AUSTIN, Texas – Los abogados del mexicano Humberto Leal García, cuya ejecución está programada en Texas para el 7 de julio, introducen este jueves una petición de presentación y una moción de espera, argumentando que el condenado tiene derecho a permanecer con vida hasta que pueda beneficiarse con la legislación presentada por el Senador Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., a principios de esta semana. La Consular Notification Compliance Act (Ley de Acatamiento de la Notificación Consular) daría jurisdicción a las cortes federales para revisar casos en los que extranjeros hayan sido condenados a muerte sin acceso al auxilio consular antes de su sentencia.

La ley, presentada ante el Senado de los Estados Unidos, da esperanza a algunos extranjeros que esperan la pena de muerte en cárceles del país, aunque podría llegar demasiado tarde para el mexicano Humberto Leal García. Esta Ley garantizaría que las cortes se sometieran a una legislación internacional que establece que la persona arrestada en suelo extranjero tiene derecho a recibir apoyo de su país de origen. Los abogados de Leal gestionan mociones este jueves en la corte federal, con la esperanza de postergar su ejecución para que pueda beneficiarse con la ley cuando entre en vigor, si es que entra.

Christopher Durocher, abogado de asuntos gubernamentales en The Constitution Project (El Proyecto Constitución) dice que el acceso al apoyo consular es crítico si la justicia ha de prevalecer para los extranjeros.

"Cuando eres presentado ante un sistema de justicia criminal extranjero, no comprendes cómo funciona ese sistema para poder navegar en él eficientemente, y eso puede tener un impacto realmente negativo en tu habilidad para defenderte solo."

Teme que si los Estados Unidos no honra los compromisos que asumió mediante el tratado, otros países considerarán el acceso consular para los americanos como algo opcional. Más de 6,600 ciudadanos americanos fueron arrestados en el extranjero el año pasado.

Durocher asegura que Leal es un ejemplo perfecto de alguien cuya sentencia merece ser revisada, porque su carencia de acceso consular claramente afectó sus posibilidades de tener un juicio justo. Su ejecución, añade, no sería una noticia bien recibida por los otros 172 países firmantes de la Convención de Viena sobre Relaciones Consulares.

"El sistema de justicia criminal de los Estados Unidos es tenido como modelo de equidad y justicia. Un sistema realmente investigador. Y nuestra negativa a honrar el acceso consular da una imagen deplorable ante la comunidad internacional."

Si las cortes federales no detienen la ejecución de Leal, dice Durocher que el Gobernador Rick Perry debería ofrecerle un indulto, al menos hasta que la Ley de Acatamiento de Notificación Consular entre en vigor.

Leal siempre ha sostenido que es inocente de la violación y muerte de una adolescente tejana en 1994. Su abogado dice que tuvo una definciente defensa que fracasó al usar muchos hechos y evidencias de descargo.

Lea la legislación del Senador Leahy en www.humbertoleal.org/consular-notification-compliance-act.html.


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A package to improve public safety is moving ahead in the California state Legislature - with a floor vote in the State Assembly on the first bill expected this week.

Assembly Bill 2215 puts into statute that police officers have the discretion to send people arrested for low-level offenses directly to supportive services.

Anthony DiMartino - government affairs director with the nonprofit Californians for Safety and Justice - said sometimes public safety is best served when people avoid arrest and instead get therapy, addiction support or help getting a job.

"We're also hoping to raise awareness that this is something officers can do, and then also encourage partnerships more with officers to look at what's in their community," said DiMartino, "as alternatives to jail booking."

A second bill would increase transparency and accountability on money sent to the counties as part of the Public Safety Realignment.

A third bill would require police officers, prosecuting attorneys and investigators to identify themselves any time they're interviewing a family member of someone killed or severely injured by police.

DiMartino said they also support AB 2499, which would ensure that survivors of violent crime and their family members can take unpaid time off work to address safety concerns and heal.

"We're hoping to broaden the scope a bit," said DiMartino, "and make it more clear that family members of victims are able to also tap into unpaid leave to support their family member that has been a victim."

A fifth bill would make it easier for justice-involved people and crime victims to speak freely during restorative justice programs - by making the communications inadmissible in other legal proceedings.

Missouri went through with its first execution of the year, as Brian Dorsey was put to death last night, just after 6 p.m. CT.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to stop Dorsey's execution. He was convicted of murdering his cousin Sarah Bonnie and her husband Ben nearly 20 years ago.

The advocacy group Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty launched several recent campaigns on Dorsey's behalf to spare his life.

Jenni Gerhauser, a cousin to both Dorsey and Sarah Bonnie, expressed belief in his redemption.

"Brian is more than the worst moment of his life," Gerhauser stressed. "There is so much more to him."

Gerhauser fondly remembered him as fun and charming from their visits during holidays. Dorsey's current lawyers said he was in a drug-induced psychosis when he killed the Bonnies in 2006 and his attorneys at the time had been offered money, preventing them from fighting the death penalty with his guilty plea deal.

Gov. Mike Parson confirmed Monday the state would move forward with Dorsey's death sentence, rejecting a separate request for clemency. More than 70 current and former corrections officers had urged the governor to commute Dorsey's sentence, arguing he had been rehabilitated.

Claudia Boyce, also a cousin in the family, said it should not be a decision for the state to make.

"You know, that's supposed to be God's decision, not ours," Boyce contended.

Dorsey received a lethal injection Tuesday evening. Lethal injection became an option for people on Missouri's death row in 1987, alongside lethal gas.


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Amid overcrowding and unsafe conditions in West Virginia jails, state lawmakers introduced bills that would allow judges to take a 'second look' at an individual's original sentence.

If a court determines they no longer pose a threat to the community, the person could be released, placed on supervision, or receive a shortened sentence.

Sara Whitaker - criminal legal policy analyst with the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy - said West Virginia is one of the few states that has seen its prison population balloon over the past decade, despite declining crime.

She noted that as of last month, more than 500 people in the state were in jail awaiting transfer to a prison.

"As a result, eight out of 10 of the regional jails in the state were beyond capacity," said Whitaker, "with hundreds of people assigned to sleeping on the floor."

The bills failed to advance this session, but Whitaker said advocates are hopeful lawmakers will consider them next year.

The state's jails remain among the deadliest in the country, with at least 91 people losing their lives while incarcerated in the past few years.

According to the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, jail bills cost counties $45 million in 2022.

Nationwide, long sentences have led to growth in the number of older people behind bars.

Whitaker pointed out that 'Second Look' legislation could help the state avoid turning its prisons into nursing homes, and said the number of elderly people in prison has tripled in the past two decades.

"In 2019, West Virginia had to open a dementia unit in one of its prisons," said Whitaker. "There are hospice units across multiple prisons. And experts predict that this is just only going to get worse."

Whitaker added that 'Second Look' policies also offer a way to correct past racial injustice in the criminal legal system.

Black people incarcerated in West Virginia are four times more likely than white people to be serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole, and five times as likely to be serving a life-without-parole sentence.




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