May 13


OKLAHOMA-----stay of execution

Court halts execution


The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals Thursday granted a stay of
execution for Osbaldo Torres and ordered a hearing on 2 issues in his
case.

Torres, convicted of 1st-degree murder of an Oklahoma City couple, was
scheduled to be executed next Tuesday.

The court's 3-2 decision came just a day after close to 150 people
demonstrated outside the capitol, calling on Gov. Brad Henry to grant
Torres clemency. The court wants an evidentiary hearing in District Court
in Oklahoma County on 2 issues:

* Whether Torres was prejudiced by the state's violation of his Vienna
Convention rights in failing to inform him after he was detained, that he
had the right to contact the Mexican consulate.

* Whether he had ineffective counsel.

(source: The Oklahoman)

Thank God!!!!!!!
Softie


May 13


OKLAHOMA:

Henry grants clemency


Gov. Brad Henry commuted the death sentence Thursday of a convicted
murderer from Mexico to life without parole, ending a monthlong battle by
the 29-year-old to avoid lethal injection.

Henry's decision came after the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals voted
3-2 to give Osbaldo Torres' an indefinite stay of execution and grant his
request for a lower court hearing on the state's failure to inform him of
his right to contact the Mexican consulate after his arrest.

At issue was whether the outcome of the case would have been different if
he had made this contact.

"My heart goes out to the family of Mr. Morales and Ms. Yanez. This was a
difficult decision, but I believe clemency is warranted by a number of
issues involved in this case," Henry said in a statement.

Torres is one of 51 Mexicans on death row nationwide cited in a March 31
ruling by the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands.
The world court found the inmates' rights were violated because they were
not told they could receive help from their governments as guaranteed by
the 1963 Vienna Convention.

The decision makes the state criminal appeals court ruling moot.

The appeals court judges had ordered a hearing in Oklahoma County District
Court within 60 days to examine the issue of ineffective counsel in
Torres' case.

"I have concluded that there is a possibility a significant miscarriage of
justice occurred," Judge Charles Chapel wrote in the majority opinion.

In a dissenting opinion, Judge Gary Lumpkin argued that Torres had been
represented by competent lawyers at each stage of his proceedings and had
been afforded all the rights guaranteed to citizens of the United States.

Mexican officials urged the state not to execute Torres, who was scheduled
to die Tuesday. The European Union had also asked that the execution be
stayed.

Henry said he made his decision after hearing arguments from the state
Attorney General's office, Torres' appellate defense attorneys and the
victims' relatives.

"It is important to remember that the actual shooter in this horrific
murders was also sentenced to death and faces execution," Henry said in
his statement. "Osbaldo Torres will spend the rest of his life behind bars
for his role in this deplorable crime."

Torres and a 2nd man were convicted in 1996 for the death of Morales and
Yanez, who were shot as they lay in bed in their home.

The state has acknowledged that Torres' rights under the Vienna Convention
were violated.

But Charlie Price, a spokesman for Oklahoma Attorney General Drew
Edmondson, said the outcome of Torres' trial was not affected by this
violation.

"We have argued that had Mexico been notified, there would have been no
difference in the outcome of the trial, that he still would have been
convicted and sentenced," Price said.

Oklahoma City defense attorney Mark Henricksen, who has handled Torres'
appeals, said the violation was significant.

"Mexico has a demonstrated history, when they receive pre-trial
notification, to help investigate cases, fund experts and help in
investigations wherever can," Henricksen said.

Mexican Ambassador Carlos de Icaza told the pardon and parole board at the
clemency hearing that besides Torres' rights being violated, evidence in
the case failed to show he committed the murders.

A group of 10 former diplomats, professors and law school faculty have
filed legal briefs in support of Torres' appeal.

Arizona, Arkansas, California, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon and Texas also have
Mexicans on death row who fall under the world court ruling.

(source: Associated Press)