270, 277 (5th Cir.2007); Jackson v. Dretke, 181 Fed.Appx. They then used Ertman's shoelaces to finish strangling her. Four of the other assailants were also convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. 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. A capital sentencer need not be instructed how to weigh any particular mitigating fact in the capital sentencing decision. 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. At trial, appellant's sister-in-law, Christina Cantu, and appellant's brother, Joe Cantu, both took the stand and testified that appellant and his co-defendants arrived at the Cantu house the night of the murders and freely talked, and even bragged, about the events of the evening. Pete Cantu Alyssa Cantu John Alexander, 62 John Alexander, 88. has lived in . "Nah," Cantu replied. 2. By the time the bodies were discovered, they were so badly decomposed that dental records were required to identify them. [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? 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). Jose Medellin was executed in August 2008. The United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, 2009 WL 275172, denied petition. The Mexican-American community was outraged by the death and Torres's family demanded justice. The gang then drank beer and engaged in horseplay. 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. Because appellant did not specify at trial which complaint he was asserting, his objection was not sufficiently specific to preserve review on appeal. Proc. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in January 1997. 600, 121 L.Ed.2d 537 (1992); Parent v. State, 621 S.W.2d 796, 797 (Tex.Crim.App.1981). A woman claims these photos were taken by the person who allegedly stole her purse, which had her smart phone inside. At this point, Roman and Frank Sandoval decided to leave. They were spotted by the group, pulled off the tracks and taken into nearby woods where they were sexually assaulted. The group then headed towards some nearby railroad tracks. Perhaps 100 yards away, a handful of death penalty opponents spoke over a loudspeaker against Cantus execution and the states system of capital punishment, the most active in the nation. 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. After reviewing the district court's thoughtful consideration of the issue, we cannot say that reasonable jurists would disagree with its determination that the state court's conclusion was a reasonable application of federal law. His second requested charge is also a misstatement of the law in that Penry v. Lynaugh, 492 U.S. 302, 109 S.Ct. Is your room clean today? 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. People named Pete Cantu. Gender: Male For a rational jury to find that appellant was guilty only of sexual assault, robbery, or kidnapping, there must be some evidence in the record that appellant did not intend to kill the victim. He was booked into the Guadalupe County Jail for theft of a vehicle and evading arrest, along with a separate charge of possession of a controlled substance. 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. His knowledge of the crimes came from the killers themselves, most of whom came to his home after the murders, bragging and swapping the jewelry they had stolen from the girls. After Raul fought all of the members, he was welcomed into the gang. "Parents always worry about their kids, especially their daughters.". 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 statements in question made in the presence of appellant were admissible as adopted admissions under Tex.R.Crim. Dr. Robert Cantu, chief of neurosurgery at Emerson Hospital in Concord, Mass., and one of the nation's foremost authorities on concussions and brain trauma in youth sports, called the decision to . 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. 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.). 1339, 127 L.Ed.2d 687 (1994), Nelson v. State, 864 S.W.2d 496, 498 (Tex.Crim.App.1993), cert. In Ford, the deceased victim's sisters and mother, who had also been victims of the crime, testified regarding the relationship each had with the deceased victim as well as to the effect that the crime had on them. denied, 513 U.S. 861, 115 S.Ct. Rousseau, 855 S.W.2d at 686-87; Felder, 848 S.W.2d at 101; Davis v. State, 782 S.W.2d 211, 221-22 (Tex.Crim.App.1989), cert. We have previously addressed and rejected this contention. No crime warrants a sentence of death. denied, 508 U.S. 963, 113 S.Ct. Point of error thirty-one is overruled. 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. Pena, however is not the victim for whose death appellant has been indicted and tried, and Payne does not contemplate admission of such evidence as permissible under the Eighth Amendment. 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. Counsel for Defendant D&W Painting, Inc. Richard H. Grafton T. Mark Rogstad Paul Byron Starr WRIGHT & GREENHILL, P.C. Derrick Sean O'Brien was executed in July 2006. Evidence showed Cantu kicked one of the girls in the face with his steel-toed boot. Affirmed. Tex.R.App. Ekstensive Metal Works Ekstensive Metal Works - Made - Texas Metal D rop Shop About Us We specialize in one off custom cars and trucks. 