Medellin v. Texas

Jose Medellin (D), a Mexican national was found guilty for being part of the gang rape and murder of two teenage girls in Houston. He argued that the state had violated his rights under the Vienna Convention in which the United States is a party. Under the Vienna Convention, any foreign national detained for any crime has a right to contact his consulate.Though his appeal was dismissed by the Supreme Court, the Court took up his case again and Medellin (D) argument rested in part on a holding by the International Court of Justice in Case Concerning Avena and Other Mexican Nationals (Mex v U.S.), 2004 I.C.J. 12 that the U.S. had violated the Vienna Convention rights of 51 Mexican national (including Medellin (D) and that their state-court convictions must be reconsidered, regardless of any forfeiture of the right to raise the Vienna Convention claims because of a failure to follow state rules governing criminal convictions.Based on these, Medellin (D) argued that the Vienna Convention granted him an individual right that state courts must respect. A memorandum from the U.S. President that instructed state courts to comply with the I.C.J’s rulings by rehearsing the cases was also cited by Medellin (D). He further argued that the Constitution gives the President broad power to ensure that treaties are enforced, and that this power extends to the treatment of treaties in state court proceedings.