May 28, 2008

HOUSTON — A Mexican national convicted of gunning down three El Paso teenagers has lost a federal court appeal, moving him a step closer to execution.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to allow Ignacio Gomez to move forward with additional appeals for the 1996 murders of 16-year-old twin brothers Michael and Matthew Meredith and 19-year-old Toby Hatheway Jr. The three were shot in an apparent retaliation for some broken windows at the home of Gomez's mother. Their bodies were buried in a shallow grave in the desert.

Gomez, 38, argued he was unconstitutionally deprived of his rights under an international treaty. At the time of the slayings, court documents show he was in the United States legally and living in El Paso with relatives.

His attorneys argued unsuccessfully even before his capital murder trial that police who arrested him should have told him of his right to legal assistance from the Mexican consulate, and that police who took his confession knew he was a resident alien but didn't advise him of his Vienna Convention rights.

The New Orleans-based 5th Circuit withheld ruling on Gomez's request for what's known as a certificate of appealability until the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in another Texas case with similar international treaty issues. The justices in March rejected that appeal, affecting Gomez and more than a dozen other Mexican nationals on Texas death row.

The 5th Circuit ruling, posted late Tuesday, specifically dealt with Gomez's case.

Gomez also argued potential jurors were excluded improperly from his trial jury and that jurors should have been told a life sentence would have meant 40 years in prison before he could be eligible for parole. The 5th Circuit rejected those claims as well.

Testimony at Gomez's trial showed the three victims were walking along a dirt road when they were approached by Gomez and several companions riding in an SUV.

After a fight broke out, Gomez pulled a handgun and opened fire, hitting one of the victims in the head. He continued to fire, striking the second victim. After reloading, a fleeing third victim was tracked down and shot in the head, then all three were driven away and buried.

Gomez's companions turned themselves in and confessed. Their information led authorities to Gomez, who also confessed and told detectives where they could find the murder weapon, according to court documents. In his confession, he told how he made "the last guy ... sit next to his friends" and then shot him in the head and "shot him some more." Gomez said he "just went out of control" because his mother had been frightened after the windows at her home were broken.

Gomez, who was about a week short of his 27th birthday at the time of the shootings, had no previous prison record. But prosecutors at his trial showed he had at least three convictions for driving while intoxicated, had been arrested for unlawfully carrying a weapon and once tried to run down someone with a truck.