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Her family was present at his trial for the June murders. The record reveals that after the jury was selected, but prior to trial, appellant was arraigned outside the presence of the jury. A woman claims these photos were taken by the person who allegedly stole her purse, which had her smart phone inside. See Heitman, supra. The gang then drank beer and engaged in horseplay. 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. FN1. With $53,000 being the highest bid for the 332-mile supercharged 1/2-ton, it moved on for a . In light of the district court's thorough analysis, we cannot say that reasonable jurists would disagree with that determination and, therefore, deny a COA on this issue. In points thirty-seven and thirty-eight, appellant complains that the admission of unadjudicated extraneous offenses during the sentencing phase violated Article 37.07 and the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Cantu's conviction in a direct appeal on January 29, 1997. It affected more than just Melissa and me and Randy and Sandy.". He was pronounced dead at 6:17 p.m. Evidence concerning her sexual assault, robbery and murder is admissible as same transaction contextual evidence. H-07-CV-3016, 2009 WL 275172 (S.D.Tex. 2253(c)(2). 2950, 49 L.Ed.2d 929 (1976), when it held that the Texas future dangerousness issue was not unconstitutionally vague. It's not lost on him that Cantu has lived in prison longer than Jennifer and Elizabeth were alive. When the police followed this suggestion, they found the badly decaying bodies of Jenny and Elizabeth. Eight minutes later, he was dead. When they tested evidence, O'Brien's fingerprints were matched to some found on a beer can under Patricia's body at the murder scene. 52(a). Fourteen-year-old Venancio watched as the others raped both girls orally, vaginally, and anally until appellant told him that he should get some. The girls were still being raped when appellant whispered to Venancio, We're going to have to kill them. When everyone was finished, appellant told them to take the girls to the woods where they proceeded to strangle them. Appellant's objections were overruled and the evidence was admitted. Roman told Cantu that he did not rape or kill girls. . Date Received: 03/18/94 He was born on June 9, 1980, in Stephenville, Texas to Jesus Cantu, Jr. and Maria Acuna. Spence v. State, 795 S.W.2d 743, 759 (Tex.Crim.App.1990), cert. Nor does he argue that the charge given was inappropriate, only that it was incomplete. Points of error thirty-seven and thirty-eight are overruled. Jenny was strangled with the belt of Sean O'Brien, with two murderers pulling, one on each side, until the belt broke. The jury is not required to specifically identify what evidence it specifically uses to find that a fact is true beyond a reasonable doubt, and extraneous offenses should not be an exception to this. Pete Cantu, age 41, passed away on Tuesday, February 15, 2022, in Orange Grove, Texas. Peter Anthony Cantu (AP Photo/Texas Dept. What did he say? 131, 133 L.Ed.2d 80 (1995); Willingham v. State, 897 S.W.2d 351 (Tex.Crim.App. 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." shall consider mitigating evidence to be evidence that a juror might regard as reducing the defendant's moral blameworthiness. 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. Police traced the 911 call to the Cantu home, and Joe passed on what he knew. See Photos. Pete Cantu. "I don't mean this in a gruesome way, but if they want to make the death penalty a deterrent, up in front of (Houston) City Hall, they've got all these beautiful trees. In this regard, this point is inadequately briefed and presents nothing for our review. The second best result is Peter Cantu age 30s in San Antonio, TX in the Park Village neighborhood. He was on the first three seasons of the show, but in the latest one, he's nowhere to be seen. Instead, the Code of Criminal Procedure simply requires that the State prove each element of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt, whether the jury believes all of the State's evidence or only part of it. 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. Elizabeth was also strangled with her shoelaces, after crying and begging the gang members not to kill them; bargaining, offering to give them her phone number so they could get together again. 463rd murderer executed in Texas since 1976. On the night of 24 June 1993, a group of teenage boys gathered at T.C. I also dissent to the discussion of points one through four involving not allowing the jury to be informed that if sentenced to life appellant was statutorily mandatorily required to serve 35 years in prison before becoming eligible for parole. He was frustrated that he had been the one who was unable to fight Raul. When Jennifer and Elizabeth failed to come home that night, the Ertman and Pena families began searching for them. His second requested charge is also a misstatement of the law in that Penry v. Lynaugh, 492 U.S. 302, 109 S.Ct. denied, 510 U.S. 1215, 114 S.Ct. By the time the bodies were discovered, they were so badly decomposed that dental records were required to identify them. 2216 91st St, Lubbock, TX 79423 921 Adrian St, Lubbock, TX 79403 2311 49th St, Lubbock, TX 79412. As such, we hold that our capital murder scheme does not amount to cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. 