| Texas put to death a Mexican convicted murderer late Tuesday, defying a ruling from the International Court of Justice and ignoring a last-minute appeal from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. Jose Ernesto Medellin, 33, was killed by lethal injection in the Huntsville death chamber at 9:57 p.m. Medellin was sentenced to die for the 1993 rape and murder of two girls, aged 14 and 16, in Houston, Texas. The Mexican-born Medellin was in the midst of an initiation into the Black and Whites street gang at the time. The ICJ told US authorities in 2004 that Medellin's case and that of other Mexicans facing execution violated the Vienna Convention because authorities failed to inform the foreigners of their right to consular access and assistance during trial. US President George W. Bush ordered that the cases be reviewed, but the US Supreme Court in March ruled that his request was unconstitutional. Medellin's execution went ahead even though Ban urged US authorities to comply with the ICJ's order. |
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