As the girls passed MedellÃn, he attempted to engage
Elizabeth in conversation. When she tried to run,
MedellÃn grabbed her and threw her to the ground.
Elizabeth screamed for Jennifer’s help, but when Jennifer
ran back she was grabbed by gang members Sean O’Brien
and Peter Cantu and also thrown to the ground.
As MedellÃn later confessed, what ensued was the brutal
gang rape and murder of both Jennifer and Elizabeth. The gang members orally, vaginally, and anally raped both of them. When they were done, they strangled both girls to death. Later that evening, MedellÃn and other gang members went to Cantu’s house, where he lived with his brother and sister-in-law, Joe and Christina Cantu. Christina asked the group what they had done that evening, and MedellÃn responded that they had “had fun” and that their
exploits would be seen on the television news. MedellÃn
described to Joe and Christina how he had punched one of
the girls because she had started screaming after he grabbed her.
MedellÃn went on to recount gang-raping both girls and showed them his blood-soaked underwear. When Christina asked the group what had happened to the girls, MedellÃn told her they had both been killed so they could not identify their attackers. MedellÃn explained that killing the girls would have been easier with a gun, but because they did not have one, he took off one of his shoelaces and strangled one of the girls with it. MedellÃn complained of the difficulty in killing Jennifer and Elizabeth, relating that he had to put his foot on the throat of one of the girls because she would not die.
Long story short on this, Christina finally convinced her husband to go to the police, which he did and MedellÃn was arrested on June 29, 1993 at 4 am. Some two hours later, between 5:54 and 7:23 that morning, MedellÃn was read his Miranda warnings aloud, signed a written waiver, and gave a detailed written confession of the crime. His confession detailed how each girl had pleaded for her life, prior to being murdered. Although born in Mexico, MedellÃn has lived in the United States most of his life. In other words, he was an illegal alien, no matter how many years he has been here.
MedellÃn was tried and convicted of murder during the
course of a sexual assault, a capital offense. The jury unanimously recommended a death sentence, and the district court sentenced MedellÃn to death. At no point during trial, sentencing, or the
subsequent direct appeal, did MedellÃn – who had the
assistance of two court-appointed attorneys – assert any
claim under the Vienna Convention. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed MedellÃn’s conviction and sentence in an unpublished opinion. Rather than petition this Court for certiorari, MedellÃn contacted the Mexican consulate, and the consular authorities began assisting him with a state habeas corpus application. Eleven months later, MedellÃn filed his First Application seeking habeas corpus relief.
After his First Application was rejected, MedellÃn filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in federal district court. MedellÃn claimed that he should receive a new trial because he had not been advised of his right to consular notification under the Vienna Convention. The federal district court rejected that claim as well. MedellÃn subsequently applied to the Fifth Circuit for a COA, which was denied. While MedellÃn’s application for COA was pending in the Fifth Circuit, the ICJ issued its decision in Avena and other Mexican Nationals. In Avena, the ICJ concluded that the United States had violated Article 36 of the Vienna Convention in the case of MedellÃn and 50 other Mexican nationals.
The ICJ rejected Mexico’s request for annulment of the convictions and sentences, and concluded that the remedy for the Article 36 violations was that the United States must provide “review and reconsideration" of the sentences and convictions of MedellÃn and the other 50 Mexican nationals. The ICJ further ordered that the “review and reconsideration” must take place within
the judicial system of the United States, and that the doctrine of procedural default could not bar such review.
While the case was pending before the Court, the President issued a document styled as a “Memorandum for the Attorney General.” Yes, this would be President George W. Bush. The memorandum is as follows:
“I have determined, pursuant to the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, that the United States will discharge its international obligations under the decision of the International Court of Justice in [Avena], by having State courts give effect to the decision in accordance with general principles of comity in cases filed by the 51 Mexican nationals addressed in that decision.”
President Bush sided with Mexico and ordered the States to comply with the World Court and release not only MedellÃn, but 50 other Mexican Nationals as well. The U.S. Attorney General then mailed the memorandum to various state officials, including the Attorney General of Texas, Greg Abbott. Judge Keasler’s plurality
opinion, assumed – without deciding – that the memorandum constituted an executive order requiring Texas’s compliance. The plurality observed, however, that, “executive orders issued by the President must be authorized by an act of Congress or by the Constitution.” Treating the Presidential Memorandum as an order intended to bind Texas courts, the plurality considered the memorandum to be an “unprecedented” exercise of executive power, and held that the President had exceeded his constitutional authority “by intruding into the independent power of the judiciary.”
Presiding Judge Keller filed a concurring opinion stating
that the President does not have the power to order a state
court to ignore rules of procedural default and statutes
governing successive habeas corpus petitions.
Why is all of this important? Because a case has already been heard against a sitting President and his administration for overstepping their bounds and attempting to force a state to do their bidding. Saddens me that President Bush did this, but he did. He was willing to push aside the fact that an illegal alien, who was in this country illegally, brutally raped and murdered 2 teenage girls. He was willing to appease the World Court and let the murder and others go free. Only that didn't happen. And the reason it didn't happen is because 1 man led the charge against President Bush and his executive order.
That man was Ted Cruz. He stood up to a sitting President and challenged him on his abuse of executive power, and with the help of Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, they won. On August 5, 2008, MedellÃn was executed for his crimes. Greg Abbott and Ted Cruz defied an executive order from a Republican President and overcame the obstacles such an act attracts. Greg Abbott is running for Governor of Texas and I pray he wins. I pray Ted Cruz wins the Presidency. These are the types of individuals that we need overseeing our states and our country. They did not play to the party rules that the Democrats and the RINO's do. They stand for justice and for what is right and go after those who break the law, no matter who they are. Wendy Davis would never have the guts or the inclination to do such a thing as this. And neither does Barack Obama. The left is filled with cowards who lust after power and money. The true right is filled with Greg Abbotts' and Ted Cruz' and these are the men who will save Texas and the Country.
I dare anyone on the left to call Mr. Cruz a racist. He not only went after Mexicans, he also went after a white Republican President. Wrong is wrong and it doesn't matter what side of the aisle you are on and color? That is nothing more than a mere shade of grey in the eyes of justice.