1992). Accordingly, he cast his claims in the form of ineffective-assistance arguments. Villareal and O'Brien began choking the Ms. Ertman, first with their hands and then with a belt. Entry No. 2007). Cantu, like his co-defendant, offers no persuasive showing that constitutional error crept into the jury instructions or somehow prevented consideration of his mitigation evidence. Vol. The argument and related visual images brought into focus testimony describing the degraded condition of the victims' bodies that was already vividly before the jury. Yarborough v. Gentry, 540 U.S. 1, 4 (2003); see also Wiggins v. Smith, 539 U.S. 510, 521 (2003). 28 at 698-99. 1998). WebShe sat in the front row with Elizabeth's uncle, and when the crime scene photos were placed upon the tables for the lawyers to look over, she saw everything. Tr. exemption for fair use of copyrighted works. Executing Cantu causes still further misgivings when viewed, not relative to his peers, but relative to his life prior to the unspeakable horror of this single evening. Venancio received a 40-year prison sentence. They were friends who attended the same high school in Houston, Texas, Waltrip High School. United States v. Branch, 91 F.3d 699, 713 (5th Cir. A court may only issue a COA when "the applicant has made a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right." The Fifth Circuit refused to grant a Certificate of Appealability from the district court's denial of habeas relief in O'Brien. [T]here is no reason to show any mercy to this man because you know what kind of a person he is and how much mercy and compassion he has in him." The importance of mitigating evidence in capital trials cannot be gainsaid. SIGN UP FOR FOX 26 HOUSTON EMAIL ALERTS Cantu read the statement and, in the presence of two other police officers, signed it. CODE CRIM. In addition to Cantu's youth, other influences upon his conduct during the night in question included heavy drinking and a ritual of gang initiation, circumstances that lend themselves to peer-driven recklessness and even madness. 1999); Muniz v. Johnson, 132 F.3d 214, 224 (5th Cir. Jos Ernesto Medelln appealed his execution, saying that he had informed City of Houston and Harris County police officers that he was a Mexican citizen, and that he had been unable to confer with Mexican consular officials. In his initial statement, Cantu reluctantly admitted to a limited role in raping and stealing from the girls. Well I better stay speechless because whats going through my head would get me banned. Web15K. Jester, both busy streets. Texas, Houston Division. Testimony showed that the girls' bodies were kicked and their necks were stomped on after the strangulations in order to "make sure that they were really dead.". After several gang members fought Villareal, the group started drinking. The Fifth Circuit concluded: Also, the Court of Criminal Appeals noted that the prosecution's statement was merely a "suggestion," and did not tell "the jury that they must find a nexus between the offense and the evidence offered as mitigation[.]" The Simmons Court "expressly held that its ruling did not apply to Texas, because it does not have a life-without-parole alternative to capital punishment." She was thrown to the ground by gang members Peter Cantu and Derrick Sean O'Brien. Id. 24 at 860. Gang members fought Villareal in turn. [not to] kill this child." Several courts have already provided a detailed factual review. The break in solving the case came from, of course, the 911 call. Randy Lee Ertman - A celebration of life is scheduled for Randy Ertman, 62, of Somerville, Texas at 10:00 AM September 6th, 2014 at Grace United Methodist Church. 42.18 8(b)(2) (1991). Im not sure who else has brought attention to it. 2 at 13.) Payne v. Tennessee, 501 U.S. 808, 825 (1991). Vol. While the jury may have been able to infer that Cantu could not have been paroled before the end of that period, Texas law hindered him from fully explaining parole ineligibility to the jury. (quoting Graham, 506 U.S. at 476). 24 at 932-33; Tr. Vol. 22 at 356. So I know that this is a trivial side point. On the basis of those and other statements, O'Brien claimed on federal habeas review that the prosecutorial actions imposed the defunct constitutional relevancy test on the jury. In light of those conclusions, the state habeas court held that Cantu "fail[ed] to show that trial counsel are ineffective based on the lack of objection to the State's cited punishment[.]" Cantu then directed the gang to bring the girls into the woods. In other words, the Fifth Circuit's constitutional-relevance test looked for a relationship between the mitigating evidence and a defendant's culpability, granting relief only if some aspect of the evidence transcended the jury's role in answering the special issues. Jester Park. It is not likely that, having denied Cantu's objection under the Texas more-probative-than-prejudicial standard, the trial court would find that the challenged material rendered the trial fundamentally unfair under the Due Process Clause. Cantu's argument depends on the jury either disbelieving witness testimony that inculpated him of capital murder or viewing portions of the evidence in