Finding no reversible error, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. We do note that on the penultimate page of his brief, appellant refers to the term, continuing threat to society. This Court has repeatedly rejected the contention that terms such as this must be defined in the charge. On June 24, 1993, Cantu and other members of the Black and White gang met to initiate a new member. Contractors DirectoryInformation on every contractor in United States. He's set to make the trip again, to witness for the third time the execution of one of the gang members responsible for the rape and murder of his teenage daughter and her schoolmate. In his fifth point of error, appellant complains that the trial court erred in overruling his objection to the prosecutor's argument that the jury had to find a nexus between the defense evidence and the crime before they could consider it mitigating. 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. We further held in Rey v. State, 897 S.W.2d 333, 337 (Tex.Crim.App.1995), that Ake applies to non-psychiatric experts like pathologists. THE COURT: Yes, sir. He was charged with unlawfully carrying a weapon. Appellant's fourteenth point of error is overruled. Cantu seeks a COA on five issues: (1) whether due process requires the state trial court to inform the jury that, if sentenced to life in prison instead of death, Cantu would be eligible for parole after thirty-five years; (2) whether the district court's determination not to instruct the jury on lesser-included offenses violated the Eighth Amendment; (3) whether the way Texas places mitigating evidence before the jury violates the Eighth Amendment; FN1 (4) whether Cantu was rendered ineffective assistance of counsel because his trial counsel did not object on due process grounds to the trial court's admitting photographs that depicted the victims' bodies and the crime scene; and (5) whether Cantu was rendered ineffective assistance because his trial counsel did not object to the prosecution's sentencing-phase argument urging the jury to consider those photographs. 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. Below, Cantu additionally argued that the prosecution's sentencing-phase argument improperly limited the jury's consideration of mitigating evidence; however, he has conceded that argument in his present petition and, so far as his mitigation argument is concerned, seeks a COA only on whether Texas's method of presenting mitigation evidence to the jury is unconstitutional. He married Dominga Arizola in 1945. 6. whether the defendant was acting under duress or the domination of another at the time of the offense; "He's a guy who fully accepts his responsibility.". (Habeas). "Maybe some satisfaction, but no closure.". 3368, 73 L.Ed.2d 1140 (1982). On Friday, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles refused his clemency petition. (3) determination that petitioner was not denied effective assistance of counsel was reasonable. In his argument, appellant basically urges this Court to re-evaluate its prior holdings that Article 37.07 does not apply to capital cases and that the admission of unadjudicated extraneous offenses at the sentencing phase of a capital trial does not offend the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. 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. Please visit www.cbp.gov to view additional news releases and other information pertaining to Customs and Border Protection. This means that the new member was required to fight every member of the gang until he passed out and then he would be accepted as a member. 2/3/94 -- A jury found Cantu guilty of capital murder. Instead of taking her back to her truck, the trio took her to a back parking lot in Melrose Park in Houston, where they took turns raping and sexually assaulting her before stabbing her to death. 3. the forethought and deliberateness exhibited by the crime's execution; Alize Nio) 6.el sabado 7.no te preocupes (tejano) 8.extrao. The Forbes 400 net worth cut off this year was a record-high $2 billion. He was born on June 9, 1980, in Stephenville, Texas to Jesus Cantu, Jr. and Maria Acuna. When confronted with the evidence, O'Brien admitted his involvement in Patricia's murder. denied, 510 U.S. 919, 114 S.Ct. denied, 507 U.S. 975, 113 S.Ct. Even if we assume that the prosecutor's statement was an improper comment, we conclude it was not so egregious that it was not cured by the instruction given to the jury to disregard it. Tony was preceded in death by his parents, his wife Janie P. Cantu, brother Octavanio Cantu, sister Senaida Peralta and granddaughter Raquel Villa. See Rousseau, 855 S.W.2d at 686-87; Felder v. State, 848 S.W.2d 85, 101 (Tex.Crim.App.1992), cert. The instant case is distinguishable from Payne, Ford and Smith as Pena was not the victim named in the indictment. She bought the beer and went with the group, unwittingly heading to her death. Done purely to prevent him being caught for the crimes that had been done. ), cert. Instead, jurors must individually determine what evidence, if any, mitigates against the imposition of the death penalty and what weight, if any, to give that evidence in its consideration. For instance, a special instruction is not mandated under our law requiring a jury to affirmatively answer whether they believed witness A, but not witness B. Pete will be remembered for his infectious laugh and loving personality. They should have hung them. They decided to take a shortcut across the railroad tracks. 