Realizing that the girls would be capable of identifying them, Peter Cantu, the leader of the gang, ordered the members to kill the girls. Capital defendants in Texas state court now face two possible sentences: (1) the death penalty or (2) a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Clerk's Record at 286 ("During your deliberations, you are not to consider or discuss any possible action of the Board of Pardons and Paroles division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice or of the Governor, or how long the defendant would be required to serve to satisfy a sentence of life imprisonment."). Vol. art. Id. After a separate punishment hearing, the jury answered Texas' special issue questions in a manner requiring the imposition of a death sentence. The punishment phase evidence showed Cantu to be a violent young man, though the murders were of previosuly unknown level of violence. Tr. 1) You are a coward with regard to Mexico. 2 at 18.) Web15K. There, the gang members strangled the girls with their hands, shoelaces, and a belt. Woods v. Johnson, 75 F.3d 1017, 1037 (5th Cir. This action comes before the Court on Respondent Nathaniel Quarterman's answer and motion for summary judgment. 28 at 783. Nothing in Penry I signaled a wholesale rejection of Texas' special issues, yet the Supreme Court failed to articulate how to determine what evidence evaded Texas' sentencing review. The Court of Criminal Appeals' rejection of this claim was not contrary to, or an unreasonable application of, federal law. After the trial of Peter Cantu, Judge Bill Harmon allowed the family members to address the convicted. The gang members present were Jose Medellin, Peter Cantu, Roman Sandoval, Efrain 13 at 11.) PRO. Wow, I am speechless! Boyde v. California, 494 U.S. 370, 380 (1990); see also Waddington v. Sarausad, ___ U.S. ___, ___ S. Ct. ___, 2009 WL 129033, at *8 (Jan. 21, 2009) (reaffirming the Boyde standard and noting the "especially heavy burden on a defendant who . O'Brien was videotaped smiling at the scene of the crime. Tr. Tr. The trial court held a suppression hearing. Tr. This Court will not certify any issue for review by the Fifth Circuit. In Simmons, the Supreme Court cautioned that "[i]n a State in which parole is available, how the jury's knowledge of parole availability will affect the decision whether or not to impose the death penalty is speculative[.]" Cantu has not shown that the state court's rejection of his Beck claim was contrary to, or an unreasonable application of, federal law. Donald R. Davis Vol. Under the Strickland standard, a criminal defendant's Sixth Amendment rights are "denied when a defense attorney's performance falls below an objective standard of reasonableness and thereby prejudices the defense." The prosecution closed with the following statement that Cantu complains was inflammatory but went unchallenged by his trial attorneys: Cantu "concedes that the argument was responsive, but not that it was invited." In the alternative, the state habeas court essentially considered whether the challenged comments "so infected the trial with unfairness as to make the resulting conviction a denial of due process." I have no good words left for President Bush. Jennifer Ertmans dad is on Laura Ingraham right nowhour is almost up though. 2005). 28 at 666-67, 673, 770, 793. Roach v. Quarterman, 220 F. App'x 270, 277 (5th Cir. Ries v. Quarterman, 522 F.3d 517, 530 (5th Cir. art. Donald R. Davis and Robert Morrow represented Cantu at trial. Federal precedent and Teague's non-retroactivity provision preclude relief on Cantu's first six grounds for relief. 2254(d)(1). Two VERY important things in the criminal justice system have changed as a result of these murders. due process plainly requires that [the defendant] be allowed to bring [parole ineligibility] to the jury's attention by way of argument by defense counsel or an instruction from the court." In 2005, Texas revised its capital sentencing statute. As the prosecution introduced the various exhibits into evidence, trial counsel reurged their state-law objections. Cantu himself stated: "The bitch wouldn't die so I stomped on her neck." See id. See 28 U.S.C. The state habeas court held that Cantu "fail[ed] to show that the admission of such autopsy and crime scene photos and crime scene video violated his due process rights[.]" In July, the World Court ordered a stay of Medelln's execution. Cantu complains that the absence of correct information about parole law left his defense theory incomplete and ineffectual. Vol. Supreme Court case law does not suggest that Texas' current vehicle for the consideration of mitigating evidence is impermissibly narrow. The whole purpose of punishing these people should be to make them suffer. Kansas v. Marsh, 548 U.S. 163, 174 (2006). Cantu filed a motion to suppress his statements. Ertman and Pea decided to take a 10-minute shortcut to Pea's residence in Oak Forest by following the railroad tracks and then passing through T.C. Without the slightest provocation, gang members assaulted, repeatedly raped, and brutally murdered two young girls. (Doc. PROC. Corey Mitchell's book "Pure Murder," which details the The victim's bodies were left to decompose in the summer heat. The