Texas has executed a Mexican-born man on July 7, ignoring appeals made by the U.S. Supreme Court, President Obama, and Mexico to spare the convicted murderer’s life in order to protect U.S. interests abroad.

Humberto Leal Garcia, 38 was convicted of the rape and murder of a 16-year-old San Antonio girl in 1994. He was executed by lethal injection at a Texas death chamber in Huntsville.

Leal suffered from brain damage and was sexually abused by a priest as a child. On May 21, 1994, Leal kidnapped, raped, and murdered Adria Sauceda. Sauceda was at a party where she became intoxicated and a group of men gang-raped her. According to the case, Leal offered her a ride home and the two struggled when Sauceda tried to get out of the car.

Both forensic evidence and witness statements tied Leal to the crime. In statements to police, he acknowledged fighting with Sauceda and pushing her to the ground, where he said she hit her head.

At the time of his arrest, Leal was not informed that, as a Mexican citizen, he was entitled to assistance from a Mexican counsel. However, Leal had not revealed his Mexican citizenship, and the issue of consular access was not raised during the trial. The failure to inform Leal of his rights created legal controversy.

Shortly before Leal’s trip to the death chamber, the Supreme Court rejected, by 5-4, an appeal from the White House to stop the execution on the grounds that it was in breach of an international convention governing the treatment of foreigners who are arrested and would therefore cause “irreparable harm” to U.S. interests abroad.

“That breach would have serious repercussions for United States foreign relations, law-enforcement and other co-operation with Mexico, and the ability of American citizens travelling abroad to have the benefits of consular assistance in the event of detention,” the court brief said.

But, Stephen Hoffman, an assistant attorney general for Texas, said in a brief to the Supreme Court: “Leal’s argument is nothing but a transparent attempt to evade his impending punishment.”

A number of retired military officers, diplomats and prominent Republicans backed the appeal. Maintaining the integrity of an international treaty protecting the legal rights of Americans abroad was more important than delivering swift justice to one criminal, no matter how depraved.

Donald J. Guter, a retired rear admiral in the Navy’s Judge Advocate General Corps, called the case terrible and said he had no sympathy for Garcia.

“I’m looking to protect American citizens and American service members who travel overseas, and making sure they have the protection of the treaty,” Guter said.

Texas Governor Rick Perry declined to intervene in the Leal case and the Texas Board of Paroles and Pardons voted on Tuesday, July 5 to allow the execution to proceed.

“Texas is not bound by a foreign court’s ruling,” said Katherine Cesinger, a spokeswoman for Perry. “If you commit the most heinous of crimes in Texas, you can expect to face the ultimate penalty under our laws.”

Currently, the U.S. government is working to limit the diplomatic fallout that has taken place since the execution in hopes that American interests abroad will not have to be subject to any harm.

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The great state of Texas executed a man last week. In and of itself, this is hardly newsworthy. However, this particular man was a citizen of Mexico and not of the United States. This single execution could lead to a foreign crisis.

Humberto Leal Garcia, 38, was convicted of the rape and murder of a 16-year-old San Antonio girl in 1994. He was sentenced to death and has remained on death row since that time. A U.N.-backed tribunal court ruled in 2004 that Garcia was one of dozens of Mexican nationals sentenced to death by U.S. courts who had been denied their right to legal help from the Mexican consulate, violating a U.N. treaty.

The U.S. is part of a treaty that grants the right of consular assistance to all foreigners charged with a crime.  The U.N. court’s decision was even endorsed by then-President George W. Bush. However, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the U.N. decision, stating only Congress had the power to force states to review criminal cases.

Obama administration lawyers and a number of foreign policy experts expressed concern over the execution. However, Garcia was executed by lethal injection at the Texas death chamber in Huntsville despite the concerns.

In June, Sen. Patrick Leahy introduced legislation to force state courts to review the cases of Mexican nationals, but no further action has been taken on the bill. Late Thursday afternoon, the Supreme Court rejected a petition by U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr., who stated in a brief that Garcia’s execution violated international law and could do “irreparable harm” to U.S. foreign policy interests. Verrilli argued that the court should grant Garcia a stay of execution until Congress could vote on Sen. Leahy’s legislation.

In a 5-4 decision, the court rejected his argument. “Our task is to rule on what the law is, not what it might eventually be,” the unsigned majority decision declared. A dissent by Justice Stephen Breyer, however, said that the majority was “wrong in each respect” in its decision to reject the petition.

A number of legal experts, military officials and prominent Republicans backed the appeal. Donald J. Guter, a retired rear admiral in the Navy’s Judge Advocate General Corps, who signed a letter endorsing the Obama administration’s appeal, called the case “terrible” and said he had “no sympathy” for Garcia.

“I’m looking to protect American citizens and American service members who travel overseas, and making sure they have the protection of the treaty,” said Guter, now president and dean of the South Texas College of Law. “I think we need to take a step back and ask what principle is at stake here, and what’s best for American citizens,” he said.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry declined to intervene in the Garcia case, and the Texas Board of Paroles and Pardons voted on Tuesday to allow the execution to proceed.  ”Texas is not bound by a foreign court’s ruling,” said Katherine Cesinger, a spokeswoman for Perry. “If you commit the most heinous of crimes in Texas, you can expect to face the ultimate penalty under our laws.”

Remember Michael Fay? He was the American that was lashed six times in Singapore for vandalism. The canings created an international controversy. Most Americans were outraged that Singapore punished the American teenager.

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