1. Some of the girls' jewelry was recovered from his bedroom. Cantu v. State, 939 S.W.2d 627 (Tex.Crim.App.1997). Contractors DirectoryInformation on every contractor in United States. As we stated in Robertson v. State, 871 S.W.2d 701, 711-12 (Tex.Crim.App.1993), cert. Jester, both busy streets. Cantu showed little emotion at his conviction and death sentence and had no reaction when Randy Ertman, Jennifers father, was allowed to make a victim impact statement at the end of the trial. When Cantu saw them, however, he thought they were a man and woman. The other gang members present were Roman Sandoval, Joe Medellin, Efrian Perez, and Derrick Sean O'Brien. After the assault, the gang took the girls into the woods and strangled them. A red nylon belt, with an attacker tugging at each end, was pulled so tightly around Ertman's neck the belt snapped. 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. On Friday, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles refused his clemency petition. Does it justify it? Appellant asserts in his thirtieth point of error that the 12-10 rule of Article 37.071 2(d)(2) and 2(f)(2) violates the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Shoelaces were used to strangle Pena. The Supreme Court held in Beck that a state cannot impose a blanket ban on lesser-included-offense instructions in capital cases. Later that night, appellant, Joe, Efrian, and Raul regrouped at appellant's house to brag about their exploits. Mental or physical incapacity caused by intoxication means that the defendant's mental capacity was so disturbed from the introduction of a substance into his body that the defendant either did not know that his conduct was wrong or was incapable of conforming his conduct to the requirements [sic] of the law he allegedly violated. The phone transferred the photos to her online account, and she shared them on Facebook. 3047, 111 L.Ed.2d 511 (1990); Lawton v. State, 913 S.W.2d 542 (Tex.Crim.App.1995); McFarland, supra. 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. 680 following. "He did a horrendous crime to these two girls and he deserved to die. [THE STATE:] So, at some point did they move on from talking about what they did to them sexually and tell you that they killed them? Additionally, the Texas death penalty scheme was found constitutional by the Supreme Court in Jurek v. Texas, 428 U.S. 262, 270-72, 96 S.Ct. She walked to a nearby convenience store, and called someone to come and help her. It is clear that the excerpt from the letter was admissible to show the witness' strong bias in favor of appellant. 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. Medellin's DNA matched semen samples taken from Patricia's body. One of the deputies exited his vehicle and chased after Cantu, who then doubled back to the deputy's vehicle and drove off into Comal County. John was born February 14, 1952 in Victoria to Francisco Cantu and Andrea Flores Cantu. Medellin and O'Brien wrapped O'Brien's red nylon belt around Ertman's neck. 400, 413-14 (5th Cir.2006); O'Brien v. Dretke, 156 Fed.Appx. Robertson, supra. 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:] Yes. The Bexar County Sheriff's Office released surveillance video of an attempted burglary on the Northwest Side on May 24, 2016. 1676, 95 L.Ed.2d 127 (1987). The families filed missing persons reports with the Houston Police Department and continued to look for the girls on their own. OBrien was executed in 2006 and Medellin in 2008. I dissent to the majority's discussion in disposing of appellant's point of error number five regarding the nexus jury argument. 106, 133 L.Ed.2d 59 (1995); McBride v. State, 862 S.W.2d 600, 610-11 (Tex.Crim.App.1993), cert. 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. 1. the circumstances of the capital offense, including the defendant's state of mind and whether he was working alone or with other parties; 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). 9/19/07 -- Cantu filed his federal habeas corpus petition in a Houston U.S. district court. Just 18 years old at the time, he led a gang of five other teens to repeatedly rape and murder Ertman and Pena. The arrogance of the crime combined with the horror of it galvanized the entire city of Houston against the six gang members. Appellant concedes that there is no requirement that all statutory elements be proven before evidence of an extraneous offense can be admitted at punishment. Appellant's argument centers around the concept that aggravating circumstances must be adequately defined for the jury. denied, 514 U.S. 1117, 115 S.Ct. 2464, 91 L.Ed.2d 144 (1986) ([T]he appropriate standard of review for [a claim challenging the prosecution's closing argument] on writ of habeas corpus is the narrow one of due process, and not the broad exercise of supervisory power. (internal quotation marks omitted)). * that appellant threatened another student's father, saying that he wanted to kill him; 2253(c)(1). 78 and Loop 1604. "Three of the animals that did this are gone. Read more about the life story of Pete and share your memory. I dont believe anybody ever in their lifetime is going to forget this. Hence, a plurality of the court concluded that testimony by the sister of the victim concerning the victim's good nature, hobbies, and work ethic was not relevant to sentencing and, therefore, should not have been admitted. The crime was committed on or about June 24, 1993. 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. 