The State of Texas is scheduled to execute Robert Moreno Ramos tonight, Wednesday, November 14, 2018. He was convicted of killing his wife and two youngest children in 1992 in Hidalgo County. In violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, Ramos was not notified of his right, as a Mexican national, to contact consular officials upon arrest. His trial attorneys provided inadequate legal representation and failed to present important mitigating evidence to jurors. Human Rights Watch appealed to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and Governor Greg Abbott to grant clemency to Ramos, based on these factors.
According to a press release issued by his current attorney, “no juror, court or decision-maker has ever considered a single piece of evidence or a single argument for sparing his life.”
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, 37 foreign nationals have been executed in the United States since 1977. This includes 16 individuals in Texas. Most recently, Ruben Cardenas, a Mexican national was put to death on November 8, 2017. Like Robert Ramos, Cardenas was not notified of his right to contact the Mexican consulate upon arrest. He was interrogated without the presence of legal representation.
Read more about Robert Ramos in the Texas Tribune.
The State of Texas has executed 10 people to date in 2018, accounting for half of the 20 executions nationwide. There are two executions scheduled for December. The State of Texas executed 13 people in 2015.