While the challenged material explained what happened to the young girls, the evidence otherwise amply supported the elements of capital murder beyond a reasonable doubt. CODE CRIM. I was 15. [7] Before the murders, Houston officials had stated that gangs were not a significant issue in the city. 447 U.S. at 629. This federal habeas action follows. Jennifer Ertman's dad, Randy Ertman, was about to give an interview regarding the missing girls to a local television reporter when the call came over a cameraman's police scanner that two bodies had been found. This location was approximately one mile from Pea's home. In Beck, "the jury [was] given the choice of either convicting the defendant of the capital crime, in which case it is required to impose the death penalty, or acquitting him, thus allowing him to escape all penalties for his alleged participation in the crime." Vol. . . The police were sent to the scene and searched the park without finding anything. See 28 U.S.C. In Penry v. Johnson, 532 U.S. 782, 804 (2001) (" Penry II"), the Supreme Court found that the supplemental mitigating instructions given before 1991 amounted to an "ineffective and illogical" mechanism for giving effect to mitigating evidence. The medical examiner later testified that this is how she could be sure as to the horrible brutality of the rapes, beatings and murders. (Doc. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1908103/posts, Bush, Texas at Odds Over Death Case 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." Part of the belt was left at the murder scene, the rest was found in O'Brien's home. The state court overruled the defense objection to most of the material. 1995); Allridge v. Scott, 41 F.3d 213, 222 (5th Cir. See Thacker v. Dretke, 396 F.3d 607, 612 n. 2 (5th Cir. 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. Tr. I saw hardened, lifelong cops get tears in their eyes when talking about the scene more than a year later. H-01-4078, 2003 WL 25321243 (S.D. After Ws wimping out on this issue, I have lost all respect for the man as a leader. (Doc. Simmons, 543 U.S. at 573. (Doc. art. Vol. He was the ringleader in a crime that struck a raw nerve for its The state courts would not be unreasonable in finding that the result would not have been any different if his counsel had performed in the manner Cantu outlines on federal review. Vol. When Peter Cantu saw Jenny and Elizabeth, he thought it was a man and a woman and told the other gang members that he wanted to jump him and beat him up. 37.071 2(f)(4). Trial counsel sought a favorable answer to the future dangerousness special issue by showing that: (1) Cantu would not be dangerous while incarcerated; (2) with the passage of time he would mature and become less violent; and (3) when he became eligible for parole after 35 years he would not pose a threat to society. vote for a capital conviction if the only alternative was to set the defendant free with no punishment at all"). He told the call taker that the missing girls' bodies could be found near T.C. 1988) (emphasis added); see also Ransom v. Johnson, 126 F.3d 716, 726 (5th Cir. He is not an eighteen year old child that didn't know what he was doing." 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."). Seventeen years after the crimes, Peter Anthony Cantu was executed on August 17, 2010. After the prosecution reviewed other violent acts from Cantu's life, the closing argument returned to a comparison between Cantu and the victims: Tr. This Court cannot issue the writ unless the error "ha[d] a `substantial and injurious effect or influence in determining the jury's verdict.'" Cantu's Beck claim depends on the jury believing that his first statement represented the only valid account of the crime, to the exclusion of his second statement and all additional trial testimony. Vol. Clerk's Record at 278. . A court may only issue a COA when "the applicant has made a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right." 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. The Court must decide whether, by statute or in practice, Texas prevented Cantu's jury from giving effect to his mitigating evidence. In particular, Cantu alleges that "[a]t least two of [his] co-defendants were afforded in separate trials, the benefit of an instruction like the one Cantu was denied." Tam International phn phi cc sn phm cht lng cao trong lnh vc Chm sc Sc khe Lm p v chi tr em. The murder of 28 at 758, 760. Their 1998); Montoya v. Scott, 65 F.3d 405, 416 (5th Cir. Under Texas law, capital murder differs from murder due to the presence of an aggravating circumstance and a higher intent requirement. After the gang left, Christina Cantu convinced Joe Cantu to report the crime to police. Riley v. Cockrell, 339 F.3d 308, 316 (5th Cir. The images were so Vol. Habeas relief is not available on Cantu's ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claims. Cantu's attorneys adduced testimony that supported the first two propositions. These scum deserve to be treated as they treated those young girls. Williams, 529 U.S. at 407. The Fifth Circuit then framed the constitutional issue: "In an instance where prosecutorial statements allegedly influence a jury's interpretation of the statutory charge, the proper inquiry is whether there is a reasonable likelihood that the jury has applied the instructions in a way that prevents it from considering constitutionally relevant evidence." Maggots swarmed about their bodies, particularly in the bloodied head and genital regions. Failure to Make a Due Process Objection to the Allegedly Inflammatory Material. Trong nm 2014, Umeken sn xut hn 1000 sn phm c hng triu ngi trn th gii yu thch. Chng ti phc v khch hng trn khp Vit Nam t hai vn phng v kho hng thnh ph H Ch Minh v H Ni. Five members of the Black and White gang Cantu, Jose Medellin, Derrick Sean O'Brien, Efrian Perez, and Raul Villareal received death sentences for their role in the rape and murder of fourteen-year-old Jennifer Ertman and sixteen-year-old Elizabeth Pena. The Tennard court found that the Fifth Circuit's precedent "ha[d] no foundation in the decisions of [the Supreme] Court." Cantu argued that Officer Swainson manufactured the second statement, but provided no testimony to support that assertion. 