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. Nelson, supra, at 498. Gender: Male View Source Share Save to Suggest Edits Memorial Photos Flowers Memorials Region North America USA Texas Jose Medellin was executed in August 2008. See Walton v. Arizona, 497 U.S. 639, 110 S.Ct. Leave your condolences to the family on this memorial page or send flowers to show you care. BSCO is seeking any information on the two suspects shown in the video. 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. At this point, the Sandoval brothers decided that it was time to leave. She had been stabbed and slashed in the abdomen, throat and back and strangled. 284, 126 L.Ed.2d 234 (1993). Peter Cantu is not an animal. Appellant raises forty-five points of error. He has declined to speak with reporters as his execution date neared. 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. No crime warrants a sentence of death. Well, this is a sanitized and civilized killing that we have for Peter Cantu. See Free v. Peters, 19 F.3d 389 (7th Cir. A memorial for them was also placed at T.C. This guy is more than just a car's outer appearance. Raul was an acquaintance of Efrain and was not known to the other gang members. Seventeen years after taking part in one of the most heinous crimes in Houston history, Peter Cantu was executed tonight in Huntsville. 600, 121 L.Ed.2d 537 (1992); Parent v. State, 621 S.W.2d 796, 797 (Tex.Crim.App.1981). Cantu strangled Pena with shoelaces. Here's a full rundown of the teams, drivers, and their cars. (internal quotation marks omitted). They didn't have the luxury of having anybody intervene for them, and he wants you to don't kill this child. Some of the other boys, including Derrick O'Brien, Jose Medellin, and Venancio Medellin, also gave confessions. Mrs. Naomi (Pete) Cantu of Waxahachie, 94, passed away July 28, 2012 at Mansfield Methodist Hospital. "I think whatever they did, no matter how much there is, they should stand trial for every single thing." We have previously addressed and rejected this contention. Hell, no.". The Ertmans and Penas, again with Kahan's assistance, were also instrumental in getting Texas law changed so that victims' relatives are permitted to witness the executions of their loved ones' killers. Excessive . ), cert. Pete Cantu - Lubbock, Texas, United States | Professional Profile | LinkedIn View Pete Cantu's professional profile on LinkedIn. Appellant does not here argue that the extraneous offenses should not have been admitted. The danger of unfair prejudice to a defendant inherent in the introduction of victim impact evidence with respect to a victim not named in the indictment on which he is being tried is unacceptably high. [W]hy do you consider mitigation, that's because the courts allow you to individualize the justice. 2113, 147 L.Ed.2d 125 (2000) (emphasis added). This scheme does not create the paradoxical commands of concern to Justice Blackmun. 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. Any subsequent references to Articles are to those in the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure unless otherwise identified. denied, 516 U.S. 946, 116 S.Ct. The initiation involved fighting each member of the gang for a five to ten minute period. Next, the older boys raped the two girls for about an hour while Venancio watched. Cantus execution was the third connected with the case. He was born on June 9, 1980, in Stephenville, Texas to Jesus Cantu, Jr. and Maria Acuna. Make a life-giving gesture Members of the gang, including Cantu, then began a vicious sexual assault of the girls. Appellant's tenth and eleventh points of error are overruled. HUNTSVILLE The legal saga that began several days after the horrifying murder of two teenage Houston girls in 1993 came to an end Tuesday night with the execution of Peter Anthony Cantu, a former gang leader who all but ordered the execution of Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena. We have already addressed this issue and decided it adversely to appellant's position. The girls were still being raped when Cantu whispered to Venancio, "We're going to have to kill them.". denied, 495 U.S. 940, 110 S.Ct. We conclude that reasonable jurists would not disagree on this matter. 2529, 96 L.Ed.2d 440 (1987), and left the decision up to the individual states as to whether this sort of evidence is relevant under their own individual punishment schemes. But I think I will probably sleep a little better. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children or the charity of your choice. Two are serving life sentences after having their death sentences commuted because they were juveniles at the time of the murders. Ha-ha. He was born in Luckenbach, Texas on November 28, 1946, to Pablo and Patricina (Arizola) Cantu. If the defendant refuses to plead, the plea of not guilty shall be entered for him by the court. Two who were 17 when the girls were killed were spared the death penalty when the U.S. Supreme Court barred execution of people who were under 18 when they committed their crimes. Notwithstanding appellant's inadequate briefing, we note that the United States Supreme Court stated in Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153, 96 S.Ct. 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. We will not revisit the issue here. We decline to do so. FN2. Enter As stated in the previous point, neither the state nor federal constitution requires that certain evidence be labeled as mitigating, nor does it require what weight, if any, should be given to evidence that is found to be mitigating. A memorial was erected to them at Waltrip High School, which they attended. The medical examiner stated that Patricia was probably on her knees in front of her murderer when she was stabbed, based on the angle of the wounds. 