In memory of Peter Cantu 27.05.1975 - 17.08.2010. . Specific examples of these statements include the following: [from C. Cantu's testimony] Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. We note initially that Article 37.071 does not objectively define mitigating evidence, leaving all such resolutions to the subjective standards of the jury. This article is the substantial equivalent to the pre-1991 Article 37.071(g) which we have previously held to be constitutional on numerous occasions. denied, 507 U.S. 975, 113 S.Ct. The district court noted that the prosecution was seeking to counteract Cantu's mitigating evidence by bringing attention to the victims and comparing the legal process by which Cantu might receive a death penalty to the brutality of the murders committed by Cantu. Cantu's assertion, however, invites us to look only at a single item of evidence and to ignore all of the remaining evidence in the case. pete cantu texas metal. At T.C. Michael A. Cantu - KCBD 2/23/98 --- Cantu filed an application for state writ of habeas corpus. 1987 Peter "Pete" Cantu 1988 Jay Smith 1989 Don Valdez 1990 Butch Vickers & David Uribe 1991 Hector Sandoval 1992 Refugio "Cuco" Escobedo 1993 George Wright Yeah, yeah, I remember that. [THE STATE:] They were all saying that? Pedro "Pete" Cantu, Jr. | Obituaries | livingstonparishnews.com [APPELLANT:] May we have a running objection to the out of court statements, judge? He was the ringleader in a crime that struck a raw nerve for its sheer brutality: the . This allegation was addressed and answered by the United States Supreme Court in Jurek v. Texas, 428 U.S. 262, 96 S.Ct. Nelson, supra, at 498. If you decide that an aspect of the Defendant's character and record or circumstances of the crime is a mitigating circumstance, you must not give it aggravating effect. Ertman made the drive here four years ago for the first execution. Sign Up. All I would tell the girls right now is we still love you and still miss you," he said. 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. Jester Park in Houston to participate in a gang initiation ritual. [WITNESS:] He is just agreeing with them. 28 U.S.C. 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 [. To the extent Cantu's reliance on his first statement requires disbelieving his second statement in which he admitted to the killings, he failed to produce significant evidence calling the legitimacy of his second statement into question: he showed no constitutional or statutory violation in the taking of the statement, and he offered no trial testimony challenging the accuracy of his second statement. In concluding that the state court did not unreasonably apply clearly established federal law, the district court explained Simmons's limited holding-that when the alternative sentence to death is life without parole due process plainly requires that [the defendant] be allowed to bring [parole ineligibility] to the jury's attention. Cantu, 2009 WL 275172, at *6 (quoting Simmons, 512 U.S. at 169, 114 S.Ct. [THE STATE:] And did they talk about having anal intercourse with the girls in front of [appellant]? Furthermore, once the sentencer has found that the defendant is a member of the class made eligible for the death penalty, it may be given unbridled discretion in determining whether the death penalty should be imposed. Martinez was appellant's second witness at the punishment phase of trial. No additional information for Cantu Roofing yet. ), cert. Given the sparsity of the victim impact evidence, the fact that it was not mentioned by the State during arguments (appellant did briefly refer to this testimony during his punishment arguments), and the overwhelming focus during the punishment phase on appellant's behavior and the circumstances of the offense, we conclude the victim impact evidence made no contribution to punishment. Find the obituary of Pete Cantu Rodriguez (1964 - 2020) from San Antonio, TX. KELLER, J., concurs in the result on point of error eight and joins in the remainder of the opinion. Police traced the 911 call to the Cantu home, and Joe passed on what he knew. * * * Log In. All cuzz them fine ass girls you all wanted to fuck. FN9. In point three, appellant avers that the trial court erred in prohibiting him from introducing testimony that he would have to serve 35 calendar years before becoming parole eligible if sentenced to life imprisonment. Here, the district court determined that the state court did not unreasonably apply federal law in concluding that the prosecution's argument was proper and, therefore, that Cantu's counsel's performance was not deficient in failing to object to the argument. In that case, a 27-year-old woman was found at a Houston park with her throat cut. Roofing, Home Builders, Additions, Home Theaters, General Contractors. However, evidence as to her good character, activities she enjoyed and the impact of her on her family is not relevant as appellant was not on trial for her murder and such evidence serves no purpose other than to inflame the jury. (Direct Appeal) 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. 