An Oklahoma County District Judge has deter­mined that Osbaldo Torres, a Mexican for­eign nation­al who was once on Oklahoma’s death row, should have been told before his tri­al that he had a right to con­tact his home coun­try’s con­sulate. Judge Twyla Mason Gray also found that Torres had inef­fec­tive coun­sel at his tri­al. Her find­ings stem from a December hear­ing held at the request of the State Court of Criminal Appeals. The appeals court want­ed Judge Gray to hear evi­dence about Torres’ rep­re­sen­ta­tion and to deter­mine if American offi­cials had vio­lat­ed pro­tec­tions guar­an­teed by the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. The find­ings have been sent to a high­er appeals court for review. Though it is uncer­tain when they will rule in the case, those judges could decide to order a new tri­al for Torres or affirm his con­vic­tion. After Torres had spent more than a decade on death row, Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry com­mut­ed Torres’ death sen­tence to life in prison with­out parole in May 2004. 

(The Oklahoman, March 22, 2005). See Foreign Nationals. See also, DPIC’s Web page on Medellin v. Dretke.

In the case involv­ing Jose Medellin and oth­er Mexican nation­als on death row in the U.S., the Supreme Court will con­sid­er the impli­ca­tions of a recent World Court rul­ing that ordered a U.S. review of the Mexicans’ con­vic­tions and death sen­tences because the defen­dants had not been giv­en their rights under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations to seek help from their consulate.

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