Oklahoma commutes Mexican man's death sentence
OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma (AP) -- Gov. Brad Henry commuted the death sentence of a convicted murderer from Mexico to life without parole Thursday in a case in which state and foreign officials alike said the inmate's life should be spared.
Henry's decision came the day the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals voted 3-2 to give Osbaldo Torres an indefinite stay of execution. The court granted Torres' 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.
The governor's decision, which makes the appeals court decision moot, came after the Pardon and Parole Board recommended clemency for Torres on May 7. Torres had been scheduled to die Tuesday for the 1993 deaths of Francisco Morales and Maria Yanez.
"My heart goes out to the family of Mr. Morales and Ms. Yanez," Henry said in a statement. "This was a difficult decision, but I believe clemency is warranted by a number of issues involved in this case."
Torres, 29, 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.
Mexican officials urged the state not to execute Torres, and the European Union also had 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. He had rejected the three previous clemency recommendations the parole board had issued since he took office last year.
"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 co-defendant George Ochoa were convicted in 1996 in the deaths of Morales and Yanez. Torres has said he thought he and Ochoa were just going to burglarize a home, and didn't know Ochoa planned to kill anyone. No execution date has been set for Ochoa, who has several appeals pending.
Before Henry granted clemency, the state appeals court Thursday had ordered the Oklahoma County District Court to determine whether the outcome of Torres' case would have been different if he had contacted consular officials.
"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.
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 Torres would have been convicted and sentenced to death even if consular officials had been contacted.
Defense attorney Mark Henricksen, however, said he believes that if Mexican officials had intervened, "it's very likely there would have been a different outcome in this case."
"Mexico has a demonstrated history, when they receive pretrial notification, to help ... wherever they can," Henricksen said. "They're particularly helpful in providing mitigating evidence, particularly with witnesses and evidence located in Mexico."
The Torres family contacted the Mexican consulate only after Torres had been on death row for nearly a year.
Mexican Ambassador Carlos de Icaza told the pardon and parole board 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.
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