2253, 132 L.Ed.2d 260 (1995). 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. Point of error thirty-two is overruled. Shaw, a former employee, was caught on camera Sept. 14 taking a pallet of meat with an estimated value of more than $6,400 dollars from the company, 1325 S. Brazos St., according to an arrest warrant affidavit. She testified that appellant was friendly to her and never mistreated or was disrespectful to her. "I think whatever they did, no matter how much there is, they should stand trial for every single thing." 12/13/06 -- The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied state habeas relief. Nowhere will you find the court instructing you that you have to find any evidence that you've heard in this case mitigating. As she was leaving, she was stopped by Joe Medellin, Peter Cantu and Sean O'Brien, who asked her to buy them some beer since they were underage. Of the six people convicted, five were sentenced to death. 3047, 111 L.Ed.2d 511 (1990); Lawton v. State, 913 S.W.2d 542 (Tex.Crim.App.1995); McFarland, supra. The other gang members present were Roman Sandoval, Joe Medellin, Efrian Perez, and Derrick Sean O'Brien. It was traced to the home of the brother of one of the men later sentenced to death for these murders. In the instant case, it is evident the prosecutor did not inject any new facts into the proceeding, much less new facts that could be deemed prejudicial or harmful. Martinez was appellant's second witness at the punishment phase of trial. The inferences drawn by the prosecutor from the evidence were not so extreme or improper as to rise to the level of reversible error. His offenses escalated to car theft and an attempted stabbing. denied, 510 U.S. 1215, 114 S.Ct. In fact, by the very language of the statute, it requires a jury to consider all of the evidence. The murders also forced Houston city officials to treat gangs as a serious crime problem, when they had previously denied that there was a gang problem in the city. 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). Tex.R.App. Pete T. Cantu Obituary We are sad to announce that on February 15, 2022 we had to say goodbye to Pete T. Cantu in Orange Grove, Texas, born in Stephenville, Texas. Pete Cantu in Texas(TX) found with records in 36 cities. 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. The five killers were tried for capital murder in Harris County, Texas, convicted and sentenced to death. In Rousseau, 855 S.W.2d at 673, we established a two-prong test to determine whether a defendant is entitled to a charge on a lesser included offense. 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. The district court determined that the state court's conclusion was not an unreasonable application of federal law. Elections 2016 See also: Donna Independent School District elections (2016) Six of the seven seats on the Donna Independent School District school board were up for general election on Here, the district court explained, the prosecution introduced the photographs while doing just that-describing the condition of the corpses, explaining the process of identifying the bodies, and verifying the statements made by Cantu and others. Notwithstanding this, the Ake Court, 470 U.S. at 83, 105 S.Ct. See Johnson v. Puckett, 930 F.2d 445, 448 (5th Cir.1991) (We have repeatedly held that a contention not raised by a habeas petitioner in the district court cannot be considered for the first time on appeal from that court's denial of habeas relief.). "I think they should file some more charges," Cathy Lopez, Patricia Lopez's mother-in-law, said. Point of error forty-five is overruled. BSCO is seeking any information on the two suspects shown in the video. DMCA NoticesNewspaper web site content management software and services. 2909, 49 L.Ed.2d 859 (1976), that as long as the class of murderers subject to capital punishment is narrowed, there is no constitutional infirmity in a procedure that allows a jury to recommend mercy based on the mitigating evidence introduced by a defendant. Pursuant to Tex. Elliott v. State, 858 S.W.2d 478 (Tex.Crim.App. Robertson, supra. One of the boys boasted of having 'virgin blood' on him. Michelle is 51 years old and was born on February 1971. He was on probation for assault in connection with an incident at the Astrodome parking lot in which he threatened another youth with a knife. This Court has held that, when challenging the constitutionality of a statute: Houston police researched older cases and found a possible match with the unsolved murder of Patricia Lourdes Lopez. Jail. The State did not directly or indirectly accuse counsel of suborning perjury or manufacturing evidence, as appellant claims in his brief. I dont believe anybody ever in their lifetime is going to forget this. ** residential re-roof- w/ no change to pitch/ removing existing shingles and replacing w/ same type/no other work being done/all work must comply w/irc & udc.-**ama, Fee: @pete.cantu.777. denied, 515 U.S. 1105, 115 S.Ct. Days later, Cantu's brother and sister-in-law reported what they had heard to the police. Ertman tried to help. However, his request for a mistrial was thereafter denied. He was born on June 9, 1980, in Stephenville, Texas to Jesus Cantu, Jr. and Maria Acuna. It affected more than just Melissa and me and Randy and Sandy.". Your Honor, we object to the suggestion that there has to be a nexus between the mitigation and the returning of a verdict which would result in a life sentence. 