We disagree. Point of error seven is overruled. Because our analysis involves a review of the district court's resolution of Cantu's constitutional claims, we must take account of the deferential lens through which the district court evaluated those claims. 284, 126 L.Ed.2d 234 (1993). art. Antonio Arizola Cantu of San Antonio, Texas - Hurley Funeral Home Penal Code 8.04, the trial court submitted the following instruction to the jury in the punishment charge: The boys then began strangling the girls. Point of error five is overruled. The individual breaking into the home punches the window, suffers a a vicious cut to the hand and runs off. They had spent the evening drinking beer and then "jumping in" Raul. This version went into effect September 1, 1991. Regarding a sufficiency review of mitigating evidence, we declined in Colella v. State, 915 S.W.2d 834 (Tex.Crim.App.1995) to perform such a sufficiency review [b]ecause the weighing of mitigating evidence is a subjective determination undertaken by each individual juror. Colella, supra, , 915 S.W.2d at 845; Lawton, supra; Turro v. State, 867 S.W.2d 43, 47 (Tex.Crim.App.1993). Pete Cantu - Lubbock, Texas, United States | Professional Profile 42.18, 8(b)(2), V.A.C.C.P., provision requiring a prisoner serving a life sentence for capital murder to serve 35 calendar years, without consideration of good conduct time, before becoming eligible for parole. I'm not going to show it to you. The absence of an explicit assignment of the burden of proof does not render Article 37.071 2(e) unconstitutional. ), cert. Under Almanza v. State, 686 S.W.2d 157 (Tex.Crim.App.1984), the failure to object to an included charge waives all but egregious error. Mayes v. State, 816 S.W.2d 79, 86 (Tex.Crim.App.1991); Camacho v. State, 864 S.W.2d 524 (Tex.Crim.App.1993), cert. After police informed Cantu that one of the other participants fully confessed, Cantu gave his second statement, in which he described how both girls were killed. We decline to do so. Also, it is clear from her closing argument the prosecutor never told the jury they must find a nexus between the offense and the evidence offered as mitigating by the appellant; she merely suggested that they weigh the evidence in this manner. [DEFENSE:] Excuse me, [prosecutor's name omitted]. Today you all came out on TV again and it said that their parents are trying to do everything they can to give you all the death penalty, even Yuni, but I don't think so because that's when we go out and take our asses on strike. Members of the gang, including Cantu, then began a vicious sexual assault of the girls. denied, 513 U.S. 1157, 115 S.Ct. [THE STATE:] So, at some point did they move on from talking about what they did to them sexually and tell you that they killed them? Derrick O'Brien, belted to a gurney, looked through the death chamber window at Ertman and other relatives of the girls and called his involvement "the worst mistake that I ever made in my whole life." Media Advisory: Peter Cantu scheduled for execution. He gave the police the names of all of the perpetrators, except for new initiate Villareal, who he did not know. 106, 133 L.Ed.2d 59 (1995); McBride v. State, 862 S.W.2d 600, 610-11 (Tex.Crim.App.1993), cert. Hence, the Supreme Court removed the Eighth Amendment bar to evidence about the victim and evidence about the impact of the murder on the victim's family created by Booth v. Maryland, 482 U.S. 496, 107 S.Ct. In search of vegan food, I found a world-class Mendocino inn. On February 4, 2009, the district court denied habeas relief in a particularly thoughtful and thorough memorandum and order. Hence, his point presents nothing for our review.FN12 Tex.R.App. "At least some of the scumbags are dead. (Habeas). [WITNESS:] I did that. Mines v. State, 888 S.W.2d 816 (Tex.Crim.App.1994), cert. HUNTSVILLE The legal saga that began several days after the horrifying murder of two teenage Houston girls in 1993 came to an end Tuesday night with the execution of Peter Anthony Cantu, a former gang leader who all but ordered the execution of Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena. However, the Supreme Court also held that the State has a legitimate interest in countering this individualization of the defendant by reminding the jury that the victim, also, was an individual whose death represents a unique loss to society and to his or her family. Houston's deadliest day: A string of mayhem and the families left behind Just 18 years old at the time, he led a gang of five other teens to repeatedly rape and murder Ertman and Pena. A rational jury could not have concluded otherwise. She's been a part of the famous Texas Metal cast since the beginning. 3230, 106 L.Ed.2d 578 (1989); San Miguel v. State, 864 S.W.2d 493, 495-96 (Tex.Crim.App.1993), cert. In Memory of Peter Cantu She bought the beer and went with the group, unwittingly heading to her death. In this review, we do not attempt to determine what a particular jury subjectively believed. Appellant has provided no reason why the situation should be different in Texas. Jester Park in Houston to participate in a gang initiation ritual. 869, 71 L.Ed.2d 1 (1982) and Lockett v. Ohio, 438 U.S. 586, 98 S.Ct. By the time the bodies were discovered, they were so badly decomposed that dental records were required to identify them. [THE STATE:] They were all saying that? Because of our resolution of points of error eighteen and nineteen, supra, we hold that this was not error. We think about those girls every day. Point four likewise claims reversible error in denying him the right to question prospective jurors about their ability to consider the 35-year minimum calendar years he would have to serve on a life sentence before becoming parole eligible. denied, 507 U.S. 975, 113 S.Ct. "I was the last parent to have seen them," she said. 2382, 65 L.Ed.2d 392 (1980). 