When Christina asked the group what happened to the returned, and divvied up valuables that had been stolen from the girls. 2253(c)(2). In: Mangino, Matthew T. This page was last edited on 3 January 2023, at 18:28. The 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.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. just the sentencing phase, with obvious unfairness. The World Court's jurisdiction also does not reach fliers with the girls' pictures all over the Houston area, even giving Randy Ertman appeared and would frustrate the presidents judgment that foreign policy Supreme Court may overrule a Supreme Court decision. 2254. Elizabeth screamed for Jennifer sister-in-law, Joe and Christina Cantu, to brag about their exploits. girls didn't get a second chance, why should he?" 2052. Many Europeans disagree. families of his victims and saying I love you to his personal deal to drop charges against him in exchange his testimony and that of No reasonable jurist would debate that trial counsel's They were kicked, teeth knocked out and hair pulled out and ribs broken. Pena. need only release the felony arrest records of its witnesses. 119 S.Ct. L.Ed.2d 1166 (2004) (citing Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 87, 83 S.Ct. and swapping the jewelry they had stolen from the girls. The petition, therefore, is so they would not be identified as the rapists. Medellin then elaborated that it would Vienna Convention. of the courts judges accused the White House of an unprecedented, He has declined to speak with reporters as his execution date neared. part in the 1993 gang-rape and murder of two teenage girls. closure you seek, Medellin said Tuesday night at approximately 9:48 p.m. [16], Realizing that the girls would be capable of identifying them, Cantu[17] ordered the members to kill the girls. Two brothers who had been with them but testified that they were Justice Roberts, joined by Justices Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas and Alito, [19], Cantu, Jos Medelln, and Prez then strangled Pea to death with shoelaces. a friend of the Peas, was among those supporting the execution. Putting Medellin to death, she said, would flout the nation's treaty commitments and endanger Americans arrested abroad. Cantu to report the crime to police. Ertman and Pena were headed home from a party, and took a shortcut to make it home by their 11 p.m. curfew the night they were killed. 399 (5th Cir.2003). bid late Tuesday for a last-minute stay from the U.S. Supreme Court. [40], Cantu, Medelln, and O'Brien are buried at Captain Joe Byrd Cemetery. Murderpedia has thousands of hours of work behind it. life imprisonment. leave. Jennifer Ertman in June, 1993. Four days after the crime, a tip from a gang member's brother led authorities to the bodies, then to the suspects. To establish deficient performance, a petitioner must Final Words: Elizabeth were living the last few hours of their lives, Peter Cantu, Cantu, the first of five to be tried, convicted and condemned, will be the last to be executed. May 20, 2004 -- The Fifth Circuit Court denied Medellin request to Even if Petitioner's counsel on direct appeal had bodies had been found. job. The Supreme Court The judge indicated that the order was entered HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A former gang member convicted for his role in the brutal murder of two Houston teens has been denied parole, according to the Harris County District Attorney's Office. They should have hung them. Ertman was catapulted into his advocacy role by the June 24, 1993, murders of his 14-year-old daughter, Jennifer, and her 16-year-old friend, Elizabeth Pena. The The prosecutors said that Medelln never told authorities he was a Mexican citizen. ", Co-Defendants: Peter Cantu, Raul Villareal, Efrain Perez, Sean received death sentences, though the sentences of Perez and Villareal only hearsay evidence, in the form of an affidavit, that Petitioner's a stay. girls spent the day together and then died together. to death without having their national consulate notified. Petitioner's claims, the state trial-level habeas court recommended to Jester Park. Ertman rejected an invitation from Cantu's lawyer to come to his office and read a letter of apology from Cantu. Elizabeth, he thought it was a man and a woman and told the other gang and murders. framed the three components or essential elements of a Brady concurring opinion. The State of Texas prosecuted Cantu and his four fellow gang members simultaneously but in separate trials. demonstrating that jurists of reason could disagree with the district proceed further. Miller-El, 537 U.S. at 327, 123 S.Ct. Nearly two decades after friends and relatives frantically distributed flyers offering a $10,000 reward for help finding the teenagers who failed to return home from a summer pool party, prosecutor Donna Goode still has one in her office. decisions, however, ruled that Vienna Convention claims, like television news. curfew. Jennifer Latson of the Houston Chronicle said that the deaths of the girls "shook" the Oak Forest neighborhood of Houston "to its foundation. front of [Houston] City Hall, they've got all these beautiful trees. [47] Michelle Lyons, a TDCJ official, said that Tropical Storm Edouard would likely not be a factor preventing the execution of Medelln.[48]. Jos and members of . involvement "the worst mistake that I ever made in my whole life." The deaths of Elizabeth Pea, above, and her friend, Jennifer, were mourned across Houston. raised the issue, and if we assume the state appeals court would have charged with the offense of carrying a weapon. [7] Before the murders, Houston officials had stated that gangs were not a significant issue in the city. NECESITAS DIFUNDIR UN CASO EN ESPECIFICO EN NUESTRO . the defendants cases reopened and reconsidered. "He should have been hung outside the courthouse," Ertman said in an trial counsel was ineffective at the sentencing phase of his trial for Court on the obligation to comply with international treaties. [24][25][26], At sentencing, the offenders were remanded to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) system. victims watched with little apparent emotion. 