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. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). H-07-CV-3016, 2009 WL 275172 (S.D.Tex. Because of repeated behavioral problems, Cantu had been in an alternative school since sixth grade. Is there a link there and correlation between what you've heard and what you saw happen on June 24th, 1993? 946, 952 (5th Cir.2004) (emphasis added); cf. Instagram Contact Us Check out some new shirts! Information on every contractor in United States. On cross-examination, the State asked Martinez if she thought the killing of the two girls was funny. When the witness answered in the negative, the State asked that the jury be excused and introduced two letters the witness had written to appellant's co-defendant, Efrian Perez, and questioned her about one of them, which read: Efrian, what's up, ugly? 17. 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. 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. Both wree sexually assaulted by the gang members, beaten, and strangled. Medellin and O'Brien wrapped O'Brien's red nylon belt around Ertman's neck. See Tucker v. State, 771 S.W.2d 523, 535 n. 5 (Tex.Crim.App.1988), cert. 2. Zimmerman v. State, 881 S.W.2d 360 (Tex.Crim.App. He does not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence to support the jury's verdict finding him guilty of capital murder. However, appellant was also given the statutorily mandated mitigation instruction of Article 37.071 2(e) which provides the jury with just such a vehicle needed to consider and give effect to evidence such as evidence of intoxication which does not rise to the level of temporary insanity. 1317, 131 L.Ed.2d 198 (1995). Hell, no.". 17 Episodes 2019. See Tucker v. State, 771 S.W.2d 523, 533-34 (Tex.Crim.App.1988), cert. The murders of Elizabeth Pena and Jennifer Ertman affected Houston deeply. I suspect that it's something you will never ever forget if you never see these photos again, but if you want to see, if you want to start thinking about don't kill that child, don't kill that child, think about the two children in here that all you got left of them is right here. [W]hy do you consider mitigation, that's because the courts allow you to individualize the justice. Four days after the murders, Christina Cantu convinced her husband to call the police. That said, we resolve any doubts as to whether a COA should issue in the petitioner's favor when the death penalty is involved. WebPete Cantu was born on April 9, 1914. 84 Lumber. 2253(c), Cantu now seeks from this court a certificate of appealability. The district court concluded that the state court's rejection of this argument was not an unreasonable application of federal law, and we conclude that reasonable jurists would not disagree with that determination. Pedro Cantu III, 30, had been driving a BMW near Jenny and Villa Drives around 10:30 a.m. when police attempted to pull him over, according to the Sheriffs Office. The other gang members present were Derrick O'Brien, 18; Jose Medellin, 18; Efrain Perez, 17; and Roman Sandoval. Native County: Harris I'm not going to show it to you. Joe Cantu also testified appellant agreed with everything that was being said about the rapes and killing, nodding his head and saying, [Y]eah daddy, you got it.. The group then headed towards some nearby railroad tracks. Pete Cantu. For the following reasons, we deny a certificate of appealability on all of the issues that he raises. "I was the last parent to have seen them," she said. Any facial unconstitutionality inhering in Article 37.071 2(b)(2) did not affect appellant. As we stated in Robertson v. State, 871 S.W.2d 701, 711-12 (Tex.Crim.App.1993), cert. Pete Cantu. Jester, both busy streets. 'Gonzalez' said that his brother was one of the six people involved in killing the girls, and gave police the names of all but one, the new recruit, whom he did not know. 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. 55 (5th Cir. For the past year, he worked in Central Texas at KCBD's sister station KWTX. A State may legitimately conclude that evidence about the victim and about the impact of the murder on the victim's family is relevant to the jury's decision as to whether or not the death penalty should be imposed. We have previously addressed and rejected this contention. Excessive . Sheet Metal Worker. When the rapes finally ended, the horror was not over. at 2609. