The U.S. state of Texas has executed a Mexican national after the U.S. Supreme Court and state governor declined to act on concerns raised by the Obama administration regarding international treaty violations.
Humberto Leal Garcia, 38, was executed by lethal injection at a state prison in Huntsville after the court and Governor Rick Perry, a conservative who is said to be eyeing a presidential bid, declined to act on requests to delay.
Leal was convicted of raping a 16-year-old girl and then bludgeoning her to death with a piece of asphalt in Texas in 1994.
Lawyers for Leal, who had lived in the United States since the age of 2, claimed he had not been properly informed of his right to contact Mexican consular officials, as required under the Vienna Convention.
The White House had echoed a complaint of the previous administration that Leal's execution could endanger U.S. nationals arrested abroad, and it asked for a delay to allow Congress to consider legislation to allow fresh hearings for Leal and dozens of other Mexican nationals on death row in the United States.
compiled from agency reports
Humberto Leal Garcia, 38, was executed by lethal injection at a state prison in Huntsville after the court and Governor Rick Perry, a conservative who is said to be eyeing a presidential bid, declined to act on requests to delay.
Leal was convicted of raping a 16-year-old girl and then bludgeoning her to death with a piece of asphalt in Texas in 1994.
Lawyers for Leal, who had lived in the United States since the age of 2, claimed he had not been properly informed of his right to contact Mexican consular officials, as required under the Vienna Convention.
The White House had echoed a complaint of the previous administration that Leal's execution could endanger U.S. nationals arrested abroad, and it asked for a delay to allow Congress to consider legislation to allow fresh hearings for Leal and dozens of other Mexican nationals on death row in the United States.
compiled from agency reports