isolation. Cantu's attorneys adduced testimony that supported the first two propositions. See Darden v. Wainwright, 477 U.S. 168, 180 (1986); Caldwell v. Mississippi, 472 U.S. 320, 337-38 (1985); Rogers v. Lynaugh, 848 F.2d 606, 608 (5th Cir. When the pair realized that they were going to be late returning home, they decided to leave the party to commit the curfew both had promised to their parents. Seventeen years after the crimes, Peter Anthony Cantu was executed on August 17, 2010. Woodford v. Garceau, 538 U.S. 202, 206 (2003) (quotation and citation omitted). Respondent assumes that Texas' bifurcated system (that was not present in Beck) allows a jury to give effect to any lingering doubt about guilt by delivering a capital conviction but a life sentence, avoiding Beck's all-or-nothing conundrum. The State called police officers whose testimony did not reveal any constitutional or statutory violation in the taking of Cantu's statements. 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. Respondent has filed a motion for summary judgment arguing that Cantu's claims do not merit federal habeas corpus relief. Nothing in the trial testimony seriously questioned the integrity of Cantu's statements, particularly his second one in which he provided a full account of his actions. Gathers, 490 U.S. at 818. 21 at 311. In Penry II, when striking down Texas' former sentencing scheme, the Supreme Court called the new statute "[a] clearly drafted catchall instruction on mitigating evidence" and a model of "brevity and clarity." PROC. The State of Texas prosecuted Cantu and his four fellow gang members simultaneously but in separate trials. 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. Clerk's Record at 278-79. Supreme Court case law does not suggest that Texas' current vehicle for the consideration of mitigating evidence is impermissibly narrow. Vol. Tr. This reasoning prevents a "false dilemma by advancing generalized arguments regarding the defendant's future dangerousness while, at the same time, preventing the jury from learning that the defendant will never be released on parole." Id. After a separate punishment hearing, the jury answered Texas' special issue questions in a manner requiring the imposition of a death sentence. Next, Cassie goes over the most horrendous murder we've probably covered yet; the decapitation and murder of the Rubio siblings by the hand of their own parents in Brownsville. To warrant the lesser-included-offense instruction, however, the evidence of the lesser crime must be of sufficient magnitude to allow a rational jury to convict him only for that offense. Xin hn hnh knh cho qu v. PENAL CODE 19.02 (murder). 2007) (quoting Beazley v. Johnson, 242 F.3d 248, 260 (5th Cir. Vol. 37.071 2(g). The Furman Court established that a state capital sentencing system must satisfy two requirements to be constitutionally acceptable: it must "rationally narrow the class of death-eligible defendants" and "permit a jury to render a reasoned, individualized sentencing determination based on a death-eligible defendant's record, personal characteristics, and the circumstances of his crime." In the first version, he admitted to a limited role in raping the girls. Id. . While Cantu, Jose Medellin, O'Brien, Perez, and Villareal all received death sentences, Perez and Villareal had their sentenced commuted to life imprisonment pursuant to Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005), because they were minors when they participated in the killings. Related linkssome have the same or similar titles but are different threads: Death Penalty Case Puts Bush and Texas at Odds Over Mexicans Fate The state habeas court's decision in that regard was not contrary to, or an unreasonable application of, federal law. Vol. Venancio Medellin has been denied parole five times, most recently in November 2020. Cantu's first six claims challenge the trial court's refusal to inform his jury about Texas parole law. "As a general principle, Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, relating to summary judgment, applies with equal force in the context of habeas corpus cases." Cantu's claim invokes decades of jurisprudence involving Texas' method of placing mitigating evidence before capital juries. Well said, I can't bear the bleeding heart arguments for rehabilitation or any of that crap. 2004); Woods v. Cockrell, 307 F.3d 353, 360-62 (5th Cir. In the second version, he implicated himself in the rape and murder. Tr. 24 at 857-60. Those poor poor girls. 1994); Kinnamon v. Scott, 40 F.3d 731, 733 (5th Cir. Venancio Medelln, the brother of Jos Medelln, was 14 at the time of the murder, the same age as Jennifer Ertman. I need not go further. Having reviewed the record, the pleadings, and the law particularly the operation of the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act's ("AEDPA") deferential standards the Court concludes that Cantu is not entitled to habeas corpus relief. United States District Court, S.D. The Fifth Circuit found special support because the Supreme Court affirmed the formative Graham case in establishing its Penry law and distinguished Penry I in subsequent cases. 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