1910, 150 L.Ed.2d 9 (2001) (using the clearly drafted catchall instruction of Texas Code of Criminal Procedure article 37.071 2(e)(1) as a frame of reference to compare its brevity and clarity against the confusing nature of the supplemental instruction given in that case). Cantu was the final of three men condemned to die for the murders. 433, 130 L.Ed.2d 345 (1994). Later Cantu and his accomplices were said to have joked about the brutal killings. 71,557, slip op. Think about how cold the man is, how cowardly he is, how cruel he is. You are further instructed that if there is any testimony before you in this case regarding the defendant's having committed offenses other than the offense alleged against him in the indictment, you cannot consider said testimony for any purpose unless you find and believe beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant committed such other offenses, if any were committed, and even then you may only consider the same in determining the answers to the special issues. Arrangements are entrusted to Holmgreen Mortuary, 2061 East Main Street, Alice, Texas. [THE STATE:] Who said we had to kill them? In his thirty-second point of error, appellant alleges that the second special issue on punishment is facially unconstitutional in violation of the United States Supreme Court decision of Tison v. Arizona, 481 U.S. 137, 107 S.Ct. at *24. FN5. At 6:09 p.m., lethal injection drugs entered Cantu's body. Is your room clean today? On June 24, 1993, Cantu and other members of the Black and White gang met to initiate a new member. A little knowledge of routine vehicle maintenance may have kept. We concluded that the trial court's decision to admit this testimony was not an abuse of discretion in that such testimony was within the zone of reasonable disagreement of evidence relevant to sentence. Appellant argues, in essence, that the prosecutor misstated the law. Appellant alleges in point of error seven that the trial court reversibly erred in allowing the State to impeach defense witness Beatrice Martinez on a collateral matter. Appellant bases his argument on several cases that stand for the proposition that an indictment must be read and a defendant's plea must be entered before a jury in order for the issue to be joined. of Criminal Justice) HUNTSVILLE, Texas (CBS/AP/KHOU) Tonight, Peter Anthony Cantu will be executed for two of the most notorious deaths in Houston. Therefore, the question in the instant case is whether the evidence presented was admissible under our capital sentencing scheme. HUNTSVILLE, Texas (CBS/KHOU) Murderer Peter Anthony Cantu was executed by the state of Texas Tuesday evening. Ekstensive Metal Works Ekstensive Metal Works - Made - Texas Metal D rop Shop About Us We specialize in one off custom cars and trucks. 8/11/09 -- The federal appeals court affirmed the denial of certificate of appealability. The next morning, the girls parents began to frantically look for them, paging them on their pagers, calling their friends to see if they knew where they were, to no avail. This allegation was addressed and answered by the United States Supreme Court in Jurek v. Texas, 428 U.S. 262, 96 S.Ct. Even if the statements that were made in the presence of appellant were hearsay, they were admissible under Tex.R.Crim.Evid. Jail. Finally and in the alternative, the district court determined that there was no reasonable probability of a different result had Cantu's counsel raised a due process objection to the photographs because other sources of evidence painted a vivid image of Cantu's brutality and otherwise amply supported a finding that Cantu committed capital murder. Appellant asked for a running objection as to this line of questioning. Point of error eight is overruled. First, he asserts that he received ineffective assistance because his trial counsel failed to object on due process grounds-though counsel did object on evidentiary grounds-to the court's admitting photographs of the victims' bodies and of the crime scene as found by the investigators. 36th murderer executed in U.S. in 2010 1224th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976 16th murderer executed in Texas in 2010 . The Funeral Masswill be celebrated at 1:00 PM at St. John of the Cross Catholic Church on that same date. For the following reasons, we deny a certificate of appealability on all of the issues that he raises. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children or the charity of your choice. In support of his argument, appellant cites this Court to Tison, supra, and Enmund v. Florida, 458 U.S. 782, 102 S.Ct. Article 36.01, which governs the order of proceeding in trial, states in pertinent part: Five French citizens were arrested at the Bexar County Courthouse after a silent alarm alerted authorities at about 1 a.m. that someone was using one of the historic building's fire escapes. Raul Omar Villareal and Efrain Perez were sentenced to death, but following the U.S. Supreme Court's 2005 ruling that executing criminals who were not yet 18 at the time of their crimes is unconstitutional, their sentences were commuted to life. denied, 510 U.S. 905, 114 S.Ct. Santikos v. State, 836 S.W.2d 631 (Tex.Crim.App. She felt sorry for the families and wanted them to be able to put their daughters' bodies to rest. Id. All Rights Reserved. 