Jose Ernesto Medellin will undergo the death penalty in Texas, according to a Supreme Court ruling on Tuesday.
The Mexican murderer was embroiling in a battle between various levels of government, such as federal, state, municipal and international authorities.
President George W. Bush urged that Medellin be allowed new hearings and sentencing. The President's decision came after an international consulate determined that Medellin was improperly denied access to his consulate before his original prosecution, which is a violation of a treaty signed by the United States during the 1963 Vienna Convention.
The 6-3 vote means the pending execution of Medellin can proceed. He faces lethal injection for two slayings.
Chief Justice John Roberts voted for the execution. Roberts was supported in his position by Justices John Paul Stevens, Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito.
Justice Stephen Breyer voted in the negative with the support of Justices David Souter and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
At age 18, Medellin participated in the June 1993 gang rape and murder of two Harris County, Texas, girls: Jennifer Ertman, 14, and Elizabeth Pena, 16. He was convicted of the crimes and sentenced to death. He has been on death row in Texas ever since.
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