She was born February 8, 1918 to Dallas and Daisy Johnson. 1860, 100 L.Ed.2d 384 (1988), which is precisely the case appellant uses as his authority. * that appellant threatened to kill an officer of the law; and [W]hether the defendant actually caused the death of the deceased or did not actually cause the death of the deceased but intended to kill the deceased or another or anticipated that a human life would be taken. Further, the overwhelming balance of evidence adduced at trial corroborated Cantu's second statement: (1) Roman Sandoval, a fellow gang member, stated that Cantu called him and confessed to the murders; (2) additional gang members stated that they were following whatever Peter Cantu was doing; (3) Venancia Medellin, a gang member, testified that after he raped Ms. Ertman, Cantu whispered in his ear that [w]e're going to have to kill them, and that Cantu then directed the gang to bring the girls into the woods; and (4) while some of the gang members, including Cantu, recounted the events of that evening to Cantu's older brother Joe and his wife Christina, one gang member described how Cantu kicked one of the girls in the face with his steel toe[ ] [boots] while Cantu commented that [t]he bitch wouldn't die so I stomped on her neck and that the girls had to die [so] they couldn't identify them.. Every memory left on the online obituary will be automatically included in the book. 927 (1908). He gave the police the names of all of the perpetrators, except for new initiate Villareal, who he did not know. Johnson v. Quarterman, 483 F.3d 278, 285 (5th Cir.2007). "They left my house and they were supposed to go home," Rios said. There might be a fact and circumstance out there that just cries out for mercy, cries out for you to give the person some leniency and not give them the death penalty,. Keep that in mind when you think in terms of what is it that really compels our mercy and do you see it in this case? At 6:09 p.m., lethal injection drugs entered Cantu's body. 315 followers. We know that Pete Cantu had been residing in El Cerrito, Contra Costa County, California 94530. The trials of Efrain Perez, Raul Villarreal and Jose Medellin were held simultaneously, with common witnesses shuttling from one courtroom to the other. Point of error thirteen is overruled. The district court recognized that the prosecution's arguments were harsh, but it concluded that the arguments did not render the trial fundamentally unfair. Id. Please spare his life. However, he does contend the evidence is insufficient to support the jury's affirmative answer to the special issue on future dangerousness. ), cert. By the time the bodies were discovered, they were so badly decomposed that dental records were required to identify them. 1224th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976 The gist of the State's argument is the defense did not have any evidence in its favor, which is a proper response to defense counsel's just-completed argument that the evidence was insufficient to convict appellant of capital murder. KELLER, J., concurs in the result on point of error eight and joins in the remainder of the opinion. Indeed, this circuit has repeatedly refused to apply Simmons so as to require that Texas juries be informed of a defendant's future parole eligibility. Appellant's twenty-eighth point is overruled. 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. FN3. The Ertman and Pena killings led to five death sentences, at the time the most of any crime in modern American history. 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. We have already decided these issues against appellant. We have already addressed this issue and decided it adversely to appellant's position. Cantu then sought state post-conviction relief. This is not to say, of course, that the indigent defendant has a constitutional right to choose a psychiatrist of his personal liking or to receive funds to hire his own. 3230, 106 L.Ed.2d 578 (1989). Mines was remanded by the United States Supreme Court for review in light of Johnson v. State, 509 U.S. 350, 113 S.Ct. Refine Your Search Results. Joe Cantu then placed an anonymous call to the Houston Police Department's "Crimestoppers" tip line. Houston police researched older cases and found a possible match with the unsolved murder of Patricia Lourdes Lopez. A brief summary of the facts will be helpful. The Ertmans and Penas gathered friends and neighbors to help them pass out a huge stack of fliers with the girls' pictures all over the Houston area, even giving them to newspaper vendors on the roadside. 5. the defendant's age and personal circumstances at the time of the offense; The Forbes 400 net worth cut off this year was a record-high $2 billion. Cantu v. Quarterman, No. 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. * * * In his thirty-fifth point of error, appellant complains that the trial court erred in failing to give the jury instructions on the lesser-included offenses of murder, sexual assault, robbery, and kidnapping. 