Officer Swainson decided to interview Cantu again. Happy Halloween! Hiding. vote for a capital conviction if the only alternative was to set the defendant free with no punishment at all"). 37.071 2(f)(4). Entry No. 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. Part of the belt was left at the murder scene, the rest was found in O'Brien's home. This is one that truly, truly haunts me. 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. Vol. Tr. 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." See TEX. The State of Texas, represented by Solicitor General Ted Cruz, challenged Bush's order, and the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that only the Congress of the United States has the right to order hearings to be held. Summary judgment is proper when the record shows "no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Vol. they jumped on their neck." Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362, 413 (2000); see also Bell v. Cone, 535 U.S. 685, 698 (2002); Early v. Packer, 537 U.S. 3, 7-8 (2002). At first, Pea desperately attempted to appease her abusers as she wept; offering to provide her phone number in order that they could "get together". He and his fellow gang members also stood on the young girls' necks to ensure that they would die. Jester Park in Houston, Texas on the night of June 24, 1993, when they encountered six members of the Black and White gang. See id. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. Tr. art. at 272. Oliver v. Quarterman, 254 F. App'x 381, 387 (5th Cir. Christina Cantu took that to mean they killed someone. After the gang left, Christina Cantu convinced Joe Cantu to report the crime to police. Vol. R.I.P to the both of them. 2254(d)(1). 2005); O'Brien v. Dretke, 4:02-CV-1865 (S.D. Unfortunately, as they took a shortcut home, Ms. Ertman and Ms. Pena came upon the gang at around 11:30 p.m. Roman Sandoval and Frank Sandoval were leaving as the girls neared the other gang members. at 736. Take them out and shoot them - then hand them from a tree and let the vultures do their work. In 1989, however, the Supreme Court held that Texas' then-operative system did not always provide an effective vehicle for considering mitigating evidence. 2001); Wheat v. Johnson, 238 F.3d 357, 361-62 (5th Cir. In particular, Cantu alleges that "[a]t least two of [his] co-defendants were afforded in separate trials, the benefit of an instruction like the one Cantu was denied." I want them to suffer without stop until the end of time, until their very souls explode from sheer agony and pain. Tr. After 1991, capital inmates fell into three categories: (1) pre- Penry defendants whose juries were not explicitly told to consider mitigating evidence; (2) defendants sentenced between 1989 and 1991 whose juries received the nullification instruction; and (3) defendants whose juries received an explicit statutory special issue. The lack of a due process violation undercuts the ineffectiveness claims Cantu raises on federal habeas review. Clear, binding precedent forecloses relief on Cantu's claims. 1999) ("Relief based on Simmons is foreclosed by Teague."). See Thacker v. Dretke, 396 F.3d 607, 612 n. 2 (5th Cir. Memorials to Ertman and Pea in TC Jester Park: In the background is the railroad bridge where the two were initially attacked. WebMr. Here, the state habeas court found: Federal due process concerns are not coextensive with state evidentiary rules. 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." The whole purpose of punishing these people should be to make them suffer. Without the prosecutorial argument, the jury would not be measurably less likely to impose a death sentence. The AEDPA gives statutory effect to traditional limits on habeas review. 37.071 2(e)(1); Clerk's Record at 289. See Horn, 536 U.S. at 272 (relying on Teague v. Lane, 489 U.S. 288 (1989)). State Habeas Record at 203. However, Cantu objects that the instruction unnecessarily confined the jury's review to "evidence that a juror might regard as reducing the defendant's moral blameworthiness." Because he provided no evidence of constitutional overstepping by the police, both of Cantu's full statements came before the jury. Vol. "Courts have always taken into consideration the harm done by the defendant in imposing sentence[.]" Dowthitt, 230 F.3d at 757 (quotation omitted). 21 at 323-24. Woods v. Johnson, 75 F.3d 1017, 1037 (5th Cir. Tr. Feb. 14, 2003); Cantu v. State, 939 S.W.2d 627, 631-32 (Tex.Crim.App. Id. I was in a tree. The state habeas court found that "the State's punishment argument referring to the admitted photographs and the injuries shown in such photographs is a summary of the evidence concerning the circumstances of the offense and the complainant's and Elizabeth Pena's resulting injuries, and such argument is a reasonable inference that such photographs are unforgettable to the jury." Trial testimony showed that the police took Cantu to the homicide division office after his arrest. Lockett v. Ohio, 438 U.S. 586, 604 (1978) (plurality opinion); see also Eddings v. Oklahoma, 455 U.S. 104, 114-15 (1982). Tr. This federal habeas action follows. I have voted for him as Governor and President without regret. 