2630, 2639, 129 L.Ed.2d 750 (1994); Anderson v. State, supra at 508-09). The rapes and murders of Jennifer Lee Ertman and Elizabeth Christine Pea, two teenage girls from Houston, Texas, aged 14 and 16, respectively, occurred on June 24, 1993.The murder of the two girls made headlines in Texas newspapers due to the nature of the crime and the new law resulting from the murder that allows families of the victims to view the execution of the murderers. The court overruled his objection. I dont believe anybody ever in their lifetime is going to forget this. One of the gang members later said during the brag session that by the time he got to one of the girls, "she was loose and sloppy." "Three of the animals that did this are gone. In points of error one and two, appellant complains that the trial court erred in overruling his challenge to the Texas death penalty scheme. Feb.4, 2009). The murder of the two girls, both students at Waltrip High School, became one of the most notorious crimes in modern Houston history. Cantu showed little emotion at his conviction and death sentence and had no reaction when Randy Ertman, Jennifers father, was allowed to make a victim impact statement at the end of the trial. Evidence of the mental or physical incapacity of the defendant caused by voluntary intoxication may be introduced by the defendant in mitigation of the penalty attached to the offense for which he is being tried. He was friendly and never met a stranger. On June 24, 1993, the group was conducting a fight-filled initiation ceremony for a prospective member across from. HUNTSVILLE, Texas Texas has executed a former gang member who took part in the rape and murder of two teenage girls who were walking home from a neighborhood party 17 years ago. (PDF) Viva Cristo Rey! Una historia oral de la comunidad catlica Appellant asserts in point of error twenty-eight that his Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated by the submission of vague terms in the first two special issues submitted in the punishment phase. 1977 Herb Ferrill - North Texas State 1978 Oton Guerrero - Pan-American University 1979 Dave Mennen - Houston Baptist 1980 J.C. Trevio, Jr. - Laredo . The boys then ran after the girls and grabbed them. denied, 499 U.S. 932, 111 S.Ct. 3230, 106 L.Ed.2d 578 (1989). Appellant appeared happy and amused by the conversation and readily agreed with the recollection of events. All Information about Henry Cantu - Radaris 2464, 91 L.Ed.2d 144 (1986) ([T]he appropriate standard of review for [a claim challenging the prosecution's closing argument] on writ of habeas corpus is the narrow one of due process, and not the broad exercise of supervisory power. (internal quotation marks omitted)). The special pleas, if any, shall be read by the defendant's counsel, and if the plea of not guilty is also relied upon, it shall also be stated. After considering the prosecution's argument in the context of the argument made by Cantu, the district court determined that the state court did not unreasonably apply federal law in denying this claim. Contractors DirectoryInformation on every contractor in United States. (plurality op. The State mentioned the 35-year period that defense counsel had talked about and asked the witness about the jury's concerns being not about what's going to happen 35 years from now but rather what's going to happen in the next day, the next week, the next month, the next year. In light of that questioning mentioning situations of capital murder defendants, including Kenneth McDuff, being paroled and committing murders, it was even more critical that the jury be informed of the law, i.e. The Court opined that victim impact evidence is designed to show the victim's uniqueness as a human being and the state has legitimate interest in counteracting the mitigating evidence which the defendant is entitled to put in, by reminding the sentencer that just as the murderer should be considered as an individual, so too the victim is an individual whose death represents a unique loss to society and in particular to his family. Payne, 501 U.S. at 825, 111 S.Ct. Wasn't no pain. 1115, 130 L.Ed.2d 1079 (1995); McFarland, supra. He contends in his twenty-sixth point of error that the scheme is unconstitutional as applied in that it fails to channel the sentencer's discretion. Because the consideration and weighing of mitigating evidence is an open-ended, subjective determination engaged in by each individual juror, we conclude that Article 37.071 2(f)(4) does not unconstitutionally narrow the jury's discretion to factors concerning only moral blameworthiness as appellant alleges. Pleasanton Express Staff A jury found Peter Cantu guilty of capital murder in February 1994 and sentenced him to death. Instead, the Code of Criminal Procedure simply requires that the State prove each element of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt, whether the jury believes all of the State's evidence or only part of it. Jose Medellin was executed in August 2008. Appellant alleges that the improper inclusion of the instruction rose to constitutional dimension because it informed the jury to consider evidence of intoxication in mitigation of the crime only if that evidence showed that the intoxication was so extreme as to cause appellant to be temporarily insane. That October, Denson and another officer, Stephen Orlando, were tried on murder charges and an. The United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, 2009 WL 275172, denied petition. He is a child, he is eighteen, and that's what this is about. Manager of the Year: Pete Cantu - YouTube denied, 508 U.S. 963, 113 S.Ct. A 14-year-old attacker was given a 40-year sentence. Proc. Second, given the extent of the other evidence supporting Cantu's conviction, reasonable jurists would not disagree with the district court's determination that Cantu has not shown that he was prejudiced by his counsel's failure to raise a due process objection. Part of the belt was left at the murder scene, the rest was found in O'Brien's home.