37.071, 2(e)(1) (1991). Ex-gang leader executed for '93 deaths of 2 Houston girls - Chron The Bexar County Sheriff's Office released surveillance video of an attempted burglary on the Northwest Side on May 24, 2016. Cantu kicked Elizabeth in the face with his steel toe boots, knocking out several teeth, and he stepped on Jennifers neck until she stopped moving. The plea of not guilty may be made orally by the defendant or by his counsel in open court. Once dead, the girls' bodies were left in the woods, and the gang members proceeded to Cantu's home, where they bragged of their crime to Cantu's brother and sister-in-law. See also, Lackey v. State, 819 S.W.2d 111 (Tex.Crim.App.1989) (not error to fail to instruct jury to consider specifically appellant's age as a mitigating factor because the jury's answer as to special issue two (future dangerousness) would reflect their consideration of all the mitigating evidence); Jackson v. State, 822 S.W.2d 18 (Tex.Crim.App.1990). Best Match Powered by Whitepages Premium AGE 80+ Pete Cantu Edinburg, TX Aliases Pedro O Cantu View Full Report Addresses N 19th Ave, Edinburg, TX Christina subsequently convinced her husband to report the incident to the police. 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. Lawton, 913 S.W.2d at 557; McFarland, 928 S.W.2d at 497-99. 3. the forethought and deliberateness exhibited by the crime's execution; She bought the beer and went with the group, unwittingly heading to her death. Pedro was born on November 5, 1924 in Floresville, Texas to Vincente and Tiadosa Robles Cantu. Pete Cantu, age 41, passed away on Tuesday, February 15, 2022, in Orange Grove, Texas. Infamous Houston Murders Still Shock After Decades | Houston Press He did not look toward the witnesses and made no last statement. However, that Court also said that the State need not purchase for an indigent defendant all the assistance that his wealthier counterparts might buy. Id. In his thirty-fourth point of error, appellant complains that neither he nor his trial counsel was given the opportunity to enter a plea of not guilty to the jury; thus, he contends, his conviction is void ab initio. Santikos v. State, 836 S.W.2d 631 (Tex.Crim.App. "I told him to stick it. Point of error thirty-four is overruled. * that appellant made threats at a hospital and in jail. Appellant's thirty-ninth and fortieth points of error are overruled. In this review, we do not attempt to determine what a particular jury subjectively believed. At this point, the Sandoval brothers decided that it was time to leave. denied, 510 U.S. 905, 114 S.Ct. Here, the district court determined that the state court did not unreasonably apply federal law in concluding that the prosecution's argument was proper and, therefore, that Cantu's counsel's performance was not deficient in failing to object to the argument. Don't kill that child. 52(a); Janecka v. State, 823 S.W.2d 232, 243-244 (Tex.Crim.App.1990). [THE STATE:] During this time when they're saying what they did to the girl, what's [appellant] doing or saying? "Peter Cantu Executed: Ringleader of the Ertman and Pena Rape and Murder Killed," by Jason Volentine. Both men apologized for the crime in their last statements. Race: White Peter Anthony Cantu Executed for Jennifer Ertman and - CBS News Appellant avers in his thirty-sixth point of error that the trial court violated his rights under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments by submitting an instruction concerning intoxication during the sentencing phase. 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 decided to follow the railroad tracks that passed by T.C. A memorial was erected to them at Waltrip High School, which they attended. 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. The third man was given 40 years in prison and is eligible for parole. Upon the completion of this reading, the trial court stated, To which indictment, ladies and gentlemen, the defendant has entered a plea of not guilty. Appellant's contention on appeal is that either he or his attorney should have actually voiced this plea to the jury. "They are still in our hearts and prayers.". at *24. Jester Park. (Habeas). They questioned Joe Cantu, who identified himself as both the 9-1-1 caller and the Crimestoppers tipster. B Rare CDs, MP3s, DVDs and MP4s Live Concert Recordings Point of error forty-five is overruled. Seventeen years after taking part in one of the most heinous crimes in Houston history, Peter Cantu was executed tonight in Huntsville. Authorities later linked him and O'Brien to a killing six months before the attack on Ertman and Pena. Does she have blond hair?!!?" 586, 130 L.Ed.2d 500 (1994). As we set out previously, the Supreme Court recently held that, once the jury finds that the defendant falls within the legislatively defined category of persons eligible for the death penalty, the sentencer may be given unbridled discretion in determining whether the death penalty should be imposed. Stop the Execution of Peter Cantu in Texas! - Change.org 2934, 106 L.Ed.2d 256 (1989). Again the evidence belies this conclusion. 