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. Extraneous victim impact evidence, if anything, is more prejudicial than the non-extraneous victim impact evidence found by this Court to be inadmissible in Smith, supra. However, before she ventured into actual statements that appellant and/or his co-defendants made, the following occurred: [THE STATE:] Did someone else tell you what happened? 724, 735-36 (5th Cir.2005). Medellin said that they "had fun" and that their activities would be seen on the TV news. Man arrested after police say he stole vehicle of deputy who was chasing him on foot, More than 21K CPS Energy customers lose power due to storms, Texas mom accused of killing her children has history of violence, Pedro Cantu III booking photo from Guadalupe Co. Infamous Houston Murders Still Shock After Decades | Houston Press denied, 511 U.S. 1100, 114 S.Ct. Education: GED Your email address will not be published. of Criminal Justice) HUNTSVILLE, Texas (CBS/AP/KHOU) Tonight, Peter Anthony Cantu will be executed for two of the most notorious deaths in Houston. 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. 16th murderer executed in Texas in 2010 PETE CANTU REAL ESTATE INC in San Antonio, TX | Company Info & Reviews A memorial was erected to them at Waltrip High School, which they attended. We know that Pete Cantu had been residing in El Cerrito, Contra Costa County, California 94530. Accordingly, appellant waived any error by his failure to object to the procedure used by the trial court in its entering of his plea before the jury. Jester Park. Very brutal, very slow, tortured, a senseless killing. 1338, 127 L.Ed.2d 686 (1994); Rogers v. State, 853 S.W.2d 29 (Tex.Crim.App.1993). 2382, 65 L.Ed.2d 392 (1980). 2113, 147 L.Ed.2d 125 (2000) (emphasis added). Failure To Object To Prosecution's Argument. Weight: 135. Appellant specifically complains of the emphasized portion of the following argument: [THE STATE:] [I would] [l]ike to talk to you briefly about the issue of mitigation[.] The totality of appellant's argument and authorities is as follows: Later that night, Perez, Villareal, and Jose Medellin met at the house where Cantu lived with his older brother and sister-in-law, Joe and Christina Cantu. Frustrated that he was unable to have his turn fighting Villareal, he told the gang members that he wanted to beat the man up. Do we kill our children when you know they needed help, when you know they're a problem, when you know there are problems? ), cert. 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. (Citing Armstrong v. State, 718 S.W.2d 686, 697 (Tex.Crim.App.1985)). Pedro Cantu (@pedro_cantu_97) Instagram photos and videos When Pena screamed, Ertman ran back to try to help her friend, but Cantu grabbed her and dragged her down the hill as well. (plurality op. In August 2008, Ertman again climbed the steps to the red-bricked Huntsville Unit prison. He's set to make the trip again, to witness for the third time the execution of one of the gang members responsible for the rape and murder of his teenage daughter and her schoolmate. Points of error thirty-seven and thirty-eight are overruled. FN1. 2950, 49 L.Ed.2d 929 (1976), when it held that the Texas future dangerousness issue was not unconstitutionally vague. However, his request for a mistrial was thereafter denied. Eyewitness News photographer Jaime Zamora gives first hand account of The record reveals that after the jury was selected, but prior to trial, appellant was arraigned outside the presence of the jury. Now [defense counsel], I don't blame him. 2254(d). It is well-settled that, in reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence at the punishment stage, this Court views the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict to determine whether any rational trier of fact could make the finding beyond a reasonable doubt. 