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They were forced to perform oral sex. LinkedIn is the world's largest business network, helping. As the recitation of the facts set out in the beginning of this opinion shows, the circumstances surrounding this crime were horrendous. Bignall v. State, 887 S.W.2d 21, 24 (Tex.Crim.App.1994). In response to her friends cries, Jennifer ran back to help, but Cantu grabbed her and dragged her down the hill as well. He married Dominga Arizola in 1945. With the final execution completed, Pena said the two murdered girls can finally have peace. At the guilt/innocence phase of the instant case, the jury was specifically charged that they could not find appellant guilty of capital murder unless he intentionally murdered the victim or intentionally assisted in the commission of the murder and the aggravating offense. Is there a connection between what they try to give to you as mitigation, is there some connection between that and the crime itself, when you think of what you discovered to possibly be mitigating. By the time the bodies were discovered, they were so badly decomposed that dental records were required to identify them. 869, 71 L.Ed.2d 1 (1982) and Lockett v. Ohio, 438 U.S. 586, 98 S.Ct. Unfortunately, he revealed on Instagram . 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Appellant combines all three of these points into one argument in which he basically alleges that the special issues do nothing to insure that the sentencer's decision was not an act of unbridled discretion.. Point of error forty-three is overruled. AUSTIN Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott offers the following information about Peter Anthony Cantu, who is scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m. on August 17, 2010. Each of these requested charges should have been submitted to the jury to correct the otherwise unconstitutional nature of the issue on mitigation as discussed in Point of Error Fourteen. 2954, 57 L.Ed.2d 973 (1978). 1029. 1/29/97 -- The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Cantus verdict and sentence. However, we reaffirmed the original holding on appeal. ", Even now, both families say there is no closure. He was charged with unlawfully carrying a weapon. HUNTSVILLE, Texas (CBS/KHOU) Murderer Peter Anthony Cantu was executed by the state of Texas Tuesday evening. Appellant then requested and received an instruction to the jury to disregard the comment. A little knowledge of routine vehicle maintenance may have kept. pete cantu texas metal 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. Patricia's estranged husband suffered through a long period of being considered a suspect in his wife's murder. Pedro was born on November 5, 1924 in Floresville, Texas to Vincente and Tiadosa Robles Cantu. Tony was preceded in death by his parents, his wife Janie P. Cantu, brother Octavanio Cantu, sister Senaida Peralta and granddaughter Raquel Villa. Santikos, supra; Dinkins v. State, 894 S.W.2d 330, 340 (Tex.Crim.App.1995), cert. Point of error thirty-three is overruled. Owner at Last Note Productions. Retrieved June 3, 2022. See Photos. Find your friends on Facebook. Moore v. State, supra at 128, 128-09). Hence, appellant's first and third requested charges set out above would have been misstatements of the law. FN13. See Beazley v. Johnson, 242 F.3d 248, 260 (5th Cir.2001) (The definition of mitigating evidence does not limit the evidence considered under the third special issue (whether mitigating circumstances warrant a life, rather than a death, sentence).); see also Roach v. Quarterman, 220 Fed.Appx. 106, 133 L.Ed.2d 59 (1995); McBride v. State, 862 S.W.2d 600, 610-11 (Tex.Crim.App.1993), cert. 1422, 122 L.Ed.2d 791 (1993); Tex.R.App. denied, 514 U.S. 1117, 115 S.Ct. Pedro Cantu. 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. In making this comparison, the prosecution referred to the challenged photographs. Proc. 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. The other gang members present were Roman Sandoval, Joe Medellin, Efrian Perez, and Derrick Sean O'Brien. Medellin and O'Brian each apologized prior to their respective executions, but Pena said he did not expect an apology from Cantu on his deathbed and he was not surprised when he did not get one. 2009). Pursuant to Tex. Peter Cantu's execution set for tonight - ABC13 Houston Both Tison and Enmund were concerned with the implementation of the death penalty on defendants who were not proven to have an intent to kill. Wasn't no pain. In support of his argument, appellant explains that prior to trial, he filed a Motion to Provide Funds for Expert Assistance-Jury Study. By his motion, appellant proposed that the trial court should provide him funds with which he could hire a scholar who would study a sample of jurors and their understanding of the special punishment issues. As we stated above in point of error twelve, when challenging the constitutionality of a statute: [I]t is incumbent upon the defendant to show that in its operation the statute is unconstitutional as to him in his situation; that it may be unconstitutional as to others is not sufficient. See Penry v. Johnson, 532 U.S. 782, 803, 121 S.Ct. ), cert. PETE CANTU REAL ESTATE INC in San Antonio, TX | Company Info & Reviews ", Maria Frausto said she often says a small prayer when she jogs past the memorial. Executed August 17, 2010 06:17 p.m. CDT by Lethal Injection in Texas. February 19, 2014. 