Jos Medelln

Mexican criminal who was executed by lethal injection for the rape and murder of 16-year-old Peña Medellín and 14-year-old Jennifer Ertman in Houston, Texas on 24 June 1993. His case gained notoriety when Mexico sued the United States in the International Court of Justice on behalf of 51 Mexican nationals asserting that the US had violated the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, which requires that local authorities inform foreign nationals being held on criminal charges of their right to consult with their country’s diplomats. That court ruled that the United States was obliged to have the defendants cases reopened and reconsidered. The Supreme Court of the United States agreed to hear the case on 1 May 2007. The Bush administration briefed the Supreme Court on the obligation to comply with international treaties. On 25 March 2008, in Medellín v. Texas, the court rejected the Bush administrations arguments and cleared the way for Texas to execute the sentence. The International Court of Justice later ruled that the United States had violated its treaty obligations. Medellíns execution took place at Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville, Texas, on 5 August 2008 at 9:57 p.m. Link to Wikipedia biography Read less