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Cantu's conviction in a direct appeal on January 29, 1997. Sign Up. Mr. Cantu is survived by his wife: Dominga Arizola Cantu of Luckenbach; six daughters, six sons and spouses: Frank and Estella Cantu, Tina and Martin Perez, Vincent and Benita Cantu all of Fredericksburg, Leandro and Sylvia Cantu of Llano, Martha and Julian Cantu of Stonewall, Abel and Jeraldine Cantu, Abelia Cantu of Fredericksburg, Porfie Cantu, of Austin, Oralia and Henry Sorola, Beatrice and Damian Rosa, Emma and Pastor Robert Garcia of Fredericksburg, Monroe and Rebecca Cantu of Montana; 41 grandchildren, 84 greatgrandchildren, five great-greatgrandchildren; three sistersin law: Tomasa Cantu, Andrea Cantu, Patrocina Cantu. We have already decided these issues adversely to appellant. can stop at any time. Pete will be remembered for his infectious laugh and loving personality. If enough of any type of evidence exists in the record so that any rational trier of fact could have believed an issue to be true, then we need not know what a specific trier of fact believed. Pete Cantu. Additionally, the district court denied a certificate of appealability (COA), sua sponte, on all of the issues raised by Cantu. The individual breaking into the home punches the window, suffers a a vicious cut to the hand and runs off. Section 2(f)(4) stated: See, e.g., Thacker v. Dretke, 396 F.3d 607, 617 (5th Cir.2005); Elizalde v. Dretke, 362 F.3d 323, 332-33 (5th Cir.2004); Woods v. Cockrell, 307 F.3d 353, 361 (5th Cir.2002). With $53,000 being the highest bid for the 332-mile supercharged 1/2-ton, it moved on for a . 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. Retrieved June 3, 2022. * * * Evidence concerning her sexual assault, robbery and murder is admissible as same transaction contextual evidence. Failure To Object To Prosecution's Argument. Appellant's counsel responded, Not guilty, Your Honor. After the jury was brought in the next day, the State read the indictment in their presence. We hold that the same analysis applies to the new statute and appellant has given us no reason to revisit this issue. Enchiladas, fajitas and a cinnamon bun. 3230, 106 L.Ed.2d 578 (1989); San Miguel v. State, 864 S.W.2d 493, 495-96 (Tex.Crim.App.1993), cert. The Supreme Court has also expressed approval of this method of instructing the jury concerning the consideration of mitigating evidence. . A 14-year-old attacker was given a 40-year sentence. 1978, 131 L.Ed.2d 866 (1995). FN1. Appellant's claimed error could have been corrected easily if he had timely called it to the court's attention by making a contemporaneous objection. Tuilaepa v. California, 512 U.S. 967, 979-80, 114 S.Ct. The district court highlighted that the Supreme Court has itself refused to extend Simmons's holding beyond when, assuming the jury fixes the sentence at life, the defendant is ineligible for parole under state law. Ramdass v. Angelone, 530 U.S. 156, 166, 120 S.Ct. Hence, any error will only be reversible if it was so egregious and created such harm that appellant did not have a fair and impartial trial. Peter Cantu is not an animal. 2914, 115 L.Ed.2d 1078 (1991); Tex. For a rational jury to find that appellant was guilty only of murder, some evidence must exist in the record that appellant did not commit sexual assault, robbery, or kidnapping or did not kill during the commission of or in the immediate flight from committing any of these offenses. Cantu first argues that the state trial court's refusal to inform the jury of Texas parole law violates the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause. In points of error twenty-one and twenty-two, appellant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support the jury's answers to the issues on future dangerousness and mitigation. Director 2 Credits. This allegation was addressed and answered by the United States Supreme Court in Jurek v. Texas, 428 U.S. 262, 96 S.Ct. Appellant's specific complaint seems to be racial discrimination based on the race of the victim in that he notes that appellant is Hispanic and the named victim was white. Tuesday he paid for it with his life. FN6. "It's a little late," Ertman said. ] (emphasis added). The phone transferred the photos to her online account, and she shared them on Facebook. Media Advisory: Peter Cantu scheduled for execution. In his thirty-ninth and fortieth points of error, appellant alleges that Article 44.251(a) is facially unconstitutional when taken together with Article 37.071 2(a) because the former requires a sufficiency review of the latter. Appellant did not object to the inclusion of this instruction in the charge. Think about how cold the man is, how cowardly he is, how cruel he is. Defendant was convicted upon jury verdict in the District Court, Harris County, William Harmon, J., of capital murder and was sentenced to death. The same objection was lodged with regard to the testimony of Joe Cantu. To begin, we note that the only evidence that appellant specifically complains about on appeal is the testimony of Pena's mother at the punishment phase of trial. Appellant further remarks that this Court has said that it can and should interpret the Texas Constitution in a more expansive manner than the federal constitution and cites us to several cases for this proposition. While this standard may be met if the evidence would permit a finding contrary to that establishing Cantu's participation in the actual murders, see Aguilar, 428 F.3d at 531, our interpretation of Beck requires a trial court judge to consider all of the evidence in the case as a whole in determining whether a rational jury could have found the defendant not guilty of capital murder but guilty of a lesser-included offense, Campbell v. Dretke, 117 Fed.Appx. the Art. He is preceded in death by his brother, Ralph Cantu Rodriguez; uncle, Richard Perez Rodriguez; aunt, Mary Ann Ortiz. The law as to mitigation and otherwise comes from the jury charge rather than from argument of counsel. See also Morris v. State, 940 S.W.2d 610, 615 (Tex.Crim.App.1996).
Does Tiger Woods Have A Relationship With His Siblings,
How To Build A Small Steam Boiler,
June 7, 2007 Wisconsin Tornado,
Articles P