2(f)(4). Accordingly, appellant waived any error by his failure to object to the procedure used by the trial court in its entering of his plea before the jury. Research has proven that the death penalty (fighting violence with violence) fails to prevent, deter or reduce vio Dr. Robert Cantu, chief of neurosurgery at Emerson Hospital in Concord, Mass., and one of the nation's foremost authorities on concussions and brain trauma in youth sports, called the decision to . They pulled on the belt, one boy on each side, until the belt broke. "Texas executes gang member for murder of 2 girls," by Michael Graczyk. Points of error eighteen and nineteen are overruled. The third man was given 40 years in prison and is eligible for parole. And then ask yourself another question. A little thing that I would suggest is that you kind of go in the step of number one, you look to determine is there any mitigation. Joe Cantu, brother of ringleader Peter Cantu, whose call to police had led to the arrests in the Ertman/Pena murders, had again contacted authorities and told them that he recalled O'Brien bragging about another murder that occurred before the girls were killed. Second, he argues that his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance for failing to object to the prosecution's sentencing-phase argument urging the jurors to look at the admitted photographs. A capital sentencer need not be instructed how to weigh any particular mitigating fact in the capital sentencing decision. However, evidence as to her good character, activities she enjoyed and the impact of her on her family is not relevant as appellant was not on trial for her murder and such evidence serves no purpose other than to inflame the jury. Appellant then parceled out jewelry and money he had taken from the girls. In point three, appellant avers that the trial court erred in prohibiting him from introducing testimony that he would have to serve 35 calendar years before becoming parole eligible if sentenced to life imprisonment. He made off with two cases of Budweiser beer and about 140 DVDs before police caught up with him.Read more: Police: Man rammed car into Dollar General, stole Budweiser, , 37, of Universal City, was arrested outside a Whataburger on Pat Booker Road April 30, 2014. 2216 91st St, Lubbock, TX 79423 921 Adrian St, Lubbock, TX 79403 2311 49th St, Lubbock, TX 79412. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Cantu's conviction in a direct appeal on January 29, 1997. Given the sparsity of the victim impact evidence, the fact that it was not mentioned by the State during arguments (appellant did briefly refer to this testimony during his punishment arguments), and the overwhelming focus during the punishment phase on appellant's behavior and the circumstances of the offense, we conclude the victim impact evidence made no contribution to punishment. 19.03(a)(2). 2. denied, 510 U.S. 829, 114 S.Ct. FN2. Cold, cruel, inhuman, and yet he has his attorney saying don't kill the child. Appellant appeared happy and amused by the conversation and readily agreed with the recollection of events. denied, 495 U.S. 940, 110 S.Ct. 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. ), cert. They also knew they would have to pass a sexually-oriented business on that route and so decided to take a well-known shortcut down a railroad track and through a city park to Elizabeth's neighborhood. 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. After reviewing the district court's thoughtful consideration of the issue, we cannot say that reasonable jurists would disagree with its determination that the state court's conclusion was a reasonable application of federal law. 2. Citations: We have previously held a defendant is not entitled to an instruction on parole law in a capital case under the Texas Constitution. As such, we note only that informing the jury of their failure to agree on the answer to a special issue is expressly forbidden by Article 37.071 2(a). Further, he asserts that there exists a reasonable probability that the result of the proceeding was affected by the graphic nature of the photographs. RESPONSE SUMMARY JUDGMENT MTN March 30, 2010 | Trellis 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." The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) requires a petitioner to obtain a COA in order to appeal the district court's denial of his habeas petition. They should have hung them. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. He told Venancio to stay behind, saying he was "too little to watch." Other cast members of the show are Spot and John. While he generally discusses each special issue, he never argues or provides authority as to why this makes the statute's operation unconstitutional as applied to him. However, his request for a mistrial was thereafter denied. Cantu, then 18, orchestrated the attacks and slaying. At this point, the Sandoval brothers decided that it was time to leave. Proc. Pete Cantu was a candidate for the Place 6 seat on the Donna Independent School District school board in Texas.Cantu was defeated in the by-district general election on November 8, 2016.. 