2008); Thacker, 396 F.3d at 617-18; the Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause, Nealy v. Dretke, 172 F. App'x 593, 597 (5th Cir. 28 at 664. Vol. "A jury must be allowed to consider on the basis of all relevant evidence not only why a death sentence should be imposed, but also why it should not be imposed." 28 at 790. Venancio received a 40-year prison sentence. Other gang members confessed that they only participated because they were "just following whatever Peter Cantu was doing." art. 2254(e)(1). 2) Your immigration ideas are either traitorous or you have sold out to big business over consumers. Tr. May the souls of these poor girls rest in peace in Gods loving arms, and may the monsters who did this be subject to the most vicious and painful torture that hell has to offer. Medelln gave both written and taped confessions. 2004); Woods v. Cockrell, 307 F.3d 353, 360-62 (5th Cir. If you're willing to put it in writing. 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. No clearly established Supreme Court precedent calls the Texas statute into question. Clerk's Record at 286 ("During your deliberations, you are not to consider or discuss any possible action of the Board of Pardons and Paroles division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice or of the Governor, or how long the defendant would be required to serve to satisfy a sentence of life imprisonment."). Persuasive trial testimony confirmed Cantu's role not only in the kidnapping and sexual assault, but in the murder of the girls. WebThe 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 Cantu, therefore, argues that the Texas statute still requires a nexus between the crime and the mitigating evidence in the same manner as the discredited constitutional-relevancy test. 1991). Cantu's motion alleged that his statements were not voluntary because they were "the result of the promises and other coercive actions of law enforcement officers," taken without proper warnings or an adequate arrest warrant, and after Cantu exerted his right to remain silent. 22 at 395. Sadly, they never Cantu's Beck claim depends on the jury believing that his first statement represented the only valid account of the crime, to the exclusion of his second statement and all additional trial testimony. 2254(d)(1). 28 at 768-69. Rule 22(b). When the police informed him that O'Brien confessed, Cantu provided the following statement relating his role in the murders: Tr. Tr. Also, the state habeas court found that appellate counsel did not violate the Constitution by not attacking trial counsel's failure to object. See Schriro v. Landrigan, ___ U.S. ___, 127 S. Ct. 1933, 1954 (2007); South Carolina v. Gathers, 490 U.S. 805, 818 (1984). Tr. Jester Park on Saturday for a memorial service for the girls who were slain, The parents of the murder victims successfully advocated for the State of Texas allowing relatives of victims to have permission to witness executions. After the belt broke, the killers used her own shoelaces to finish their job. WebThe rapes and murders of Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pea, two teenaged girls from Houston, Texas, aged 14 and 16, respectively, occurred on June 24, 1993. 2000). Tr. His initial statement, however, he claimed that he did not join the other gang members as they murdered the two girls in the woods. 1999)). Both girls were sexually assaulted by all but one of the gang members, 14-year-old Venancio "Yuni" Medelln, on a minimum of four occasions. Cantu claims that Texas' method of placing mitigating evidence before the jury insufficiently allowed the jury to consider him worthy of a life sentence (claim eight). This is no job for the criminal justice system. 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 Jurek, 428 U.S. at 271. In rejecting similar claims, the Fifth Circuit has emphasized that Texas courts interpret the statute broadly, holding that "all mitigating evidence can be given effect" under the definition. See Medellin v. Texas, ___ U.S. ___, 128 S. Ct. 1346 (2008); O'Brien v. Dretke, 156 F. App'x 724, 726-28 (5th Cir. State Habeas Record at 252. TEX. 3) Your have handed the Presidency to Hillary Clinton. 