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. Ayesha Gani. 2(f)(4). * * *. Elliott v. State, 858 S.W.2d 478 (Tex.Crim.App. We have previously addressed and rejected this contention. TEXAS PIPELINER Welder (STC) . That October, Denson and another officer, Stephen Orlando, were tried on murder charges and an. See Article 36.15; Tex.R.App. On cross-examination, the State asked Martinez if she thought the killing of the two girls was funny. When the witness answered in the negative, the State asked that the jury be excused and introduced two letters the witness had written to appellant's co-defendant, Efrian Perez, and questioned her about one of them, which read: Efrian, what's up, ugly? However, the erroneous admission of M. Pena's testimony as to her daughter's character and activities was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. 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. Article 37.071 2(e) yields further support to this interpretation in that it requires the court to instruct the jury to take into consideration all of the evidence, including the circumstances of the offense, the defendant's character and background, and the personal moral culpability of the defendant (emphasis added) in determining whether sufficient mitigating circumstances exist to warrant a life sentence. Point of error forty-three is overruled. * * * I dissent to the majority's discussion in disposing of appellant's point of error number five regarding the nexus jury argument. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Schaetter Funeral Home, Fredericksburg. Mr. Pedro Cantu, Jr., 87, entered into the presence of his Heavenly Father on Saturday, June 9, 2018. To be accepted into the gang, Villareal had to fight the other gang members in turn until he passed out. Robertson, supra. We will not revisit the issue here. "Texas executes gang member for murder of 2 girls," by Michael Graczyk. 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. He didn't go into details. STREET OUTLAWS: FASTEST IN AMERICA premieres Monday, October 19 at 8p on Discovery. He was born in Luckenbach, Texas on November 28, 1946, to Pablo and Patricina (Arizola) Cantu. The suggestion, given the context in which it was made, cannot be characterized as a misstatement of the law, even assuming, arguendo, appellant's assertion on this point is correct. Moore v. State, 935 S.W.2d 124, 130 (Tex.Crim.App.1996). At the time of Cantu's trial, 2(e)(1) stated: The court shall instruct the jury that if the jury returns an affirmative finding to each issue submitted under Subsection (b), it shall answer the following issue: Whether, taking into consideration all of the evidence, including the circumstances of the offense, the defendant's character and background, and the personal moral culpability of the defendant, there is a sufficient mitigating circumstance or circumstances to warrant that a sentence of life imprisonment rather than a death sentence be imposed. Appellant's argument is purely based on statistical studies allegedly showing that, in Texas, the death penalty is more likely to be assessed when the victim is white than when the victim is a member of a racial minority. H-07-CV-3016, 2009 WL 275172 (S.D.Tex. One of the gang members grabbed Pena. He is preceded in death by his brothers, Alcardo Cantu, Jesus Cantu III; maternal grandfather, Juan Santos Acuna, and paternal grandparents, Jesus Cantu Sr. and Olivia Cantu. The break in solving the case came from, of course, the 911 call. If the defendant refuses to plead, the plea of not guilty shall be entered for him by the court. Proc. This is not to say, of course, that the indigent defendant has a constitutional right to choose a psychiatrist of his personal liking or to receive funds to hire his own. "Parents always worry about their kids, especially their daughters.". Specifically, appellant wanted to ask veniremembers if they could hold the State to the burden of proof of beyond a reasonable doubt. Shaw, a former employee, was caught on camera Sept. 14 taking a pallet of meat with an estimated value of more than $6,400 dollars from the company, 1325 S. Brazos St., according to an arrest warrant affidavit. Pallbearers: Anthony Cantu, Fidercio Cantu, Leon Perez, Gary Sorola, Jason Cantu, Adam Cantu, Joshua Cantu. Raul Villareal, 17, was being initiated into the Black and White gang, led by Cantu, then 18. In related point of error twenty, appellant contends that the trial court erred in not allowing him to question venirepersons regarding the burden of proof on the mitigation issue. Appellant walked in as the rest were recounting their exploits to his older brother and sister-in-law, Joe and Christina Cantu, in graphic detail.