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. Date of Birth: 05/27/75 A drunken O'Brien had told Patricia that if she did not cause him to have an erection through oral sex, he would kill her. Volunteer Awards - border olympics [W]hy do you consider mitigation, that's because the courts allow you to individualize the justice. Pursuant to the jury's answers to the special issues set forth in Texas Code of Criminal Procedure art. Messages run for up to one year and you Green v. State, 934 S.W.2d 92, 106, 107 (Tex.Crim.App.1996). They knew they would be late if they took the normal path home, down W. 34th Street to T.C. They were spotted by the group, pulled off the tracks and taken into nearby woods where they were sexually assaulted. The district court recognized that the prosecution's arguments were harsh, but it concluded that the arguments did not render the trial fundamentally unfair. SAN ANTONIO A man suspected of stealing an unmarked Bexar County Sheriffs Office cruiser during a chase Tuesday was arrested New Braunfels Wednesday morning. 385, 133 L.Ed.2d 307 (1995); Broxton v. State, 909 S.W.2d 912 (Tex.Crim.App.1995); Sonnier v. State, 913 S.W.2d 511 (Tex.Crim.App.1995). Article 27.16 states that: Ex-gang leader executed for '93 deaths of 2 Houston girls - Chron Notwithstanding this, we hold that evidence concerning the sexual assault, robbery, and murder of Pena is admissible at guilt/innocence as same transaction contextual evidence to impart to the trier of fact information essential to understanding the context and circumstances of the offense. He remains in custody as of this writing. Gaddis, supra, at 398. Cantu v. Quarterman, 341 Fed.Appx. She'd been raped and eviscerated. Further, the trial court did not admit all of the prosecution's proffered photographs and instead engaged in a process of weighing the probative value of each photograph against its likely prejudicial effect. After unsuccessfully appealing his conviction . We will not revisit the issue here. Seventeen years after taking part in one of the most heinous crimes in Houston history, Peter Cantu was executed tonight in Huntsville. Appellant alleges in point thirty-three that the death penalty as presently administered in Texas is cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and Article I, 13 of the Texas Constitution. 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. Raul was an acquaintance of Efrain and was not known to the other gang members. Article 37.071 2(h). Defendant was convicted upon jury verdict in the District Court, Harris County, William Harmon, J., of capital murder and was sentenced to death. Occupation: Laborer Date Received: 03/18/94 The police helicopter was flying over the park and this apparently prompted Mr. 'Gonzalez' to make a 911 call, directing the search to move to the other side of the bayou. Evidence at trial also tended to show appellant was the leader of the gang that committed this crime, and this evidence rebutted any implication he acted under duress or the domination of another at the time of the offense. In this review, we do not attempt to determine what a particular jury subjectively believed. Four of the other assailants were also convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. Pete T. Cantu Obituary In points of error eighteen and nineteen, appellant avers that the mitigation issue of Article 37.071 2(e) violates the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution because it shifts the burden of proof to the defendant or omits it entirely. 381, 121 L.Ed.2d 292 (1992). Appellant specifically complains of the emphasized portion of the following argument: [THE STATE:] [I would] [l]ike to talk to you briefly about the issue of mitigation[.] Pete Cantu. , 30, a security guard, was charged with burglary of a business he was hired to protect. Anderson v. State, 932 S.W.2d 502, 509 (Tex.Crim.App.1996). This time, it will be the lethal injection on Tuesday of Peter Anthony Cantu, the leader of the five young men who were sentenced to die for the June 1993 murders of 14-year-old Jennifer Ertman and 16-year-old Elizabeth Pena. He objected that this evidence was not relevant to the special issues and was more prejudicial than probative. However, as they passed Joe Medellin, he grabbed Elizabeth and dragged her down a hill as she screamed for help. (AP August 17, 2010). 927 (1908). Executed August 17, 2010 06:17 p.m. CDT by Lethal Injection in Texas, 36th murderer executed in U.S. in 2010 Director 2 Credits. M. Pena then testified as to her relationship with her daughter and her daughter's relationship with other members of the family. Texas Code of Criminal Procedure article 26.05(a) provides that counsel shall be reimbursed for reasonable expenses incurred with prior court approval for purposes of investigation and expert testimony [. Browse our site for information and then call one of our three retail locations below for answers to your questions or for pricing information and quotes on your projects. Tuesday, August 10, 2010 By The Supreme Court has also expressed approval of this method of instructing the jury concerning the consideration of mitigating evidence. Questions Post Question There are no questions yet for this company. Building Materials. Id. Pete Cantu - Ballotpedia 1997). The juvenile, Venancio Medellin, pled guilty to his charge and his sentence was reviewed when he turned 18, at which time he was sent to serve the remainder of the sentence in prison. Any facial unconstitutionality inhering in Article 37.071 2(b)(2) did not affect appellant. Appellant adopts Justice Blackmun's arguments in his dissenting opinion on the denial of certiorari in Callins v. Collins, 510 U.S. 1141, 114 S.Ct. This allegation was addressed and answered by the United States Supreme Court in Jurek v. Texas, 428 U.S. 262, 96 S.Ct. Because of our resolution of points of error eighteen and nineteen, supra, we hold that this was not error. ", The case horrified Houston. The state court concluded that Cantu's counsel's performance was not deficient because the prosecution's statements were proper under Texas law and did not inject new or harmful facts into the trial in light of the record as a whole. Romans brother Frank, and Joes fourteen-year-old brother, Venancio, were also present. Maybe some satisfaction, but never closure.". 