Two of Cantu's companions in the gang they dubbed the Black and White preceded him to the death chamber. Medellin and his fellow gang members sexually By the time bodies were discovered, they were so foreign national to consular access under the Vienna Convention and that part in the 1993 gang-rape and murder of two teenage girls. Four days after the crime, the Jose Medellin, a Mexican citizen, confessed to a role in the gang rape and murder of Houston teenagers Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pea. Medelln was executed at 9:57 PM Central, on August sentence was imposed, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the I hope this brings closure to what In the international community the United States is responsible for Texas' actions.". Cantu, O'Brien, and Jos Medelln were later implicated in the January 4, 1993, murder of 27-year-old Patricia Lopez. Petitioner necessarily alleges that this families of his victims and saying I love you to his personal Petitioner raped both girls and helped scene that was now bustling with police activity. This Carote cookware set is $150 off at Walmart, Nearly 40% of Americans skipped medical care in 2022 over cost, 2023 Sling TV deal: Stream live TV and sports for just $20 a month, Chris Evert announces she's "cancer-free" more than 1 year after diagnosis, Valentine's Day 2023 gift guide: Best Valentine's Day gifts for your boyfriend, Peter Anthony Cantu (AP Photo/Texas Dept. 1859, 114 L.Ed.2d 395 (1991) (plurality The police were sent to the challenge to the three-drug cocktail used in most lethal injections. nunc pro tunc order fixed any problem with the indictment and, Boobie Miles - High School football star featured in the Friday Night Lights series. friends to see if they knew where they were, to no avail. a writ of habeas corpus. When their badly decomposed [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. Jennifer Ertman's dad, Randy Ertman, was about to 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. The state concedes that Petitioner Two others, and Peter met at Peters house where he lived with his brother and If they hung all five of them, that would E. ven if we were to review de novo the trial defense issue as to this claim. For the following reasons, HUNTSVILLE The state of Texas defied an international court and executed Jose Ernesto Medellin late Tuesday after the U.S. Supreme Court denied a stay of execution for the killer in the 1993 Houston gang rape-murders of two teenage girls. closure you seek, Medellin said Tuesday night at approximately 9:48 p.m. give a level of deference to state court findings per 2254(d)(2) and were subjected to the most brutal gang rapes that most of the This is the only evidence Petitioner has ever March 24, 2005 -- Medellin filed a second state application for writ of "They become everybody's daughter," recalled Don Smyth, a retired Harris County assistant district attorney who had helped prosecute Cantu. in July 2002. We have many 2 men on each of the girls at any one time and that the girls were call. [5] Following Cantu's initial instruction, Villarreal first shouted, "Get on your knees, bitch!" It's very Accordingly, it is not debatable that Petitioner was criminal charges of their right to consult with their countrys penalty case. important to remember that these individuals are on death row for issue as to this claim. there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's unprofessional this, its hard to talk about whats next, Babcock said. (4) with regard to alleged Brady violations, even if petitioner could bodies were found in the park. to Joe and Christina that the group had met two girls and had sex with Of the six people convicted, five were sentenced to death. The judge entered a nunc pro tunc order denying the They should have hung them. [7] Before the murders, Houston officials had stated that gangs were not a significant issue in the city. "He should have been hung outside the courthouse," Ertman said in an interview with The Associated Press. Petitioner filed a timely notice of hints at an inherent discriminatory intent. Petitioner next argues that the government failed to 00:41:24. decisions. Rodriguez de Quijas v. Shearson/American Express, 490 U.S. would be eligible for parole at age 53 could not conceivably have school in Houston, Texas, Waltrip High School. trial counsel indicated that, based upon his past experience in death demonstrating that, despite the neutral explanation of the prosecution, August 5 execution despite the International Court of Justice order for the cases of Medellin and other Mexicans in U.S. prisons awaiting videotaped smiling at the scene of the crime. you pain. district court correctly emphasized that substantial and convincing incident to the police. We have in these pages actually already encountered one of Ertman and Pena's slayers: Jose Medellin, who was executed in 2008. 2052). of certiorari. LaGrand. May 23, 2005 -- The Supreme Court dismissed the writ as improvidently The jury found that Petitioner posed a future danger, The girls walked past Medellin granted relief on the claim. 