The Statesman editorial is, "Execution case important to international relations." It appeared in the Saturday issue.
The Golden Rule of life also applies to the tricky business of international relations. What we do to non-Americans in our country we can reasonably expect to be done unto Americans in other countries.
It is for that reason that Gov. Rick Perry and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles — both in the uncommon position of making a decision with international impact — should commute or postpone the death sentence of Humberto Leal, a Mexican raised in Texas, scheduled to die July 7 for the 1994 murder of Adria Sauceda, 16, in Bexar County.
The key issue in this case at this point is not whether Leal committed the crime. Also not central now are the circumstances involving Leal, including sexual abuse by a priest, a challenging family history and other factors that, though significant, fail to add up to justification for murder. They could, however, count as mitigating factors that argue for a life sentence.
It's what happened after Sauceda was killed that is at issue. More specifically, it's what didn't happen. Despite the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations requirements, Leal was not informed of his right to contact Mexican officials to seek legal assistance. Records indicate that he was not aware of that right until told about it by a fellow death row inmate.
Instead of getting legal help from Mexican consular officials, who have a track record of providing quality legal representation for Mexicans facing the death penalty in the U.S., Leal was represented by a court-appointed team that included a lawyer who twice had his license suspended.
Back in 2004, the International Court of Justice said Leal was entitled to a hearing to determine the extent of harm he suffered as a result of the lack of consular access. A U.S. Supreme Court ruling has said the U.S. must comply with the decision by the international court. Texas, citing state law, said no such hearing could take place. Congress now is poised to consider legislation, to be filed in coming weeks, that would establish a procedure for a federal court hearing on the extent of harm caused to Leal because he was not advised of his right to contact Mexican officials.
And:
Sandra L. Babcock, a Northwestern University law professor representing Leal, said he would not have been convicted if he had received proper consular assistance. We have no way of knowing that. But there is no arguing with Babcock's contention that "with consular access, Mr. Leal would have had competent lawyers and expert assistance that would have transformed the quality of his defense."
And, as she noted, Mexican officials have developed expertise in helping Mexicans facing the death penalty in the U.S.
"It really is a very modest remedy we are talking about," Babcock said.
Modest, indeed, but with important international ramifications.
"Franciscans request execution halt," is the San Antonio Express-News report written by Michelle Mondo. It also ran on Saturday.
The list of those calling for Texas to stay the July execution of Humberto Leal Jr. grew on Friday when the Franciscan Order and organizations representing victims of sexual abuse by priests sent letters to the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole.
The letters from the abuse-victims organizations, including the San Antonio chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, and the Franciscans call for a stay or commutation of Leal's sentence so the Catholic Church can investigate the allegations he made against Father Federico Fernandez.
The allegation by Leal, 38, that Fernandez sexually abused him when he was 10 or 11 and attending St. Clare's Catholic Church was made for the first time in a recent petition for a reprieve or commutation Leal's attorney sent to the board and Gov. Rick Perry.
Leal was sentenced to die for the rape and bludgeoning death of Adria Sauceda, 16, whose naked body was found on May 21, 1994, on a dirt road not far from a party that she and Leal both attended. The execution is scheduled for July 7.
Franciscan Provincial Minister William Spencer said in a letter that he needed to add his voice to those calling for a reprieve because, he said, the sex-abuse claim could have merit. A spokesman for the San Antonio Archdiocese has said Leal's allegation would be investigated.
Fernandez, a San Antonio priest, was charged in 1988 with molesting two young boys but the charges were later dropped and a lawsuit was settled out of court.
Earlier coverage of the Leal case begins at the link.
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