Sue Hartigan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: JARRETT, Va., April 15 (UPI) _ A Paraguayan citizen convicted of killing a Virginia woman has died by lethal injection in a Virginia jail after the U.S. Supreme Court and the state's governor rejected appeals literally from around the world. Virginia Gov. James Gilmore refused to stay the execution of Angel Francisco Breard, despite a request from Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, the government of Paraguay and the International Court of Justice. He died at 10:39 p.m. Tuesday night at the Greensville Correctional Center in Jarrett, Va. He uttered his last words _ ``May glory be to God'' _ as four Amnesty International members held a silent candlelight vigil outside the jail. His execution was originally scheduled for 9 p.m. Six years ago, Breard, now 32, stabbed a woman to death in Arlington, Va. Albright requested the stay after the International Court ruled Breard's rights were violated during his trial. The Court said Breard deserved a new trial because he was denied access to consular officials, a right guaranteed under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. After the International Court ruled Breard should receive a new trial, the U.S. Supreme Court sought an opinion from the Justice Department. In a 52-page brief Monday, the department said the Paraguayan government's claim that consular access might have affected Breard's case was ``speculative and unpersuasive.'' Justice officials argued Breard, who claimed on the stand that a satanic curse forced him to sexually assault and nearly decapitate 39- year-old Ruth Dickie, received a fair trial, despite the fact that no one contacted his consulate. Breard's attorneys and his government argued that Paraguayan diplomats might have been able to convince him to accept a life-saving plea bargain. Albright worried that a violation of the Vienna Convention might cause foreign governments to deny similar access to Americans facing legal troubles abroad. She also said the United States could not ignore its treaty commitments. She said: ``It's important to make sure that when Americans are abroad, we have the ability to protect them if they are in trouble. And we need to respect the International Court of Justice's request for a stay because we are part of an international system.'' Gilmore said the International Court had no jurisdiction within Virginia or the United States and that he could not cede to it any responsibility for criminal justice. -- Two rules in life: 1. Don't tell people everything you know. 2. Subscribe/Unsubscribe, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the body of the message enter: subscribe/unsubscribe law-issues
