The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles removed one of the last barriers to the scheduled execution of a Mexican citizen, Miguel Angel Flores, by denying his request for clemency on the grounds that Texas had violated an international treaty.
Flores (31) was due to die by lethal injection yesterday evening for the 1989 rape and murder of a college student, Angela Tyson, in Borger, Texas, but the pending punishment has drawn opposition from Mexico, several other countries and the European Union.
They argue that Texas, which leads the nation in executions, violated the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations by not notifying Flores of his right to contact the Mexican consulate at the time of his arrest.
He asked the parole board for a 90-day reprieve or commutation of his sentence to life in prison, but lost on both counts by votes of 18-0. His last hopes lay in an appeal before the US Supreme Court or with Governor George W. Bush, who could grant a 30-day reprieve and ask the parole board, made up of his appointees, to reconsider.
Mr Bush will not make a decision until all legal appeals have been decided, a Bush spokeswoman said.
She said Governor Bush had received letters from the EU and Argentina, Spain, Poland and Switzerland seeking a halt to the execution. Mr Bush had not formally responded.
The Mexican government, which did not find out about Flores until a year after he received the death sentence, also asked Mr Bush to intervene, saying it could have provided him with better legal counsel had it known of his arrest.
Also, the US State Department on Monday urged the parole board to carefully consider Flores' request for clemency because of fears that his execution could weaken the diplomatic treaty.
Meanwhile near Phoenix, Arizona, a convicted killer, Donald Miller (37), who had professed his innocence but shunned years of death-delaying appeals, has been executed, state prison officials said.
Miller, convicted of the 1992 murder of 18-year-old Jennifer Ann Geuder, was put to death by lethal injection on Wednesday at the Arizona State Prison in Florence.
When asked if he had any last words, witnesses said, Miller apologised to his mother and the victim's brother because "I didn't take the bullet for your sister."