Supreme Court won't reconsider Mexican nationals death sentences

The U.S. Supreme Court has removed one of the final hurdles preventing the execution of three Mexican nationals sentenced to death in Hidalgo County.

The justices declined to take up the appeals of Ruben Cardenas, Hector Garcia and Roberto Moreno Ramos on Monday, a week after siding against another convicted killer who appealed his case on similar grounds.

The men claimed they deserved another hearing on their case because U.S. authorities failed to tell them Mexican consular officials could be notified of their arrest, a right guaranteed under the 1963 Vienna Convention.

The International Court of Justice found in 2004 that 48 other Mexican citizens currently on death row in the United States had been similarly affected.

But the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 last week that Texas courts could disregard the international court's findings and deny a new hearing to Jose Medellin, a man convicted of the rape and murders of two Houston teenagers 15 years ago.

The treaty, which had been signed by the president but not ratified by Congress, did not overrule state law, they said.

Seven other Mexican nationals including Cardenas, Garcia and Ramos had similar cases pending with the high court. All were turned down Monday.

A Hidalgo County jury sentenced Ramos, 53, living in Progreso at the time, to death for the 1992 murders of his wife and two children.

Garcia, 46, was convicted of fatally shooting a 14-year-old boy during a convenience store robbery north of Edinburg in 1989.

Cardenas, 37, received a death sentence for binding, kidnapping and raping an Edinburg teenager in 1997 before dumping her body in a nearby canal.

They are among 14 Mexican citizens currently on death row in Texas.

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Jeremy Roebuck covers courts and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4437.