[jcmd62]

Mar 25, 10:16 AM (ET)

By MARK SHERMAN

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court says Texas does not have to give a new hearing to a Mexican on death row for rape and murder, deciding a case that mixes presidential power, international relations and the death penalty.

The case pit the president against his home state of Texas. By a 6-3 vote, the court says President Bush does not have the authority to order a new hearing for the prisoner.

It put Bush in the unusual position of siding with death row prisoner Jose Ernesto Medellin, a Mexican citizen whom police prevented from consulting with Mexican diplomats, as provided by international treaty.