2052. Zimmerman v. State, 881 S.W.2d 360 (Tex.Crim.App. We disagree. Pete Cantu, age 41, passed away on Tuesday, February 15, 2022, in Orange Grove, Texas. ), cert. 81(b)(2) I concur in overruling the point. Citations: The girls were hurrying along railroad tracks in the dark in order to get home by their curfew. Testimony showed that Jenny had gotten free and could have run away but returned to Elizabeth when she cried out for Jenny to help her. Thus, we turn to an analysis of whether the second prong of the test is met for any of the requested lesser included offenses. at 49. 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. [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. 52(a); Janecka v. State, 823 S.W.2d 232, 243-244 (Tex.Crim.App.1990). VICTORIA John M. Cantu Sr., 69 years of age, passed away Saturday May 29, 2021 at 10:40pm. 16th murderer executed in Texas in 2010 On death row, Cantu, now 35, was classified among the best-behaving inmates. ] (emphasis added). Appellant's reliance on Justice Blackmun's dissenting opinion is misplaced. The sixth was convicted as a juvenile and is serving a 40-year prison term. For those who so desire you may make memorial contributions in his memory to the charity of your choice. 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. The statements in question made in the presence of appellant were admissible as adopted admissions under Tex.R.Crim. Even if one disregards the evidence of extraneous offenses, the evidence remaining was sufficient to support the jury's affirmative finding as to the future dangerousness special issue.FN11 Appellant's points of error twenty-one and twenty-three are overruled. See Photos. Additionally, the district court denied a certificate of appealability (COA), sua sponte, on all of the issues raised by Cantu. Appellant objected that this was improper impeachment on a collateral matter. Plus, appellant objected at the punishment stage to the testimony of Pena's mother, M. Pena, who testified as to her daughter's good character, the search for her daughter, and the impact the disappearance had on the rest of the family members. The Ertman and Pena killings led to five death sentences, at the time the most of any crime in modern American history. Appellant was not entitled to an instruction on what evidence was mitigating or on what weight to give any mitigating evidence presented at trial. Because of repeated behavioral problems, Cantu had been in an alternative school since sixth grade. 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. Proc. At 6:09 p.m., lethal injection drugs entered Cantu's body. Pete Cantu in Texas(TX) found with records in 36 cities. Notwithstanding this, the Ake Court, 470 U.S. at 83, 105 S.Ct. * * *. They were forced to perform oral sex. The special pleas, if any, shall be read by the defendant's counsel, and if the plea of not guilty is also relied upon, it shall also be stated. Every memory left on the online obituary will be automatically included in the book. Antonio "Tony" Arizola Cantu 74, passed away on Sunday, June 13, 2021, in San Antonio. 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. FN3. 1978, 131 L.Ed.2d 866 (1995). PETE CANTU REAL ESTATE INC in San Antonio, TX | Company Info & Reviews Company Information Sponsored Links Company Contacts PETE CANTU Agent 2722 N Zarzamora St San Antonio, TX Reviews Write Review There are no reviews yet for this company. 65,334-01, 2006 WL 3692646 (Tex.Crim.App. See Woods, 75 F.3d at 1039. Date of Offense: 06/24/93 Work history: Acw Specialties Sheet Metal Worker. 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. Cantu had left his wallet at . 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. Loved ones left to cherish his memories are his daughter, Victoria Munguia; mother, Maria Olga Acuna; father, Jesus (Avela) Cantu, Jr. both of Orange Grove, Texas; siblings, Miguel Cantu (Richard Stanley) of San Antonio, Texas, Lisa (Ricardo) Lopez Jr., of San Antonio, Texas, Richard Acuna, Sara Acuna, and Stacey Acuna all of Orange Grove, Texas; step brothers and sister, Freddy Sanchez, Adam Sanchez, Daniel Sanchez, and Miguela Sanchez; grandmother, Margarita Acuna; and numerous nephews and nieces. 2052. We hold that the same analysis applies to the new statute and appellant has given us no reason to revisit this issue. Your email address will not be published. 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. Meanwhile, Elizabeth Pena, 16, and Jennifer Ertman, 14, were spending the evening at the swimming pool at a friend's apartment. 401 and therefore irrelevant in the context of the special issues under Art. Race: White 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. He had problems, he was sick, he is sick. When the rapes finally ended, the horror was not over. 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. They should have hung them. ), we noted that it has long been the law in Texas that evidence of a deceased's good and peaceful character is not admissible unless and until that character is placed in issue by the defendant. That said, we resolve any doubts as to whether a COA should issue in the petitioner's favor when the death penalty is involved. County of Offense: Harris Lawton, 913 S.W.2d at 557; McFarland, 928 S.W.2d at 497-99. Date of Birth: 05/27/75 Cantu contends that a rational jury could look only at his first written statement-in which he admitted to kidnapping, robbing, and sexually assaulting the girls but omitted any mention of killing them-and convict him of only the lesser-included crimes.