2254(d)(1). Vol. 21 at 227. TEX. Tr. Congress, through the AEDPA, has constricted both the nature and availability of habeas review. "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 also makes no argument that his actions in participating in the murder did not rise to the level of "intentional" mens rea required for a capital murder conviction. Even if the jury somehow believed only the story from his first statement, Cantu's second statement was not the only evidence showing that he participated in the murders. Cantu's claim invokes decades of jurisprudence involving Texas' method of placing mitigating evidence before capital juries. 24 at 932-33; Tr. We need to send Jorge some kneepads so he wont hurt himself in dealing with Mexico. Tr. He petitioned the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in 1998 regarding this issue; the appeal failed. 12 at 11.) Robertson, 324 F.3d at 304 (quoting Brecht v. Abrahamson, 507 U.S. 619, 629 (1993)); see also Aleman v. Sternes, 320 F.3d 687, 690-91 (7th Cir. The jury instructions in the guilt/innocence phase gave the jury only two options: convict Cantu of capital murder or acquit him. Vol. 'You're not even an animal,' in the courtroom of Judge Bill Harmon, on Wednesday, Feb. 9, 1994, When the Supreme Court of the United States banned the executions of people who committed crimes while they were below 18 years of age, the sentences of Prez and Villarreal were automatically commuted to life in prison. For example, in voir dire the prosecutor told jurors that "if there's something in a defendant's background that you didn't think was even connected to why he did what he did, then you might consider that as not sufficiently mitigating." Posted on 10/09/2007 7:44:26 AM PDT by beaversmom. Local host Peter Boyles here in Denver is talking about it. Respondent has filed a motion for summary judgment arguing that Cantu's claims do not merit federal habeas corpus relief. Cantu read the statement and, in the presence of two other police officers, signed it. Cantu acknowledges that Texas juries now explicitly take into account "the circumstances of the offense, the defendant's character and background, and the personal moral culpability of the defendant." 2254(e)(1). Ramdass v. Angelone, 530 U.S. 156, 166 (2000). Maggots swarmed about their bodies, particularly in the bloodied head and genital regions. Consideration of Mitigating Evidence Under Texas Law. See id. Four days after the murders, the girls' bodies were found in the park during hot weather conditions. State Habeas Record at 260. When the rapes finally ended, the horror was not over. 23 at 699-703. Tam International phn phi cc sn phm cht lng cao trong lnh vc Chm sc Sc khe Lm p v chi tr em. Also, the state habeas court found that the probative value of the photographs outweighed any prejudicial effect. Boyde v. California, 494 U.S. 370, 380 (1990); see also Waddington v. Sarausad, ___ U.S. ___, ___ S. Ct. ___, 2009 WL 129033, at *8 (Jan. 21, 2009) (reaffirming the Boyde standard and noting the "especially heavy burden on a defendant who . The Court must decide whether a rational jury would have acquitted Cantu of capital murder and convicted him of another offense because it found only his first statement credible. Williams, 529 U.S. at 407. Vol. CODE CRIM. 21 at 320-21, Vol. 13, 2006) (unpublished), and has unconditionally applied Beck to all inmates who have received a death sentence, the Court will apply Beck to Cantu's claim. Failure to Make a Due Process Objection to the Allegedly Inflammatory Material. 3. The prosecution argued that Cantu eschewed opportunities for rehabilitation. 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. Khch hng ca chng ti bao gm nhng hiu thuc ln, ca hng M & B, ca hng chi, chui nh sch cng cc ca hng chuyn v dng v chi tr em. Vol. The other five were tried for capital murder in Harris County, Texas, convicted and sentenced to death. 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. This had not previously been done in Texas courts and now is done as a matter of routine. Borjan v. State, 787 S.W.2d 53, 55 (Tex.Crim.App. 1996). As Ertman was murdered, Pea was forced to watch her friend's death as other gang members held a ligature around her own neck. at 171. In 1994, a jury convicted Cantu for the capital murder of Jennifer Ertman. The Fifth Circuit first noted that the jury instruction allowed full consideration of the mitigating evidence and otherwise complied with constitutional requirements. Umeken ni ting v k thut bo ch dng vin hon phng php c cp bng sng ch, m bo c th hp th sn phm mt cch trn vn nht. The Clerk will provide a copy to the parties. He then clasped his arm around Pea's neck, threw her to the ground and dragged her down a gravel decline in the direction of the other gang members as Pea screamed and pleaded for help. On that basis, the prosecution asked the jury to assess Texas' special issues in a manner that would result in a death sentence. Days later, Cantu's brother and sister-in-law reported what they had heard to the police. Ertman died Sunday August 17th at home with his wife Sandy by his side. Tr. 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