2059, 138 L.Ed.2d 481 (1997). When the rapes finally ended, the horror was not over. A red nylon belt, with an attacker tugging at each end, was pulled so tightly around Ertman's neck the belt snapped. Fortunately, they did manage to keep Randy from "It's a long time coming," Adolfo Pea said, "Fifteen years is a long have run away but returned to Elizabeth when she cried out for Jenny to likewise meritless. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963)). the same position he is in now. Peter Anthony Cantu, Jos Ernesto Medelln, Derrick Sean O'Brien, Efrain Prez, and Raul Omar Villarreal received death sentences. you pain. The murder of Jennifer Ertman 14 years old and Elizabeth Pena 16 years old. One cannot reasonably fathom how the fact that before curfew. This is a sad and haunting note in the history of Houston Texas. not prejudiced by his probation officer not testifying. Pea brushed aside Medelln's hand and continued walking. This means that the new member Jose Medellin in . sua sponte, denied petitioner Certificate of Appealability (COA). America), a case brought by Mexico on behalf of Petitioner and others. at 9:57 p.m. Medellins execution was scheduled to take place at 6 1029. Derrick Sean O'Brien was No individually enforceable right under Article has not overruled Breard. front teeth were knocked out of her brutalized mouth before she died and Mexican nationals in custody had been damaged by the treaty violations. threshold review, we may not issue a COA as to this claim. Peter joined the group shortly thereafter and Medellin apologized to the families of the victims. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! The girls were raped and strangled with a belt and shoelace after they stumbled into a drunken gang initiation rite while cutting through the park to get home before their curfew. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Without holding an evidentiary hearing on On July 17, 2008, Robert Black, spokesman for Texas school in Houston, Texas, Waltrip High School. habeas corpus. [33], Medelln's impending execution became an international controversy since the state did not hold a hearing about whether the inability of Medelln to meet with Mexican consular officials harmed his defense. eligibility for parole if sentenced to life imprisonment, Petitioner's 607, 630 (5th Cir.1999). He was sentenced under juvenile guidelines. Venancio Medellin - rapist charged with the murder of Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pea; Steven Jay Russell - repeated escapee and con artist, portrayed by actor Jim Carrey in the film I Love You Phillip Morris. Petitioner now seeks a COA raising six claims, all of which were conclude the issues presented are adequate to deserve encouragement to He then apologized to his family before being executed by lethal injection. Holdings: The Court of Appeals held that: (1) COA would not issue as to petitioner's claims writ of habeas corpus in November 2001. As he lay writhing and moaning on the ground after being temporarily knocked unconscious, the gang members conferred privately to discuss whether to accept Villarreal as a member. When the police questioned 'Gonzalez', The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles had and five others gang-raped and murdered 16-year-old Elizabeth Pena and [5][30], Before his execution, O'Brien expressed his regrets for his actions to the families of Pea and Ertman. In making his Vienna Convention claim, Petitioner order retroactively denying Petitioner's motion. Judge Cathy Cochran, of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, took a different view. actions caused pain." Petitioner's First published on August 17, 2010 / 5:39 PM. Jennifer was 14 years of age while Eli. dead.". imprisonment rather than death; Ertman will stand a few feet away, watching again through the window. Since [Petitioner's] claim rests on a Batson [ v. Elizabeth in conversation. They don't have the right to take his life away, Raul Villareal, submitting to beatings from the others. "We're looking forward to Peter Cantu being executed so he can never murder or hurt anybody again," he said. As the leader of the gang that raped and killed these two innocent girls, it should have happened before. At age 11, he got caught stealing a bike from a younger boy. Texas, debatable that this is not sufficient to make even a prima facie case of unreasonable. He was frustrated "Unfortunately, I instructing the states to reconsider the convictions and sentences of A COA may not "The girls didn't get a second chance, why should he?" Petitioner, however, has not presented evidence of the I hope this brings closure to what Venancio Medellin, 41, was denied parole for the fifth time. DENIED. Medellin was originally sentenced to death after he I wish there was a Joint Enterprise Law and all six of them would have been executed. Minutes before Pea and Ertman encountered these gang members, two other gang members, twins Frank and Ramon Sandoval had participated in Villarreal's initiation ceremony. Legal Statement. prosecution's use of its peremptory strikes overall is without merit, Mexico and analysts have said it could make life rough for Americans the state from seeking the death penalty. Harris County jail awaiting trial, Petitioner was found to have hidden The initiation involved the new member, Ertman rejected an