He was on probation for assault in connection with an incident at the Astrodome parking lot in which he threatened another youth with a knife. Manager of the Year: Pete Cantu - YouTube He then notes that the Texas Constitution proscribes cruel or unusual punishments while the Eighth Amendment prohibits cruel and unusual punishments. However, we have previously held to the contrary, finding no significance in the difference between the Eighth Amendment's cruel and unusual phrasing and the cruel or unusual phrasing of Art. 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). "There's no way to put closure on this," said Jim Stacey, a close friend of the Ertman family. He didn't go into details. This argument has been addressed and rejected by both this Court and the United States Supreme Court and we will not revisit it here. 871, 79 L.Ed.2d 29 (1984), have held that such a review is not required under the Eighth or Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. 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. I met Peter through an anti death penalty association that dealt with finding pen pals for prisoners. Date Received: 03/18/94 "Its good that they wont be forgotten," Frausto said. 801(e)(2)(B), as appellant, by his actions and responses, readily agreed with them. Appellant objected that this was improper impeachment on a collateral matter. Prior Prison Record: Cantu is also serving a 10 year sentence in connection with an aggravated asault on a Houston man in January 1993. And Cantu's brother, upset at the gang's gloating about having fun with the girls, called police. Frustrated that he was unable to have his turn fighting Villareal, he told the gang members that he wanted to beat the man up. He remains in custody as of this writing. 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. I'm not going to show it to you. The attackers confessed and at times seemed indifferent to the charges against them. Appellant, along with his co-defendants, brutally raped, strangled, and stomped the two girls to death. However, the Supreme Court also held that the State has a legitimate interest in countering this individualization of the defendant by reminding the jury that the victim, also, was an individual whose death represents a unique loss to society and to his or her family. Appellant's failure to request a special verdict form at trial bars him from now complaining on appeal under Almanza v. State, 686 S.W.2d 157 (Tex.Crim.App.1984), since no egregious harm to appellant has been shown. denied, 507 U.S. 975, 113 S.Ct. On June 24, 1993, the group was conducting a fight-filled initiation ceremony for a prospective member across from T.C. Michael A. Cantu is the morning News Now reporter for KCBD NewsChannel 11. denied, 510 U.S. 829, 114 S.Ct. Finally and in the alternative, the district court noted that Cantu was not prejudiced by his counsel's failure to object because of the significant amount of punishment-phase evidence demonstrating Cantu's violence and the slim chance of his rehabilitation. For the reasons stated in my dissents in Rhoades v. State, 934 S.W.2d 113 (Tex.Cr.App.1996); Anderson v. State, 932 S.W.2d 502 (Tex.Cr.App.1996), and Morris v. State, 940 S.W.2d 610 (Tex.Cr.App.1996), I dissent to the majority's treatment and discussion of points one through four. Article 27.16 states 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. 2556, 135 L.Ed.2d 1074 (1996). THE COURT: Overruled. Santikos v. State, 836 S.W.2d 631, 633 (Tex.Crim.App. Native County: Harris The second best result is Peter Cantu age 30s in San Antonio, TX in the Park Village neighborhood. "He deserved to die, and 17 years later he died. They should have hung them. Deadline Hollywood. After entering through a window on the fourth floor, two intruders were seen on surveillance video swiping an oversized ceremonial gavel from a judge's bench and later donning sombreros found in a Bar Association storage closet. Maria Cantu Hexsel 221 West 6" Street, Suite 1800 Jennifer Buntz GERMER GERTZ . The five killers were tried for capital murder in Harris County, Texas, convicted and sentenced to death. He objected that this evidence was not relevant to the special issues and was more prejudicial than probative. Failure To Object To Prosecution's Argument. Archived from the original on June 6, 2022. The owner of the law office noticed money was missing and set up a security camera to catch the thief, an arrest affidavit said. 2950, 2956, 49 L.Ed.2d 929 (1976), and it has not been changed substantially since then. 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. Eye Color: Brown FN13. He was friendly and never met a stranger. 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In his fifth point of error, appellant complains that the trial court erred in overruling his objection to the prosecutor's argument that the jury had to find a nexus between the defense evidence and the crime before they could consider it mitigating. [WITNESS:] When one of them said, I made her suck my dick, he said, oh, yeah, I did that. They didn't have the luxury of having anybody intervene for them, and he wants you to don't kill this child. The pertinent part of Article 37.071 2(a) reads: Find the obituary of Pete Cantu Rodriguez (1964 - 2020) from San Antonio, TX. Tex.Code Crim. ; Keeton v. State, 724 S.W.2d 58, 61 (Tex.Crim.App.1987) ( Keeton I); Heiselbetz v. State, 906 S.W.2d 500, 507-508 (Tex.Crim.App.1995). The inexplicable act of random predation struck a chord among city residents as few other cases. ", Randy and Sandra Ertman did not speak to the press. 