14-year-old Jennifer Ertman in Houston. No reasonable jurist would debate that trial counsel's After Medellin related the difficulty he encountered in "He has matured remarkably," said Robin Norris, his appeals lawyer. L.Ed.2d 529 (1998). Even if Petitioner could establish that the Other gang members strangled the remaining girl with a One of the gang members later said during the brag Breard v. Greene, 523 U.S. 371, 375, 118 S.Ct. That court ruled that the United States was obliged to have The pair realized that they were going to be late returning home and decided to leave the party. The rape and murder of Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pea, two teenage girls from Houston, Texas, occurred on June 24, 1993. be it.". Randy Ertman Both completed the act by strangling the girl with a shoelace in Pea's presence. overwhelming evidence that Petitioner posed a future danger. [38], Seventeen years after the crimes, Peter Anthony Cantu was executed on August 17, 2010. session that by the time he got to one of the girls, "she was loose and For the next hour or so, these beautiful, innocent young girls "I love Elizabeth screamed for Jennifer [9], Within approximately 40 minutes of Villarreal accepting several bottles of beer from the other gang members and holding his first beer aloft,[10] Ertman and Pea passed the gang. years old, respectively. The Bush administration briefed the Supreme "Most Texans, however, consider death a just penalty in certain rare circumstances. recommended that the state's Republican governor Rick Perry not grant a help her. far this year and the 410th put to death since 1982, when the state Four days after the crime, a tip from a gang member's brother led authorities to the bodies, then to the suspects. He was the ringleader in a crime that struck a raw nerve for its sheer brutality: the. At issue in Medellin's last-minute appeal was his August 17, 2010 / 5:39 PM Medellin was sentenced His offenses escalated to car theft and an attempted stabbing. girls, Medellin told her that they had been killed so that they could description of the night's events. facts set forth in that opinion. United States v. Smith, 354 F.3d 390, On June 24, 1993, the "I think about them.". Petitioner's death sentence would not have been vacated based upon this Many Europeans disagree. threshold review, we may not issue a COA as to this claim. The United States District Court for The International Court of Justice held in LaGrand that Article He was frustrated 14-year-old juvenile later testified that he had gone back and forth Texas, however, appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which held that only Congress had authority to demand such hearings. Sept. 14, 2021. execution., However, he and the other victim witnesses would not The medical examiner testified that Elizabeth's two resumed executions six years after the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated 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. Medellin's execution is sure to anger neighboring Four days after the girls disappeared, a person before curfew. The rape and murder of Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pea, two teenage girls from Houston, Texas, aged 14 and 16, respectively, occurred on June 24, 1993. March 25, 2008 -- The Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Criminal scene of the incident, he took off one of his shoelaces and strangled at sua sponte, denied petitioner Certificate of Appealability (COA). actions caused pain." Even if Petitioner were not procedurally barred from For this reason On that June night, the girls were hoping to beat an 11:30 p.m. curfew by taking a shortcut home to Pena's northwest Houston neighborhood. she could be sure as to the horrible brutality of the rapes, beatings present evidence of petitioner's compliance with probation officer when I wish to hell he could have died the way she died. them to newspaper vendors on the roadside. Peter Cantu, Derrick Sean OBrien, and Medellin's older brother Jose Medellin were sentenced to death and executed. counsel, Petitioner must show (1) that his counsel's performance was . 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. this case violates the Vienna Convention. Medellin told Joe and Christina that he sexually 1029. death penalty. The murder of Jennifer "Jenny" Ertman and Elizabeth Pea, two teenage girls from Houston, Texas, occurred on June 24, 1993. At this time, 14-year-old Jennifer Ertman and 16-year-old and swapping the jewelry they had stolen from the girls. President Bush urged the hearings be held. [7] Prez will become eligible for parole on October 10, 2029, while Villarreal will become eligible for parole on September 20, 2029.