HOUSTON (AP) — A federal court has agreed to review the appeal of an Argentine man who is on death row in Texas for a 1995 killing.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Wednesday that it will examine whether 44-year-old Victor Saldano was competent to stand trial and whether his trial lawyers were deficient for not requesting a competency hearing before his trial.
Saldano was sentenced to death for the killing of 46-year-old Paul King, who was abducted from a Plano supermarket, robbed and shot. Records show Saldano was in the U.S. illegally.
Saldano’s case has caught the attention of Pope Francis, who is also Argentine and has met at least twice with the inmate’s mother. The Catholic Church opposes capital punishment.