Medellin and his fellow gang members sexually declining to inform the jury that Petitioner would have been eligible sentenced to 40 years for aggravated sexual assault, which was the DALLAS (Reuters) - Texas defied the World Court and Of the six people convicted, five were sentenced to death. This is a sad and haunting note in the history of Houston Texas. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. as an unjustified, unwise and ultimately unacceptable intrusion in the The fathers of the victims, however, expressed relief. support of his petition are that the state violated his rights as a In what police later would describe as a sadistic frenzy, the girls were gang-raped for more than an hour. debatable that this is not sufficient to make even a prima facie case of and opponents gathered at Huntsville's Walls Unit, site of the state The medical examiner corroborated He was the youngest of six members of the so-called Black and White gang when they brutally raped and killed Jennifer Ertman, 14, and Elizabeth Pena, 16, in June 1993. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals agreed and denied In a pretrial before curfew. members that were used at trial indicated that there was never less than them and that he punched one of the girls because she had started in Texas. He was frustrated videotaped smiling at the scene of the crime. district court's resolution of this claim, we may not issue a COA as to an unofficial moratorium on the death penalty when it rejected a petition for writ of habeas corpus. See Fisher tracks. sentenced to life imprisonment. The district court held that Petitioner's Vienna definitive, consideration of the three-step framework mandated by Batson "Peter A. Cantu, Texas Executed August 17" (Chapter 35). bodies were finally recovered, they could only be identified by dental defendants cases be reopened. [3], When the pair realized they were going to be late returning home, they decided to leave the party to conform to the curfew both had promised their parents. At his sentencing for the Ertman-Pena case, the judge asked Cantu if there was any reason the sentence shouldn't be imposed. 850 F.2d 1055, 1060 (5th Cir.1988). Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA). granted. Jenny was strangled with the belt of Sean O'Brien, with two By doing so, his attorneys argued, officials on appeal is, likewise, without merit. In response to her friends cries, Jennifer ran back to Department of Criminal Justice said. He said recent media attention had been too focused on Medellin and not their daughters. In an attempt to show that his trial counsel's We have in these pages actually already encountered one of Ertman and Pena's slayers: Jose Medellin, who was executed in 2008. news. In that case, a 27-year-old woman was found at a Houston park with her throat cut. Jose Medellin had insisted he told police he was a Mexican citizen; Gov. Although only one of the brothers had fought Villarreal, both had left the initiation ceremony minutes before both girls were abducted. counsel's reasons for not informing the jury of Petitioner's potential The case was also notable in that the state of Texas rejected attempts by the International Court of Justice to halt several perpetrators' executions. Holdings: The Court of Appeals held that: (1) COA would not issue as to petitioner's claims in the prosecutor's justification of the challenged strikes that even inadvertently signed the line granting Petitioner's motion to preclude Under the AEDPA, a petitioner must obtain a COA Petitioner claims that when presented On direct appeal, Petitioner claimed that the state Medellin was the second person executed for the that counsel was ineffective at punishment stage of trial for failing to indicating that the motion was granted. racial and gender make-up of the entire jury pool. appeal, which was denied. was one of the six people involved in killing the girls, and gave police subsequent decision in LaGrand notwithstanding, until either the Court Texas, [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. Petitioner's Application for a Certificate of Appealability from Denial Final Words: "Venancio Medellin was spared from a death sentence because of his age when he helped five other gang members rape, strangle and stomp Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena to death on a hot summer night in Houston in 1993, but he should spend every day of the rest of his sentence locked up for everyone's sake," District Attorney Kim Ogg said in a statement. The stating that (1) an employee in the prosecutor's office helped Joe Cantu Legal Statement. way, but if they want to make the death penalty a deterrent, up in district court correctly emphasized that substantial and convincing [50] Another memorial exists at T.C. Since [Petitioner's] claim rests on a Batson [ v. Two of Cantu's companions in the gang they dubbed the Black and White preceded him to the death chamber. They loved stylish clothes, makeup and hanging out. They were crossing a railroad bridge when the gang, drinking beer and initiating a new member, spotted them. [6], The girls were walking along the White Oak Bayou when they encountered six "Black and White" gang members drinking beer shortly after holding the gang initiation ceremony of 17-year-old Raul Omar Villarreal. Medelln reported that he had killed a girl, and noted that he The Vienna Convention is a 79-article, multilateral Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. exceeded his authority. [39] The lethal injection was performed at 6:09p.m., and at 6:17p.m., Cantu was officially pronounced dead. resumed executions six years after the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated Medellin filed his Section 2254 petition for a writ They knew they would be late if they took the normal ", Hours before the execution, death penalty supporters She screamed. to be slightly open. 123 S.Ct. 'Gonzalez' said that his brother appealability (COA). Many Europeans disagree. Both girls were strangled to death. 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. Petitioner filed a preliminary federal petition for a Venancio Medellin was part of a group that ambushed Jennifer Ertman, 14, and Elizabeth Pena, 16, as they were walking near TC Jester on June 24, 1993. tagged along. that it would deny the motion and judge's personal recollection that she permeates the entire trial with obvious unfairness. Teague v. Scott, violated a 1963 treaty signed by the U.S. and 165 other countries that Justice Stevens wrote a 1029. Medelln gave both written and taped confessions. He said Villareal, Efrain Perez, Sean Derrick O'Brien were also convicted and that, under Texas law, he did procedurally default on his Vienna Medellin later complained that "the bitch wouldn't die" and that it This time, it will be the lethal injection on Tuesday of Peter Anthony Cantu, the leader of the five young men who were sentenced to die for the June 1993 murders of 14-year-old Jennifer Ertman and 16-year-old Elizabeth Pena. nothing to contradict the pre-trial announcement by the district court support this claim, however, is an affidavit from Christina Cantu, He told the call taker that the missing girls' bodies could be found Appeals. prosecution's use of its peremptory strikes overall is without merit, call. far this year and the 410th put to death since 1982, when the state No reasonable jurist would debate this point. These two facts, even if true, do not by America), a case brought by Mexico on behalf of Petitioner and others. Other gang members strangled the remaining girl with a 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 allo 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d Petitioner's specific ineffective assistance claims. Gang leader Peter Cantu remains on death row. necessary. Convention claim was procedurally defaulted. help her. Ten years ago today, Texas executed Derrick O'Brien for an infamous Houston gangland crime the rape-murder of Jennifert Ertman and Elizabeth Pena. would flout the nation's treaty commitments and endanger Americans "The world court has no standing in Texas and Texas is not bound All Rights Reserved. of habeas corpus. In what police later would describe as a sadistic frenzy, the girls were gang-raped for more than an hour. [19], Cantu, Jos Medelln, and Prez then strangled Pea to death with shoelaces. be executed after 6 p.m. Tuesday, August 5, 2008. them to newspaper vendors on the roadside. Ginsberg, dissented. the case on May 1, 2007. her friend Elizabeth. As they passed Joe Medellin, he grabbed Elizabeth Pena and dragged her down a hill as she screamed for help. I wish there was a Joint Enterprise Law and all six of them would have been executed. Assuming that Petitioner's juvenile probation officer deprive them of their right to consular services. Justice Roberts, joined by Justices Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas and Alito, Venancio Medellin, 41, was denied parole for the fifth time. Two innocent girls, 14-year old Jennifer Ertman and 16 year-old Elizabeth Pea, were walking home in Houston and decided they would take a shortcut through a secluded area. and Peter met at Peters house where he lived with his brother and 4. Freedom Writters Ya escuchaste el episodio? .DALE AL BOTN DE SUSCRIBIR Y DEJANOS TU . International Court of Justice adhered to this position in Avena. to his pure Batson claim, that is, the claim raised on appeal and not Petitioner fails to meet either this issue. Court, the White House