2597, 115 L.Ed.2d 720 (1991). Mr. Pedro Pete Cantu of Luckenbach, Texas passed away on Friday, January 31st, 2014 in the Hill Country Memorial Hospital in Fredericksburg, Texas at the age of 89 years. What Happened to Heath From 'Texas Metal'? Is Heath Moore on TV? In point of error forty-five, appellant claims that his death sentence should be overturned because racial discrimination continues to taint the Texas sentencing scheme in violation of the Eighth Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Roman told Cantu that he did not rape or kill girls. 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. Henry Cantu Director: University of Texas at San Antonio College/University: 1 Utsa Cir, San Antonio, TX 78249 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. 433, 130 L.Ed.2d 345 (1994). At Cantu's trial, immediately before the sentence was pronounced, Judge Bill Harmon allowed Jennifer's father, Randy Ertman, to speak directly to Cantu. Agapito Pete Cantu LUBBOCK-Agapito Pete Cantu left this earth into the loving and gracious hands of Jesus on Dec. 5, 2012. Appellant's fourteenth point of error is overruled. That standard is applied in light of the Court's recognition that the State has a 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 v. Tennessee, 501 U.S. 808, 825, 111 S.Ct. 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. See Walton v. Arizona, 497 U.S. 639, 110 S.Ct. The victims' families attended the execution, but no one attended on his behalf. 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[.] The group then headed towards some nearby railroad tracks. 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). She's been a part of the famous Texas Metal cast since the beginning. The court, the attorney representing the state, the defendant, or the defendant's counsel may not inform a juror or a prospective juror of the effect of a failure of a jury to agree on issues submitted under Subsection (c) or (e) of this article. A jury found Peter Cantu guilty of capital murder in February 1994 and sentenced him to death. Two of Cantu's companions in the gang they dubbed the Black and White preceded him to the death chamber. Tex.R.App.Proc. [THE STATE:] Who said we had to kill them? Specifically, he alleges that denying jurors the knowledge that appellant would have to serve at least 35 years in prison before becoming eligible for parole if sentenced to life in prison results in the arbitrary imposition of the death penalty in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and Article I, 10, 13, and 19 of the Texas Constitution. 2556, 135 L.Ed.2d 1074 (1996). The Mexican-American community was outraged by the death and Torres's family demanded justice. Cantu then parceled out jewelry and money he had taken from the girls. LAST NOTE PRODUCTIONS-Pete Cantu part 2 of 4Elgin's 23rd annual Hogeye Festival elgin Texas 10-23-2010. Michelle Licon Cantu currently resides in Lubbock, Texas. Robertson, supra. No, not in the least. Court appeals to delay the punishment appeared exhausted. denied, 501 U.S. 1259, 111 S.Ct. FN3. In point of error nine, appellant complains that the trial court committed reversible error in failing to grant a mistrial following improper argument by the State. 2187) (omission and alterations in original). 3230, 106 L.Ed.2d 578 (1989); San Miguel v. State, 864 S.W.2d 493, 495-96 (Tex.Crim.App.1993), cert. 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. In reviewing the prosecution's argument, [t]he relevant question is whether the prosecutors' comments so infected the trial with unfairness as to make the resulting conviction a denial of due process. Id. 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. Finally, Cantu robbed Ertman of her rings, necklaces, and cash. Extraneous offenses are only a portion of the evidence a jury is allowed to consider. denied, 510 U.S. 829, 114 S.Ct. The second best result is Peter Cantu age 30s in San Antonio, TX in the Park Village neighborhood. After unsuccessfully appealing his conviction . 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." 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. Following this ritual, the boys drank beer, then they headed toward some nearby railroad tracks. He was charged with unlawfully carrying a weapon. ), cert. 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. As such, we hold that no error has been created by these events. Texas Rule of Criminal Evidence 610(b) provides: a witness may be cross-examined on any matter relevant to any issue in the case, including credibility. The trial court has discretion as to the extent of cross-examination of a witness for the showing of bias or as to credibility, and its decision is not subject to reversal on appeal absent a clear abuse of discretion. Therefore, if you find, or have a reasonable doubt thereof, that the defendant at the time of the commission of the offense for which he is on trial, was laboring under mental or physical incapacity caused by voluntary intoxication, then you may take such condition into consideration in mitigation of the penalty attached to the offense for which the defendant is being tried. [WITNESS:] When one of them said, I made her suck my dick, he said, oh, yeah, I did that. Points of error one through four are overruled.FN3. Barnes v. State, 876 S.W.2d 316, 329 (Tex.Crim.App. Ertman tried to help. The instant case is distinguishable from Payne, Ford and Smith as Pena was not the victim named in the indictment. 