The Supreme Court refused yesterday to be drawn into an international debate over how the United States treats foreigners on death row.
Despite concerns raised by two justices, the court said it will not consider the case of an Oklahoma death-row inmate who says that police and other authorities never told him he had the right to meet with Mexican consular officials after his arrest.
The Vienna Convention, a 1963 treaty signed by the United States, requires an "arresting government" to notify a foreign national of the right to talk with the detainee's consulate or embassy, and foreign governments can arrange legal help for their nationals.
It applies to Americans abroad and to foreigners arrested in the United States.
Foreign governments and defense lawyers have accused U.S. police departments and prosecutors of failing to follow the treaty uniformly.
The justices refused without comment to hear the appeal of Osbaldo Torres Aguilera. Justices John Paul Stevens and Stephen Breyer noted misgivings about the decision.
The World Court at The Hague ruled this year that the United States should delay the executions of several men, including Torres, while the court investigates whether the more than 50 Mexican nationals on U.S. death rows had been given their rights to legal help from the Mexican government.
The World Court, officially known as the International Court of Justice, has scheduled a week of hearings next month to discuss the treatment of Mexican defendants. The Supreme Court was told that the court may have a ruling by spring.
Justice Breyer said the Supreme Court should not have disposed of the Torres case until the World Court has completed its deliberations.
That may be too late for Torres. Oklahoma could set his execution date within two months, Breyer said.
Torres is among 120 foreign nationals from 29 countries on death row in the United States, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
A lawyer for the government of Mexico said it has had no opportunity to help Torres, who was 18 when he was arrested. Mexican leaders found out about his case only after he was on death row.
Torres was convicted of killing an Oklahoma City couple in 1993 during a burglary.
The World Court had tried to intervene on behalf of Torres and two Texas death-row inmates from Mexico. It has no power to enforce its decisions, some of which the United States has disregarded in the past.
Mexico does not have a death penalty.