prosecution introduced into evidence dental x-rays (SX 112, 146) and autopsy photos of the two victims to support the dental and medical examiners' testimony proving that Cantu kicked Ms. Ertman in the mouth as she was dying and that the gang members finished killing the girls by stomping on their neck (photographs of Elizabeth Pena: SX 113, 115-18, 120, 122-29, 142, 143, 149-51; photographs of Jennifer Ertman: SX 120, 133-34, 136-37, 139-43). Peter Anthony Cantu, Jos Ernesto Medelln, Derrick Sean O'Brien, Efrain Prez, and Raul Omar Villarreal received death sentences. Cantu has not yet requested that this Court grant him a Certificate of Appealability ("COA"), though this Court can consider the issue sua sponte. The issue is not whether a juror, through rejecting some evidence or considering the factual scenario in a particular manner, conceivably could return a verdict for a lesser crime. 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 487K views 2 years ago. I do agree with the father though that it wasn't nearly painful or drawn out enough. In 1994, a jury convicted Cantu for the capital murder of Jennifer Ertman. Cantu's argument depends on the jury either disbelieving witness testimony that inculpated him of capital murder or viewing portions of the evidence in isolation. Vol. 403. Tennard, 542 U.S. at 284-85. The trial court included Texas' explicit mitigation special issue in the instant case. Specifically, the Supreme Court has used the term to describe how a jury gives effect to good character evidence that is not "directly relevant" to the crime. Cantu was again informed of and waived his rights. Even if the jury somehow believed only the story from his first statement, Cantu's second statement was not the only evidence showing that he participated in the murders. Id. HOUSTON - State officials have denied parole for Venancio Medellin, the youngest of six gang members convicted of the vicious rapes and murders of Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena in 1993, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg made the announcement on Saturday, Nov. 14. Overwhelming evidence coming from Cantu, fellow gang members, and those to whom they confessed their crime inculpated Cantu in the capital murder. PROC. 28 at 787). Because a reasonable jury would find that Cantu's second statement fully agreed with the other overwhelming evidence against Cantu, the Court of Criminal Appeals was not unreasonable in holding that the facts of this case did not entitle him to a lesser-included-offense instruction. at 734. Respondent asks this Court not to apply Beck to Cantu's claim because, unlike the defendant in that case, Cantu faced a situation where the jury chose between acquittal and a capital conviction, not acquittal and an automatic death sentence. The other change came from the Texas Department of Corrections which instituted a new policy allowing victims' families the choice and right to view the execution of their perpetrators. WebExecutions and More Executions: Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena Murder. Tr. Entry No. A jury's consideration of mitigating evidence, while essential to fair sentencing, is not without bounds, limits, or demarcation. In 1972, the Supreme Court in Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972), condemned death penalty statutes that gave the sentencer open-ended discretion. Cantu now claims that the trial court violated the Constitution by limiting his ability to support the third argument, that he would not be violent if he became eligible for parole after a lengthy imprisonment. at 569 (quotation omitted). During the punishment phase, the trial court prohibited the defense from asking an expert witness about the parole eligibility that accompanies a life sentence. According to later testimony, on one occasion, Pea glanced in the direction of her younger friend as she herself was raped by Efrain Prez and began weeping as she observed Ertman. 21 at 327. . See id. Witnesses described Peter Cantu as absolutely unremorseful about his prominent role in the soul-sickening crime. Summary judgment is proper when the record shows "no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." This is no job for the criminal justice system. 2006); Thacker, 396 F.3d at 617; Rudd, 256 F.3d at 320-21; and the Equal Protection Clause, Tigner, 264 F.3d at 525-26; Collier, 300 F.3d at 585-86; Green v. Johnson, 160 F.3d 1029, 1044 (5th Cir. Unfortunately, as they took a shortcut home, Ms. Ertman and Ms. Pena came upon the gang at around 11:30 p.m. Roman Sandoval and Frank Sandoval were leaving as the girls neared the other gang members. Texas has already executed O'Brien and Medellin. . While in state and federal court Cantu has mentioned prejudice flowing from the crime-scene video, his complaints have focused most strongly on the admission of allegedly prejudicial photographs. R.I.P to the both of them. Tr. CODE CRIM. Jester Park on Saturday for a memorial service for the girls who were slain, The parents of the murder victims successfully advocated for the State of Texas allowing relatives of victims to have permission to witness executions. 12.) 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jennifer ertman autopsy photos