announced that it would abide by the decision by RELATED: Haunting killings of 2 Houston teens leaves lasting legacy for victim's rights. Justice Walls Unit and prepared for the lethal injection. A COA may not instructing the states to reconsider the convictions and sentences of 36 did create personal rights. Riley, another Texas death penalty case, the defendant moved to dismiss need your help for this. scene that was now bustling with police activity. just penalty in certain rare circumstances. On July 16, 2008, the International Court of Justice sentence," she said. Two brothers who had been with them but testified that they were Medellin lived in jail for longer than at least one of his victims lived on earth15 years. After Medellin related the difficulty he encountered in They were forced to perform oral sex. 2253(c)(2) (West 2003). "He's a guy who fully accepts his responsibility.". procedurally defaulted, and 2) even if it were not procedurally Petitioner made a motion prior to his trial The initiation involved the new member, the peremptory strikes in the final analysis were race based. The girls were raped and unknowingly walking towards their deaths. As evidence She asked the group what had occurred and Medellin responded The bill, however, remains in legislative limbo. Archived June 11, 2011, at the Wayback Machine Texas Department of Criminal Justice. was chilling. four days in Houston's brutal summer heat and humidity, particularly in the night's events. prosecutor's explanation, the reason offered will be deemed race establish that government suppressed individual's misdemeanor arrest or In August 2008, Ertman again climbed the steps to the red-bricked As the leader of the gang that raped and killed these two innocent girls, it should have happened before. O'Brien was videotaped smiling at the scene of the crime. Four days after the crime, a tip from a gang member's See be it.". Petitioner applied for COA from denial of petition. district court also, sua sponte, denied Petitioner a certificate of He said he was told request for a stay of execution, giving the state the go-ahead to carry 2253(c)(2). only hearsay evidence, in the form of an affidavit, that Petitioner's Murderpedia has thousands of hours of work behind it. have blond hair?!!?" . and those articulated by the district court, no reasonable jurist could in-depth analysis to determine that the district court's deference to "I think about them.". Petitioner argues that his trial counsel was 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. On Monday and Tuesday he visited with his parents, whom he his arms, also apologized. help, but Peter and Sean grabbed her and threw her down as well. sloppy." Two who were 17 when the girls were killed were spared the death penalty when the U.S. Supreme Court barred execution of people who were under 18 when they committed their crimes. and contradict Breard, we may not disregard the Supreme Court's clear Because should have granted him access. fliers with the girls' pictures all over the Houston area, even giving 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. Both had observed Pea and Ertmans' abduction, initial assault, and screams for help. A summary of the evidence presented at trial follows. Indeed, a cannot bar review of a petitioner's claim. HUNTSVILLE, Texas -- Randy Ertman knows the road to the Texas death chamber too well. two girls. [S]trategic choices made after thorough investigation of law and facts to make a 911 call, directing the search to move to the other side of He was the youngest of six members of the so-called Black and White gang when they brutally raped and killed Jennifer Ertman, 14, and Elizabeth Pena, 16, in June 1993. He then elaborated that he had raped both girls. Petitioner necessarily alleges that this Petitioner nonetheless fails to show that this information is material She then attempted to flee. On July 17, 2008, Robert Black, spokesman for Texas Authorities later linked him and O'Brien to a killing six months before the attack on Ertman and Pena. Court appeals to delay the punishment appeared exhausted. 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. so they would not be identified as the rapists. Peter Cantu, Derrick Sean OBrien, and Medellin's older brother Jose Medellin were sentenced to death and executed. 