justice against international treaty rights.
Humberto Leal, 38, is set to die in Huntsville for the 1994 brutal rape and murder of 16-year-old Adria Sauceda, of San Antonio. President Obama, the State Department and Mexican authorities have all asked Texas for a last-minute reprieve of Leal, citing the U.N.-enforced 1963 Vienna Treaty, which requires foreign nationals who are arrested in foreign countries the right to access their consulates.
Just hours before the 6 p.m. scheduled execution, Texas Gov. Rick Perry said he has yet to make a decision regarding whether to stay the execution, a spokeswoman said.
Leal, who moved with his family from Mexico to the U.S. as a toddler, contends police never told him he could seek legal assistance from the Mexican government under the treaty -- and that such assistance would have helped his defense.
Sauceda, according to court documents, was found naked when authorities discovered her body in May 1994.
"There was a 30- to 40-pound asphalt rock roughly twice the size of the victim's skull lying partially on the victim's left arm," court documents read. "Blood was underneath this rock. A smaller rock with blood on it was located near the victim's right thigh. There was a gaping hole from the corner of the victim's right eye extending to the center of her head from which blood was oozing. The victim's head was splattered with blood."
A "bloody and broken" stick roughly 15 inches long with a screw at the end of it was also protruding from the girl's vagina, according to the documents.
Leal's supporters, however, claim he was never given the option to seek legal assistance from the Mexican government. Although evidence against Leal was strong, supporters say he incriminated himself and had other legal difficulties.
"If Texas were to proceed with the scheduled execution of Mr. Leal ... there could be no dispute that that execution would be unlawful -- specifically, in violation of treaty commitments validly made by the United States through constitutionally prescribed processes," Sandra Babcock, a Northwestern University law professor who is one of Leal's attorneys, said last week in her appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/07/07/white-house-seeks-delay-mexican-mans-execution-as-supreme-court-mulls-case/#ixzz1RSThMfaq
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