Nicaraguan Man Set to be Executed in Texas Gets Reprieve

Tercero had petitioned for relief multiple times in various courts, eventually asking the U.S. Supreme Court previous year to review his case, according to the office of Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general.

Tercero was to be killed for the murder of high school English teacher Robert Berger, in front of Berger’s three-year-old daughter, while robbing a Houston dry cleaning business. Texas leads all states with 10 inmates put to death so far this year.

Defense lawyers had another appeal before a federal judge in Houston, contending Tercero was mentally incompetent for execution.

State attorneys opposing a reprieve argued that reports of Tercero’s mental illness didn’t surface this year until his execution order was signed in May. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals agreed there was grounds for an appeal and stayed Tercero’s execution.

Additionally, Hooper said, a plea for clemency from Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega was forwarded to Gov. Greg Abbott.

Tercero contended the shooting was accidental. That appeal had not been ruled on when the state court halted the punishment. He testified that Berger confronted him and tried to thwart the robbery, and the gun went off as they struggled.

“The Inter-American Commission concluded, among other findings, that the State’s failure to respect its obligation under Article 36.1 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations to inform Bernardo Abán Tercero of his right to consular notification and assistance deprived him of a criminal process that satisfied the minimum standards of due process and a fair trial required under the American Declaration”, the group said in a news release.

A Harris County jury rejected his version, convicted him of capital murder and decided he should die. A second man sought in the case never has been found.

Members of the Nicaraguan Human Rights Center, CENIDH, holds a picture of Nicaraguan Bernardo Aban Tercero during a demonstration against his execution in Managua, Nicaragua, Monday, August 24, 2015.

The state of Texas now has six executions scheduled to take place by the end of the year.