This handout image provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shows Edgar Tamayo. Attorneys for the Mexican national on Texas death row for the slaying of a Houston police officer hoped a civil suit, challenging what they argued is an unfair and secretive clemency process in the nation’s most active capital punishment state would block the inmate’s scheduled execution this week. Tamayo, 46, was set for lethal injection Wednesday evening, Jan. 22, 2014, in Huntsville. (AP Photo/Texas Department of Criminal Justice)
January 21, 2014 - 10:16 PM
HUNTSVILLE, Texas - The imminent execution of a Mexican man has incensed officials from his native country as Texas opposes legal efforts and diplomatic pressure to delay his punishment.
Edgar Tamayo is set for lethal injection Wednesday evening in Huntsville for the 1994 shooting death of 24-year-old Houston police officer Guy Gaddis.
Gaddis was gunned down as he was driving Tamayo from a robbery scene. Evidence showed Tamayo had hidden a gun in his pants.
The Mexican government and attorneys mulling last-day appeals insist the 46-year-old Tamayo deserves a delay because he didn't have legal help from Mexico after his arrest as called for under an international treaty.
They also argue Texas' clemency procedures are unfair and secretive.
The State Department has also asked Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott to delay the execution..
News from © The Associated Press, 2014