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. Tuilaepa v. California, 512 U.S. 967, 979-80, 114 S.Ct. The gang at the Texas company Ekstensive Metal Works build some of the most creative rides found anywhere. We first note that in reviewing the constitutionality of a statute, we must view the statute as applied to appellant only. The inferences drawn by the prosecutor from the evidence were not so extreme or improper as to rise to the level of reversible error. The totality of appellant's argument and authorities is as follows: Zimmerman was remanded by the United States Supreme Court to review in light of Johnson v. Texas, 509 U.S. 350, 113 S.Ct. He was on the first three seasons of the show, but in the latest one, he's nowhere to be seen. C. Texas's Mitigating Evidence Instruction. 155, 130 L.Ed.2d 94 (1994): He was friendly and never met a stranger. "The victims were so sympathetic and rightly so," said Robert Morrow, one of Cantu's trial lawyers. They were crossing a railroad bridge when the gang, drinking beer and initiating a new member, spotted them. The price of the Beefy Crunch Burrito had gone up from 99 cents to $1.49 and. Do we kill our children when you know they needed help, when you know they're a problem, when you know there are problems? He. The police searched the park without finding anything. However, as they passed Joe Medellin, he grabbed Elizabeth and dragged her down a hill as she screamed for help. We therefore deny a COA on this issue. WebPete Cantu was born on April 9, 1914. "He did a horrendous crime to these two girls and he deserved to die. (Direct Appeal) The state court concluded that Cantu's counsel's performance was not deficient because the prosecution's statements were proper under Texas law and did not inject new or harmful facts into the trial in light of the record as a whole. The second special issue submitted to the jury and of which appellant now complains reads in pertinent part as follows: Proc. Nor does he argue that the charge given was inappropriate, only that it was incomplete. However, he does contend the evidence is insufficient to support the jury's affirmative answer to the special issue on future dangerousness. The testimony of M. Pena consisted of her telling the jury about her family and showing the jury pictures of the victim's sixteenth birthday party. Appellant does not here argue that the extraneous offenses should not have been admitted. denied, 510 U.S. 919, 114 S.Ct. They pulled on the belt, one boy on each side, until the belt broke. 22 posts. Date Received: 03/18/94 705 (1992). The law should be provided by the trial court in the jury charge, not by questioning the witnesses. He did not look toward the witnesses and made no last statement. A belt of the same type that was used to kill Jennifer Ertman was found underneath Patricia's neck. When the rapes finally ended, the horror was not over. FN12. Subsequently, they all took turns stomping on both girls necks to make sure they were dead. ** 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: [THE STATE:] And what would he say about that? The State mentioned the 35-year period that defense counsel had talked about and asked the witness about the jury's concerns being not about what's going to happen 35 years from now but rather what's going to happen in the next day, the next week, the next month, the next year. In light of that questioning mentioning situations of capital murder defendants, including Kenneth McDuff, being paroled and committing murders, it was even more critical that the jury be informed of the law, i.e. As the factfinder, the jury is free to determine which witnesses it finds to be credible and what evidence it deems to be believable. We note initially that Article 37.071 does not objectively define mitigating evidence, leaving all such resolutions to the subjective standards of the jury. (plurality op. Height: 5' 06" See Photos. Michelle is 51 years old and was born on February 1971. M. Pena also told the jury what her daughter had been like in life: personality traits she exhibited, activities she had engaged in, and similar good character type evidence. Cantu next asserts that the method by which the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure presents the issue of mitigating evidence to a sentencing jury improperly prevents the consideration of constitutionally relevant evidence. 440, 256 S.W.2d 86, 88 (1953); Tutor v. State, 599 S.W.2d 818, 819 (Tex.Crim.App.1980). Michelle Licon Cantu currently resides in Lubbock, Texas. FN10. Thirty-five-year-old Peter Anthony Cantu was strapped to a gurney in the Huntsville Unit prison death chamber and given a lethal injection Tuesday evening as relatives of his victims, Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena, looked on. ADDITIONAL LINKS 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.