2213, 2223-24, 60 L.Ed.2d 777 (1979). 2/4/09 -- The federal district court denied relief. denied, 515 U.S. 1105, 115 S.Ct. Jester Park at White Oak Bayou. We hold this requisite to be applicable to non-psychiatric experts as well. Appellant objected to the attack over Counsel's shoulder, which objection the trial court sustained. Meanwhile, Jennifer Ertman and sixteen-year-old Elizabeth Pena, who were visiting a girlfriend, decided to head home, taking a shortcut across the railroad tracks. 1.tu chaparrita 2.mi linda ilusion 3.al cien 4.me aleje de ti 5.acercate (feat. Martinez was appellant's second witness at the punishment phase of trial. [W]hy do you consider mitigation, that's because the courts allow you to individualize the justice. Medellin later complained that "the bitch wouldn't die" and that it would have been "easier with a gun". Maria Cantu Hexsel 221 West 6" Street, Suite 1800 Jennifer Buntz GERMER GERTZ . Cantu jumped out of the car and continued to run on foot, Hughes said. Gaddis, supra, at 398. And in point four, appellant contends that the trial court erred by denying appellant the right to question jurors about their ability to consider the 35 calendar year condition on a life sentence. He was born on June 9, 1980, in Stephenville, Texas to Jesus Cantu, Jr. and Maria Acuna. See Article 36.15; Tex.R.App. Pete Cantu, 82. Both this Court in Hughes, 897 S.W.2d at 294, and the United States Supreme Court in Pulley v. Harris, 465 U.S. 37, 104 S.Ct. Andrea Gorfolova. Why kill when we know that sometimes we don't get it right?" The other gang members present were Roman Sandoval, Joe Medellin, Efrian Perez, and Derrick Sean O'Brien. VICTORIA John M. Cantu Sr., 69 years of age, passed away Saturday May 29, 2021 at 10:40pm. He had problems, he was sick, he is sick. By the time the bodies were discovered, they were so badly decomposed that dental records were required to identify them. Rousseau, 855 S.W.2d at 687, n. 26. Make a life-giving gesture Several of Ertman's ribs were broken from being kicked. es una historia oral de la comunidad catlica romana mexicana y mexicoamericana que lleg a habitar una llanura aluvial en el este de Austin, despus de su desplazamiento del centro de Austin hace ms de un siglo. denied, 516 U.S. 832, 116 S.Ct. A rational jury could not have found that appellant did not intend to kill the victim. See Heitman v. State, 815 S.W.2d 681 (Tex.Crim.App.1991). "I think they should file some more charges," Cathy Lopez, Patricia Lopez's mother-in-law, said. Point of error thirty-two is overruled. The girls encountered Roman and Frank Sandoval as they made their way home, but managed to pass them without incident. Point of error thirty-five is overruled. FN13. They knew they would be late if they took the normal path home, down W. 34th Street to T.C. Owner at Last Note Productions. Thus, this evidence is admissible under Texas Criminal Evidence Rule 401. On the night of June 24, 1993, this gang met to initiate a new member, Raul Villareal. RESPONSE SUMMARY JUDGMENT MTN March 30, 2010 | Trellis And if you care to, you can see the result of this defendant's handy work again. denied, 512 U.S. 1246, 114 S.Ct. Evidence showed Cantu kicked one of the girls in the face with his steel-toed boot. The charge given was as follows: 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. During its jury argument at punishment, the State did not even mention her testimony, much less emphasize it. To the extent Cantu's reliance on his first statement requires disbelieving his second statement in which he admitted to the killings, he failed to produce significant evidence calling the legitimacy of his second statement into question: he showed no constitutional or statutory violation in the taking of the statement, and he offered no trial testimony challenging the accuracy of his second statement. As the factfinder, the jury is free to determine which witnesses it finds to be credible and what evidence it deems to be believable. Thus, reasonable jurists would not disagree with the district court's determination that the state court's conclusion was not an unreasonable application of federal law. It is well-settled that, in reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence at the punishment stage, this Court views the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict to determine whether any rational trier of fact could make the finding beyond a reasonable doubt. 3230, 106 L.Ed.2d 578 (1989). The other gang members present were Roman Sandoval, Joe Medellin, Efrian Perez, and Derrick Sean OBrien.