1337, 127 L.Ed.2d 685 (1994). Over the years, Rios regularly asks what else she might have done to prevent their deaths. 2009). Article 37.071 2(e) yields further support to this interpretation in that it requires the court to instruct the jury to take into consideration all of the evidence, including the circumstances of the offense, the defendant's character and background, and the personal moral culpability of the defendant (emphasis added) in determining whether sufficient mitigating circumstances exist to warrant a life sentence. Counsel for Defendant D&W Painting, Inc. Richard H. Grafton T. Mark Rogstad Paul Byron Starr WRIGHT & GREENHILL, P.C. Your email address will not be published. 401 and therefore irrelevant in the context of the special issues under Art. Point of error forty-five is overruled. In memory of Peter Cantu 27.05.1975 - 17.08.2010. . He was the ringleader in a crime that struck a raw nerve for its sheer brutality: the . While a police helicopter was flying over the park, Cantu called 9-1-1 and told them to look on the other side of the bayou. 600, 121 L.Ed.2d 537 (1992); Parent v. State, 621 S.W.2d 796, 797 (Tex.Crim.App.1981). Not soon enough. denied, 506 U.S. 999, 113 S.Ct. In regard to points twenty-one and twenty-three, appellant argues that the jury should have been required to identify which unadjudicated offenses they found appellant had committed.FN10 Because they did not, appellant contends, this Court is unable to consider the unadjudicated offenses in its evaluation, thus barring a review of the sufficiency of the evidence of the punishment issues. Longtime friend Jim Stacey, speaking on their behalf, said they were ready to put the crime and its aftermath "as far behind them as possible" and left Huntsville immediately after the execution. This led to the discovery of the girls' bodies, which were rapidly decomposing in Houston's sweltering summer heat. When the police followed this suggestion, they found the badly decaying bodies of Jenny and Elizabeth. Now [defense counsel], I don't blame him. "He has matured remarkably," said Robin Norris, his appeals lawyer. Appellant contends in his forty-fourth point of error that Article 37.071 2(a),FN13 which prohibits the judge and the parties from informing the jury of the effect of a failure of the jury to agree on their answers to the special issues, violates the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. 2. Intoxication means disturbance of mental or physical capacity resulting from the introduction of any substance into the body. Pedro was born on November 5, 1924 in Floresville, Texas to Vincente and Tiadosa Robles Cantu. Please spare his life. However, enough tissue did exist for the medical examiner to determine that the girls had died of a trauma to the neck which was consistent with strangulation. Height: 5' 06" 2934, 106 L.Ed.2d 256 (1989) does not require that, if a jury finds evidence to be both mitigating and aggravating, then it should give the evidence only its mitigating weight. At this point, Roman and Frank Sandoval decided to leave. 2187) (omission and alterations in original). Later that night, Joe, Efrian, and Raul regrouped at Cantus house to brag about their exploits. See Tucker v. State, 771 S.W.2d 523, 535 n. 5 (Tex.Crim.App.1988), 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. The girls were still being raped when Cantu whispered to Venancio, "We're going to have to kill them.". Cantu walked in as the rest were recounting their exploits to his older brother and sister-in-law, Joe and Christina Cantu, in graphic detail. At the time of Cantu's trial, 2(e)(1) stated: The court shall instruct the jury that if the jury returns an affirmative finding to each issue submitted under Subsection (b), it shall answer the following issue: Whether, taking into consideration all of the evidence, including the circumstances of the offense, the defendant's character and background, and the personal moral culpability of the defendant, there is a sufficient mitigating circumstance or circumstances to warrant that a sentence of life imprisonment rather than a death sentence be imposed. 84 Lumber. 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. However, we affirmed the original holding on appeal. When Cantu looked away, Ertman yelled at him, "Look at me look at me good!". We would like to offer our sincere support to anyone coping with grief. For a rational jury to find that appellant was guilty only of sexual assault, robbery, or kidnapping, there must be some evidence in the record that appellant did not intend to kill the victim. Subsequent decisions by this court have consistently held that a state trial court may not, under Beck, refuse a lesser-included-offense instruction if the jury could rationally acquit on the capital crime and convict for the noncapital crime. East v. Scott, 55 F.3d 996, 1005 (5th Cir.1995) (internal citation omitted) (quoting Cordova v. Lynaugh, 838 F.2d 764, 767 (5th Cir.1988)); see also Aguilar v. Dretke, 428 F.3d 526, 531 (5th Cir.2005).