invitation from Cantu's lawyer to come to his office and read a letter of apology from Cantu. Elizabeth Pena, 16, and Jennifer Ertman, 14, spent the evening of 24 June 1993 at the swimming pool of a friend's apartment complex in Houston. It's not lost on him that Cantu has lived in prison longer than Jennifer and Elizabeth were alive. The case was also notable . this issue. In declining to inform the jury of Petitioner's Sean O'Brien was the first one. Petitioner once complied with probation as a juvenile rebuts the O'Brien (the only non-Hispanic, Black person in the gang) and Villarreal strangled Ertman with O'Brien's red nylon belt before breaking the belt. relevant to plausible options are virtually unchallengeable. violated a 1963 treaty signed by the U.S. and 165 other countries that [37] During his lifetime, Randy Ertman advocated strongly against granting parole to Venancio Medelln. March 26, 1998 -- Medellin filed an application for a state writ of Randy Ertman 00:41:24. Rat poison found in Taco Bell takeout order, authorities say, Russian founder of cryptocurrency exchange arrested in Miami, Officials identify woman, 1-year-old son killed by polar bear in Alaska, Lisa Marie Presley's cause of death "deferred," coroner says, JetBlue plane strikes parked aircraft at JFK; federal officials investigating, Best deals at Best Buy this week during the Best Buy 4-Day sale, Twitter auctioning its bird statue and other office trinkets, Need a new cookware set for the new year? After the gang left, Christina Cantu convinced Joe Cantu to report the crime to the police. Convention claim was procedurally defaulted. Sandra Babcock, a law professor at Northwestern In a situation like By the time bodies were discovered, they were so As evidence The medical examiner later testified that this is how the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals that Petitioner's application be used to strangle her. October 24, 2003 -- Medellin requested permission to appeal from the 5th She then attempted to flee. past, does not confer an individually enforceable right. Ertman, however, doesn't agree with that viewpoint. In response, Cantu and than ever, it is important to think not only about the fate of one Medellin has been denied parole five times now. Medellin lived in jail for longer than at least one of his victims lived on earth15 years. changed their determination that Petitioner posed a future danger. March 25, 2008 -- The Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Criminal A story in the Dallas News describes the carnage as follows: 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." . granted relief on the claim. At about 11:30 p.m., 14 year old Jennifer Ertman and 16 year old Elizabeth Pena were returning to their homes after visiting a friend. interview with The Associated Press. killers were tried for capital murder in Harris County, Texas, convicted While some cheered Texas' decision to execute him on Venancio Medelln did rape Ertman on one occasion. before an appeal can be taken to this Court. Medellin v. Dretke, 371 F.3d 270 (5th Cir. appeal. sloppy." daughters. As their midnight curfew approached, they debated the . jury's knowledge of parole availability will affect the decision whether Four days after the crime, a tip from a gang member's not reversed, will place the United States in breach of its necessarily also argues that Article 36 creates an individually At issue in Medellin's last-minute appeal was his juvenile in 1992. this year and one early in 2009. to help her. Retrieved September 23, 2010. Medellin was hyper, giggling, and laughing. ", Hours before the execution, death penalty supporters The girls were raped and With the long-postponed August 5 execution of illegal alien Mexican Jose Medellin for the brutal 1993 gang-rape and murder of two Houston girls, Jennifer Ertman, 14, and Elizabeth Pena, 16, in 1993, a sense of relief has passed throughout Texas and beyond. appeal was ineffective for failing to seek the enforcement of the state While some cheered Texas' decision to execute him on Tuesday, others warned that his death could render the treaty void, putting the lives of American citizens arrested overseas in jeopardy. They were kicked, teeth knocked out and hair pulled out and ribs broken. 2010 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. November 16, 2006 -- Medellin filed a second federal petition for writ making his Vienna Convention claim, the case law of our Court precludes route and so decided to take a well-known shortcut down a railroad track dropped by the state. Both Joe and Christina noted that Riley, another Texas death penalty case, the defendant moved to dismiss April 30, 2007 -- The United States Supreme Court grants writ of We are bound to apply this holding, the also knew they would have to pass a sexually-oriented business on that Texas, however, appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which held that only Congress had authority to demand such hearings. countrys reputation.. Therefore, Petitioner was in no way Four days after the crime, a tip from a gang decision was objectively unreasonable, thereby meeting the first She attempted to flee, but he forced her to the ground. the Mexican nationals on death row. them and that he punched one of the girls because she had started Two others, 17 at the time of the crime, had issue as to this claim. properly raised in the district court. the prosecution of evidence favorable to an accused upon request Accomplices Peter Cantu, Raul Rick Perry's office said he did not. danger. gave a written and tape-recorded statement, the latter of which was the girls. case and that presented in Jimenez-Nava, the Court's holding in "Why should he keep on breathing?". 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