José Ernesto Medellín, (March 4, 1975 – August 5, 2008) born in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, was a Mexican national who was executed for murder in Texas in the United States.

Medellín was convicted of raping and killing 16-year-old Elizabeth Pena and 14-year-old Jennifer Ertman in June, 1993.

His case gained notoriety when Mexico sued the United States in the International Court of Justice on behalf of 51 Mexican nationals asserting that, in these cases, the US had violated the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, which requires that local authorities inform foreign nationals being held on criminal charges of their right to consult with their country’s diplomats. That court ruled that the United States was obliged to have the defendants’ cases reopened and reconsidered. The Supreme Court of the United States agreed to hear the case on May 1, 2007. .