1997). Cantu seeks to distinguish Supreme Court and Fifth Circuit precedent by arguing that "[j]urors who are informed that a defendant will not be eligible for parole at all, or will be ineligible for a certain fixed term, assures that jurors will not mistakenly speculate that the defendant might be released into free society at an earlier time than the law permits." The possibility of parole, not the timing thereof, exempted Texas from the Simmons requirement. Cantu unsuccessfully challenged his conviction and sentence on direct appeal and state habeas review. For the reasons that have been given, Respondent's Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED and the Federal Petition is DENIED. 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. Additionally, Cantu claims that the prosecution's penalty phase argument compounded the structural problems in Texas law, further limiting the jury's ability to act on his mitigating evidence (claim seven). Vol. At trial, Officer Swainson testified that, "[b]ased on the statements that [they] had obtained, it appeared as if maybe there was a possibility [Cantu] didn't reveal his total involvement." WebThe 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. See Solomon v. State, 49 S.W.3d 356, 368 (Tex.Crim.App. WebOn June 24, 1993, Elizabeth Pena and Jennifer Ertman from Houston, Texas were raped and murdered. there are times we have all thought and had dreams of what we would do with a big lottery win. . Cantu also unsuccessfully requested a jury instruction on parole. 21 at 235. The trial judge stated: Tr. Eventually, the en banc Fifth Circuit in Graham v. Collins, 950 F.2d 1009 (5th Cir. Again outside the presence of the jury, Cantu objected to the autopsy photographs (SX 113, 118, 120-29 and 149-52) under TEX. Randy commandeered the news van and went to the scene that was now bustling with police activity. In Jurek v. Texas, 428 U.S. 262 (1976), the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of Texas's capital sentencing statute. 13 at 13.). The admissibility of evidence is generally a matter of state evidentiary law. Jester Park in Houston, Texas on the night of June 24, 1993, when they encountered six members of the Black and White gang. Vn phng chnh: 3-16 Kurosaki-cho, kita-ku, Osaka-shi 530-0023, Nh my Toyama 1: 532-1 Itakura, Fuchu-machi, Toyama-shi 939-2721, Nh my Toyama 2: 777-1 Itakura, Fuchu-machi, Toyama-shi 939-2721, Trang tri Spirulina, Okinawa: 2474-1 Higashimunezoe, Hirayoshiaza, Miyakojima City, Okinawa. 13, 2006) (unpublished), and has unconditionally applied Beck to all inmates who have received a death sentence, the Court will apply Beck to Cantu's claim. Robertson, 324 F.3d at 304 (quoting Brecht v. Abrahamson, 507 U.S. 619, 629 (1993)); see also Aleman v. Sternes, 320 F.3d 687, 690-91 (7th Cir. The AEDPA gives statutory effect to traditional limits on habeas review. . Cantu has not yet requested that this Court grant him a Certificate of Appealability ("COA"), though this Court can consider the issue sua sponte. WebMost of the soft tissue on Jennifer Ertmans head and the external portion of her vagina was eaten by maggots, indicating that there was trauma, hemorrhaging and bleeding. There, the gang members strangled the girls with their hands, shoelaces, and a belt. I wish to hell he could have died the way she died.". Tr. 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). The state habeas court indeed concluded that Cantu had procedurally defaulted any due process objection to the material. Those poor poor girls. State Habeas Record at 259-60. 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. Cantu claims that the prosecution in his case compounded the statutory deficiencies by asking the jury to weigh his evidence in a manner similar to the Fifth Circuit's rejected constitutional-relevancy test (claim 7). WebThe 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. 1994); Kinnamon v. Scott, 40 F.3d 731, 733 (5th Cir. State Habeas Record at 203. When the police informed him that O'Brien confessed, Cantu provided the following statement relating his role in the murders: Tr. The state habeas court concluded that the prosecutorial comments were not "extreme or manifestly improper or inject[ed] new and harmful facts into the trial[.]" 1991). The Fifth Circuit concluded: Also, the Court of Criminal Appeals noted that the prosecution's statement was merely a "suggestion," and did not tell "the jury that they must find a nexus between the offense and the evidence offered as mitigation[.]" In response, Medelln stated: "No, baby! 512 U.S. at 168. A review of the circumstances leading to Cantu's two statements and the trial context as a whole prove that a rational jury would not have convicted Cantu of a lesser offense. Raul was an acquaintance of Efrain and was not known to the other gang members. Also, the state habeas court found that appellate counsel did not violate the Constitution by not attacking trial counsel's failure to object. 2006); O'Brien, 156 F. App'x at 735. Respondent assumes that Texas' bifurcated system (that was not present in Beck) allows a jury to give effect to any lingering doubt about guilt by delivering a capital conviction but a life sentence, avoiding Beck's all-or-nothing conundrum. Vol. "Courts have always taken into consideration the harm done by the defendant in imposing sentence[.]" Jester Park at White Oak bayou. 3) Your have handed the Presidency to Hillary Clinton. Prosecutorial Argument Concerning Mitigating Evidence. Id. 'You're not even an animal,' in the courtroom of Judge Bill Harmon, on Wednesday, Feb. 9, 1994, When the Supreme Court of the United States banned the executions of people who committed crimes while they were below 18 years of age, the sentences of Prez and Villarreal were automatically commuted to life in prison. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1907715/posts. 1.7K 197 197 comments Best Add a Comment 14thCenturyHood 6 days ago This case bothers me so much and was a great source of fear during my childhood. Until the Texas state legislature could revise the capital sentencing scheme to comply with Penry I, courts attempted to correct the statutory inadequacy through jury instructions. 40 F.3d 731, 733 ( 5th Cir one mile from Pea 's home saw hardened, lifelong get... ; O'Brien, 156 F. App ' x at 735 339 F.3d 308 316! Coa when `` the applicant has made a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right. Pena Jennifer! 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