[Does this case telegraph how the SCOTUS will rule on the pending Medellin case, regarding whether Texas courts must review DP cases for treaty violations, as ordered by Pres. Bush?]

Death sentence appeal rejected
By ANTHONY SPANGLER
aspangler@star-telegram.com
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal from a 28-year-old Honduran man who is scheduled to be executed next week for the 2001 robbery and fatal shooting of a south Arlington clothing store manager.

Heliberto Chi was sentenced to die Oct. 3 by lethal injection for robbing and killing Armand Paliotta, 56, at the K&G Men's Superstore in southwest Arlington.

The nation's highest court rejected claims by Chi�s court-appointed attorney, Wes Ball, that Chi was not allowed to contact his country's consular as prescribed by the Vienna Convention on Consular Rights. That 1963 treaty was meant to allow foreigners who are arrested the right to speak with their consulates.

"Nobody told Mr. Chi he had a right to a consular official, and it was never brought to his attention," Ball said.

Chi's appeals through the state and federal courts have been rejected. Death Row inmates often submit last-minute appeals despite earlier rulings by the courts.

Ball has also requested a 30-day reprieve from Gov. Rick Perry and asked that the governor commute the sentence. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles has made no recommendation on Chi�s case to Perry.

During his trial, Chi's attorneys claimed that he was questioned by deputies in Los Angeles without access to the Honduran consulate. But a Tarrant County state district court judge ruled that statements Chi made to police were admissible in court.

Chi was a former employee at the Arlington clothing store. Witnesses testified that he entered the store after it closed at 9 p.m., robbed the store and shot Paliotta in the back. Employee Adrian Riojas was also shot in the back but survived and testified that Chi was the shooter.

Chi has rejected several requests for an interview by the Star-Telegram.