AP: Court: Bush can't help foreign killer

Wednesday, November 15, 2006 · Last updated 8:16 p.m. PT

By MICHAEL GRACZYK
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

HOUSTON -- A state appeals court chastised President Bush on Wednesday for
intervening in the case of a condemned killer born in Mexico, one of several
dozen cases in which Bush ordered new hearings amid international complaints.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rejected the argument from Jose Ernesto
Medellin that he was denied legal help he should have received under international treaties.

"We hold that the President has exceeded his constitutional authority by intruding
into the independent powers of the judiciary," the court said in a 64-page ruling.

At issue overall was how much weight U.S. courts should give to decisions of the
International Court of Justice in The Hague, which ruled the convictions of Medellin
and 50 other Mexican-born prisoners violated the 1963 Vienna Convention. The pact
requires consular access for Americans detained abroad and foreigners arrested in the
United States.

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