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.