Opinion ID: 2995473
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Vienna Convention Violation

Text: Guadalupe also argues that any statements he made should be suppressed because the agents violated his rights under the Vienna Convention in failing to notify him that he had the right, as a Mexican citizen, to communicate with the Mexican consulate. He asserts that had he been informed of his right, he would not have given the incriminating statements. Although the district court judge found that the notice requirements of the Convention were not met, the judge found that exclusion was not proper because Guadalupe had not shown that he was prejudiced by the violation of the Convention. The district court decided this issue without the benefit of United States v. Lawal, 231 F.3d 1045 (7th Cir. 2000), in which this court held that exclusion of evidence was not the proper remedy for violation of a defendant’s consular access rights under the Vienna Convention. See also United States v. Carrillo, 269 F.3d 761 (7th Cir. 2001); United States v. Chaparro-Alcantara, 226 F.3d 616, 624-25 (7th Cir. 2000). Although he acknowledged Lawal, Guadalupe has asked for exclusion anyway, in the hope that the Supreme Court would overturn Lawal. However, the Supreme Court has since denied certiorari in Lawal, 121 S.Ct. 1165 (2001). We too are not inclined to revisit the issue, and thus even if the Convention was violated, the district court correctly refused to suppress evidence on that ground.