According to
Holy Scripture, God blessed Texas with his own hands (Maybe. I don’t know I’m
not a creation scientist). I mentioned
in an earlier piece how I have come to enjoy living in this state and how nice
the people are here but, occasionally some jackass will ruin the moment. This time it is not some late to the party
state representative but the Governor of Texas himself, Rick Perry. I am
not going to talk about the “questionable” things he has done before. Like his failed Presidential run or his
racist ranch decorations. This is a
different matter all together and I encourage you to finish or this will not
make sense and make me look like a fool (I know it is not hard to make me look
oafish but shut it). Here it is: Rick
Perry allowed the state of Texas to execute a cop killer.
In 1994,
officer Guy Gaddis arrested Edgar Tamayo Arias for theft outside of a Houston
nightclub. While in custody (I.E.
handcuffed in the back of a squad car), Edgar pulled a firearm he had concealed
in his pants and shot officer Gaddis three times in the neck and head. What happened to officer Guy Gaddis is a
senseless tragedy and cannot be forgiven.
Shooting someone in the back is a cowardly act and I wish nothing but
the worst of times in every circle of hell for Edgar Arias, which he is
probably getting a feel for after his execution was enacted on February 19th. Let me be even more blunt, I hold no sympathy
for this human piece of garbage and I do not feel bad he is no longer with
us. Which begs the question, why am I
upset the state of Texas put him to death?
Interesting question and an even more interesting answer waits.
Edgar Tamayo
Arias was a Mexican national. He could
barely speak English at the time of his arrest and did not understand the
rights afforded someone who has committed a crime on American soil. The Mexican Consulate did not learn of the
situation until a week before his trial.
Keep in mind, he was charged and held in custody for months before his
trial date. One week is not nearly long
enough to prepare for a capital murder case, especially if you are not a
citizen or speak the language of the country you are being tried in. Still do not sympathize with Edgar?
Good. We are fresh out of sympathy and
this is not the point. Now, what could
the Mexican consulate have revealed at trial were they given the proper
time? It would have been revealed Edgar
Arias had an IQ of 67 and possibly other mental illnesses. Here
is the kicker; this does not excuse what happened but it does matter. Why?
If this
information was introduced at trial and verified on the United States side, the
worst that would have happened was Edgar Arias would still have been found
guilty and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. That is it. Biff bam boom. If this still does not sound like justice then
maybe this will help. There is plenty ofresearch on the subject of the mentally ill in prisons and it is not
encouraging. There is no standard for
the screening of mental illness upon induction into most prisons so prison
personnel have no idea why an inmate will not cooperate or follow the rules
except that he is a problem inmate. This
can lead to the revoking of privileges or being thrown into solitary
confinement. Many inmates who spend
copious amounts of time in solitary confinement are believed to suffer from one
or more mental illnesses. Isolation in a
concrete slab with nothing but an itchy blanket is not pleasant and there is
reason to believe this drives inmates (normal ones) insane.
Again, why
does all of this matter? It matters
because the state of Texas violated the only rule of international law no one
ever violates; if someone is arrested and charged with a crime in a foreign
country you contact the country which they are a citizen of. You allow them a proper defense and nothing
more is required. When all is said and
done, Edgar Arias probably, again probably, would have received life in prison
without the possibility of parole and spent the rest of his life being shuttled
back and forth from general population to solitary confinement. Growing more isolated and confused everyday
with no allies and no privileges because corrections officers don’t do cop
killers favors. Instead, he was housed
in a special cell for sixteen years with privileges, guards taking good care of
him, and no chance of running into other inmates.
American
citizens should be worried about this because it affects them as well. Who among us has not been down to Mexico and made
a few bad decisions? Lord knows I have
and now there is retribution to be had for annoying Americans who get arrested
in Mexico on real or fake charges. This
is not just me blustering:
Mexican authorities have a duty to
the millions of Mexicans who live in the U.S. to turn on the political and
diplomatic pressure.
Texas has executed a Mexican citizen
and Americans may suffer as a result. Americans can now be executed without
receiving access to their consulates and the U.S. lacks the moral standing to
complain.
Those were
editorials from two of the highest selling newspapers in Mexico, El Universal
and La Jornada.
The United
States of America is a part of the world community or not. We either abide by international law like the
rest of the world or we do not. We
cannot have it both ways and we are quickly losing our moral standing in this
world and the ability to be what John Winthrop hoped our fledgling nation would
be, “a city upon a hill, watched by the world”.
I do not know what justice really encompasses and I do not know what
would have been just in this situation.
What I do know is Edgar Arias deserved to die in anonymity and we as a
nation deserve better.