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. Date of Offense: 06/24/93 2934, 106 L.Ed.2d 256 (1989); Johnson v. Texas, 509 U.S. 350, 113 S.Ct. 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. 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. 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. 9/19/07 -- Cantu filed his federal habeas corpus petition in a Houston U.S. district court. Here's a Rundown of Each Team Competing in STREET OUTLAWS - Discovery Mexican-born Jose Medellin, 33, with needles in his arms, also apologized. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied. Finally, Cantu contends that he received ineffective assistance because his trial counsel failed to object when the prosecution urged the jury to consider the graphic photographs in its sentencing-phase argument. See Webb v. State, 760 S.W.2d 263, 268 (Tex.Crim.App.1988), 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. 600, 121 L.Ed.2d 537 (1992). 1. Very brutal, very slow, tortured, a senseless killing. Both expressed regret for their role in the killings. "Theres nothing he would have said to me that would have made any difference," said Pena, who was wearing a white T-shirt with a photo of the two girls printed on the front. 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. 6. whether the defendant was acting under duress or the domination of another at the time of the offense; He was charged with unlawfully carrying a weapon. Pedro was born on November 5, 1924 in Floresville, Texas to Vincente and Tiadosa Robles Cantu. Executed August 17, 2010 06:17 p.m. CDT by Lethal Injection in Texas. Both of these claims are governed by the familiar Strickland standard. denied, 506 U.S. 999, 113 S.Ct. 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. (806) 763-5556. In fact, death row rules were changed to allow families to watch executions because of this case. Rousseau, 855 S.W.2d at 687, n. 26. Evid. Enter See, e.g., Thacker v. Dretke, 396 F.3d 607, 617 (5th Cir.2005); Elizalde v. Dretke, 362 F.3d 323, 332-33 (5th Cir.2004); Woods v. Cockrell, 307 F.3d 353, 361 (5th Cir.2002). "Peter Cantu Executed: Ringleader of the Ertman and Pena Rape and Murder Killed," by Jason Volentine. Peter Anthony Cantu, 35, was executed by lethal injection on 17 August 2010 in Huntsville, Texas for the rape and murder of two teenage girls. Article 36.01, which governs the order of proceeding in trial, states in pertinent part: [WITNESS:] Yes. Please spare his life. 1224th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976 * * * Ayesha Gani. 2/3/94 -- A jury found Cantu guilty of capital murder. M. Pena then testified as to her relationship with her daughter and her daughter's relationship with other members of the family. Joe Cantu then placed an anonymous call to the Houston Police Department's "Crimestoppers" tip line. Associated Addresses. Each of these requested charges should have been submitted to the jury to correct the otherwise unconstitutional nature of the issue on mitigation as discussed in Point of Error Fourteen. She felt sorry for the families and wanted them to be able to put their daughters' bodies to rest. Your email address will not be published. He had assaulted fellow students and a teacher, been kicked out of his regular school, and threatened security personnel at the alternative school to which he had been sent. 463rd murderer executed in Texas since 1976. Appellant argues that the phrase or anticipated that a human life would be taken renders Article 37.071 2(b)(2) unconstitutional because the phrase lacks the required culpability. Pedro Cantu. Three dozen supporters cheered as the families emerged after the execution. . Joe Cantu also testified appellant agreed with everything that was being said about the rapes and killing, nodding his head and saying, [Y]eah daddy, you got it.. He then notes that the Texas Constitution proscribes cruel or unusual punishments while the Eighth Amendment prohibits cruel and unusual punishments. We have previously rejected this argument. He told Venancio to stay behind, saying he was "too little to watch." * * *. Texas Code of Criminal Procedure article 26.05(a) provides that counsel shall be reimbursed for reasonable expenses incurred with prior court approval for purposes of investigation and expert testimony [. They questioned Joe Cantu, who identified himself as both the 9-1-1 caller and the Crimestoppers tipster. The charge given was as follows: In 1993, six gang members raped, killed, and brutally beat 14-year-old Jennifer Ertman and 16-year-old Elizabeth Pena beyond recognition. On December 13, 2006, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals likewise denied Cantu's state habeas application after it adopted the trial court's findings of fact and conclusions of law in an unpublished order. 2. Pete T. Cantu Obituary (1980 - 2022) | Orange Grove, Texas - Echovita