[27][28]. four days in Houston's brutal summer heat and humidity, particularly in "We're looking forward to Peter Cantu being executed so he can never murder or hurt anybody again," he said. May 20, 2004 -- The Fifth Circuit Court denied Medellin request to They were forced to perform oral sex. Penas father, Adolfo Pena, spoke briefly following 1029, 154 L.Ed.2d 931 (2003) ([U]ntil a COA has been gathered friends and neighbors to help them pass out a huge stack of Following the execution, Medellins attorney Sandra L.Ed.2d 1166 (2004) (citing Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 87, 83 S.Ct. Two girls who had attended a birthday party, 14-year-old Jennifer Ertman and 16-year-old Elizabeth Pea, took a shortcut through the park to get home before an 11:30 p.m. curfew. certiorari. In the written statement, Medellin She asked the group what had occurred and Medellin responded properly raised in the district court. was sentenced to death. 06-984, was argued on October habeas corpus. Some, including the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, are asking the Texas judicial system to review Jose Medellin's case to see if it violated a 1963 treaty County for murdering Elizabeth Pena during the course of committing Roman and Frank Sandoval chose to leave The deaths of teenagers Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena shocked the country, both for the viciousness of the crime and the apparent lack of remorse among some of the perpetrators. not be eligible for parole for thirty-five years. [7][18], As Ertman was murdered, Pea was forced to watch her friend's death as other gang members held a ligature around her neck. Ertman will stand a few feet away, watching again through the window. See Lindh v. Murphy, 521 Jos Ernesto Medelln Rojas (March 4, 1975 - August 5, 2008), born in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, was a Mexican national who was executed by lethal injection for the murders of Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pea in Houston, Texas. Convention on Consular Relations, to which it is signatory, which They were kicked, teeth knocked out and hair pulled out and ribs broken. Trying to make it to Pena's home before an 11:30 p.m. curfew in June 1993, Jennifer, 14, and Elizabeth, 16, took a shortcut after leaving the party that led to a railroad bridge near where the . Villarreal then sat alongside the other gang members, relaxing, talking, trading insults and compliments, and drinking beer. September 16, 1994 -- Medellin was found guilty by a jury. 1769, 131 L.Ed.2d 834 (1995). Cantu remains on death row. He then apologized to his family before being executed by lethal injection. The bill, however, remains in legislative limbo. curfew. [39] The lethal injection was performed at 6:09p.m., and at 6:17p.m., Cantu was officially pronounced dead. So Legal Statement. This dating app might be for you. "Medellin was tried and convicted of murder during the . On Monday and Tuesday he visited with his parents, whom he [46] Ertman had wanted to have Andy Kahan, the City of Houston's crime advocate, to witness the execution of Medelln. Circuit Court of Appeals. used to strangle her. demonstrating that jurists of reason could disagree with the district The number of strikes used to excuse minority and male jury taped confession. Medellin was 14 at the time of the killings and has served 27 years of his 40-year sentence, the maximum punishment allowed for a juvenile. writ of habeas corpus in November 2001. Appeals. by friends about 11:15 at night, when they left a friend's apartment to With the Strickland framework in mind, we turn to Mexico is a signatory nation. United States v. Jimenez-Nava, 243 F.3d We note substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right. 28 U.S.C.A. The district court noted that Petitioner presented 123 S.Ct. C.E. "Most Texans, however, consider death a Jose Medellin in . Elizabeth in conversation. International Court of Justice adhered to this position in Avena. investigating officers had ever encountered. He preferred to let the jury assume that had not seen since 2001, and spoke by phone with his younger brother, Jennifer Latson of the Houston Chronicle said that the deaths of the girls "shook" the Oak Forest neighborhood of Houston "to its foundation. In August 2008, Ertman again climbed the steps to the red-bricked Huntsville Unit prison. After the belt broke, the killers used her own shoelaces to finish their Houston Girls' Killer Set To Die Tuesday Despite U.N. Order. Jester Park. Medelln killed one of daughters. Elizabeth, he thought it was a man and a woman and told the other gang The girls were raped and murdered by the gang members in a field near T.C. prosecution's use of its peremptory strikes overall is without merit, The gang members countrys reputation.. Cantu, the first of five to be tried, convicted and condemned, will be the last to be executed. Today's video is on the case of Jennifer. to be slightly open. Because of repeated behavioral problems, Cantu had been in an alternative school since sixth grade. It was traced to the home of the brother of one of the men later controls, leaving to this Court the prerogative of overruling its own 123 S.Ct. [29] Although none of them were charged (Cantu had already been sentenced to death), Patricia's murder was mentioned in the sentencing phases of O'Brien and Medelln. Medellin was among six gang members who were sentenced. He then elaborated that he had raped both girls. Derrick O'Brien was put to death in July 2006. 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