VOA常速英语2007-Immigrant Murder Case From Texas Goes To Supreme

By Greg Flakus
Houston
09 October 2007

U.S. Supreme¹ Court will hear arguments Wednesday in the case of a convicted murderer from Mexico who is trying to escape the death penalty by arguing that he was not informed at the time of his arrest in Texas of his right to speak with the Mexican consul². As VOA's Greg Flakus reports from Houston, the case centers not on the crime or the legal proceedings³ in Texas, but on the limits of presidential power.

The Medellin vs. Texas case pits President Bush against the courts in his home state of Texas, with the president and the U.S. Justice Department arguing on the side of a man convicted of rape⁴ and murder. No one is arguing that the convicted felon⁵ is innocent.

In 1993 Jose Medellin signed a confession⁶ that provided gruesome details about how he and five fellow gang members raped⁷ and murdered two teenage girls in Houston.

After being convicted, Medellin and four others were given the death penalty. But Medellin later appealed based on the failure of police to inform him of his right to contact the Mexican consulate⁸ to seek legal assistance after he had informed them that he was a Mexican citizen.

The state rejected this appeal on the grounds that he had not brought it up in the original trial, but in 2004 Mexico won a judgment⁹ from the International Court of Justice at the Hague ordering the United States to review such cases. The United States is obligated to inform foreign nationals of their right to speak to their nation's consuls¹⁰ under the 1963 Vienna Convention.

In February, 2005 President Bush ordered courts in Texas and elsewhere to review cases to comply with the International Court ruling. The state of Texas argues that the president exceeded his authority in doing this and that he should have gone to Congress to seek legislation allowing a direct appeal to federal courts in cases involving the Vienna Convention.

University of Texas law professor Ernest Young is among constitutional scholars who filed a friends-of-the-court appeal arguing that the president did exceed his constitutional authority in this case, but he says there are many issues involved here and it is difficult to say how the Supreme Court might rule.

"The justices who want to respect international law the most, who are also the judges who are most anti death penalty, the four liberals on the court, they are also the most suspicious of broad presidential powers," said Ernest Young. "On the other hand the justices who are most in favor of broad presidential power are in favor of the death penalty and skeptical¹¹ of international law."

Young says the controversy¹² surrounding this case and many others involving the Vienna Convention have made it less likely that local police will fail to inform foreign suspects of their rights, but he says it is a difficult rule to implement¹³ since the federal government that signed the international treaty has little control over the state and local authorities who are expected to carry it out.

"You are counting on tens of thousands of state and local people to be the primary enforcers of this obligation to tell foreign nationals about their rights," he said. "It is also made difficult by the fact that foreign nationals are often going to be reluctant to say that they are a foreign national because they might be here illegally."

Although attorneys from both sides will present their arguments in the case on Wednesday, the nine Supreme Court justices are not expected to make a decision until sometime next year.

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 consul   

n.领事；执政官

参考例句：

• A consul's duty is to help his own nationals.领事的职责是帮助自己的同胞。
• He'll hold the post of consul general for the United States at Shanghai.他将就任美国驻上海总领事(的职务)。

3 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

4 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

5 felon   

n.重罪犯；adj.残忍的

参考例句：

• He's a convicted felon.他是个已定罪的重犯。
• Hitler's early "successes" were only the startling depredations of a resolute felon.希特勒的早期“胜利 ”，只不过是一个死心塌地的恶棍出人意料地抢掠得手而已。

6 confession   

n.自白，供认，承认

参考例句：

• Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
• The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。

7 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

8 consulate   

n.领事馆

参考例句：

• The Spanish consulate is the large white building opposite the bank.西班牙领事馆是银行对面的那栋高大的白色建筑物。
• The American consulate was a magnificent edifice in the centre of Bordeaux.美国领事馆是位于波尔多市中心的一座宏伟的大厦。

9 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

10 consuls   

领事( consul的名词复数 )； （古罗马共和国时期）执政官 （古罗马共和国及其军队的最高首长，同时共有两位，每年选举一次）

参考例句：

• American consuls warned that millions more were preparing to leave war-ravaged districts. 美国驻外领事们预告，还有几百万人正在准备离开战争破坏的地区。
• The legionaries, on their victorious return, refused any longer to obey the consuls. 军团士兵在凯旋归国时，不肯服从执政官的命令。

11 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

12 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

13 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。