OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals on Thursday postponed the execution of a convicted murderer from Mexico pending further court review.
The court granted Osbaldo Torres' request for a hearing before the Oklahoma County District Court on the state's failure to inform him of his right to contact the Mexican consulate after his arrest. At issue will be whether the outcome of the case would have been different if he had made this contact.
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.
Mexican officials have urged the state to cancel Torres' execution, which had been set for next Tuesday.
The state Pardon and Parole Board recommended Friday that Gov. Brad Henry spare Torres, 29, who was convicted of killing a couple during a 1993 burglary.
The lower-court hearing, which will also examine the issue of ineffective counsel, must be held within 60 days. The trial court must file its findings with the Court of Criminal Appeals within 45 days after the hearing.
Henry continues to weigh whether to give Torres clemency.
Torres and a second man were convicted in 1996 in the deaths of Francisco Morales and Maria Yanez. The couple were shot as they lay in bed in their home.
Jennifer Miller, assistant Oklahoma attorney general, has acknowledged that Torres' rights under the Vienna Convention were violated. But she contended the violation had no bearing on the outcome of the case and has said the execution should go forward.
The Torres family contacted the Mexican consulate only after Torres had been on death row for nearly a year. His parents, who illegally crossed from Mexico into the United States in the mid-1980s, saved their earnings from his father's welding job and his mother's cleaning work to pay for their son's defense.
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.