The Leal case

It has been all over the news, but I found yesterday's "Statesman Editorial board opinion" by far the best coverage of the subject. The article is well written, straightforward and to the point.

Humberto Leal, a 38-year-old Mexican, who had lived in San Antonio since he was a toddler, was convicted in the 1994 murder of 16-year-old Adria Sauceda. His sentence was death by lethal injection.

I would like to say upfront that I do not endorse the death penalty, nor do I think it helps in reducing criminal rates in Texas or in the USA overall. That being said, I want to to talk about the indifference of Gov. Rick Perry in not accepting the request of the Obama administration in delaying Leal's execution for six months.

Leal, being a Mexican citizen, had the right to be advised that he was entitled to consult with Mexicans officials prior his trial, which did not happen. Those officials are very aggressive in making sure Mexicans get proper legal representation in the United States. While I do not question Leal's sentence(he did accept blame for his acts afterall), I question the message that our state and our governor are sending to the world. American citizens rely on access to American's consulates to get legal representation for themselves all around the globe. So it would be OK, for Mexico to deny/not let they know about their right of have access to American consulates if they were being tried in Mexico? Is that what we want?

We do not have legislation that mandate court reviews in criminal cases in which foreign citizens were not given access to their nation's consulates(Why did we not sigh the Vienna Convention?) and that is why the Obama administration(along with many former U.S diplomatic officials) asked the U.S supreme court and Gov. Rick Perry to delay Leal's execution. The U.S supreme court denied the request(4 to 5 votes) so why did not Governor Perry delayed the execution? All he had to do was sign a paper. Was he worried about what kind of message he would be sending to the Latino criminals in Texas? I do not know. All that I know is that he sent a very bad message to the world. Governor Perry should be more aware of not just the consequences of his actions can have, but also of his inactions.