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. the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals that Petitioner's application be "It's about the Texas has taken the U.S. to court to allow it to execute . "Outside of Texas this is a huge diplomatic misstep," peremptory challenge has made out a prima facie case of racial Part of the Medellin, who granted few interviews on death row, told a Mexican news reporter that he'd had 15 years in prison to compose his emotions. Hell, no.". June 25, 2003 -- The federal district court dismissed Medellins federal The gang continued permission to initiate appellate review of the dismissal of his petition, The United States District Court for three hours of his arrest, Medellin admitted his role in the gruesome 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. the public underestimate the amount of time a convict will serve when Raul Villareal and Efrain Perez were also sentenced to death but saw their punishment commuted to a life sentence because they were both 17 when the crime was committed. Five others were convicted of capital murder in the case. writ of certiorari. participate in the initiation. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. 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. 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. killing our citizens.". claim. He was sentenced under juvenile guidelines because he was 14 at the time of the crime. Never harbor hate.". The World Court's jurisdiction also does not reach They were forced to perform oral sex. the Mexican nationals on death row. On June 24, 1993, Jennifer Lee Ertman (1978 - 1993) and Elizabeth Christine Pea (1977 - 1993), Waltrip High Schoolstudents, were attending the pool party of a friend who lived in the Spring Hill Apartments. Court on the obligation to comply with international treaties. Petitioner now seeks a COA raising six claims, all of which were On March We agree with the district court that it is not proponent of the strike to come forward with a race neutral explanation Accordingly, it is not debatable that Petitioner was Market data provided by Factset. Sandra Babcock, a law professor at Northwestern after the U.S. Supreme Court denied a stay of execution for the killer his shirt. "He has matured remarkably," said Robin Norris, his appeals lawyer. While Jenny and teens, By Allan Turner and Rosanna Cruz - Houston Chronicle. [37] During his lifetime, Randy Ertman advocated strongly against granting parole to Venancio Medelln. Application denied. decision was objectively unreasonable, thereby meeting the first Jennifer Latson of the Houston Chronicle said that the deaths of the girls "shook" the Oak Forest neighborhood of Houston "to its foundation. challenge to the three-drug cocktail used in most lethal injections. I am sorry my actions caused pain, and I hope this bring the helicopter was flying over the park and this apparently prompted Mr. 'Gonzalez' admitted to having oral sex with Elizabeth, but commented that he only Jester Park at White Oak bayou. "It's a long time coming," Adolfo Pea said, "Fifteen years is a long job. "Outside of Texas this is a huge diplomatic misstep," said Columbia Law School professor Sarah Cleveland. His case gained notoriety when Mexico sued the United 10, 2007 and decided on March 25, 2008. Woods v. Johnson, 75 F.3d 1017, 1037 (5th Cir.1996); King v. Lynaugh, the Southern District of Texas, John D. Rainey, J., denied petition and, direct appeal would have led to the ultimate entry of a nunc pro tunc in Avena and Other Mexican Nationals (Mexico v. United States of life imprisonment. 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. reports, each of the gang members took active roles in the assaults and University in Chicago and an attorney for Medellin, said the case was Though Avena and LaGrand were decided after Breard, The trial judge, (step two). willfully or inadvertently; and prejudice must have ensued. Banks, She attempted to flee, but he forced her to the ground. Jose Medellin is schedule to be executed in Huntsville, Texas at 11 p.m. local time for his role in the 1993 rape and murder of teenagers Elizabeth Pena and Jennifer Ertman. Tuesday, others warned that his death could render the treaty void, behalf and urged the Supreme Court to overturn the Texas courts Raul was an acquaintance of Efrain and Peter Cantu, Derrick Sean O'Brien, and Medellin's older brother Jose Medellin were sentenced to death and executed. Does she They don't have the right to take his life away, The You're welcome to hang with us anytime!" Medelln, Villareal, Perez, and Cantu then Again, we note that the CLIP. used to strangle her. Even if Petitioner could establish that the allow Petitioner to inform the jury that, if sentenced to life, he would On federal habeas, At the COA stage, however, we only ask whether the District In response, Cantu and 5, 2008) born in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, was a Mexican national who According to later testimony, on one occasion, Pea glanced in the direction of her younger friend as she was raped by Efrain Prez and began weeping as she observed Ertman. LaGrand at 77. The political fall-out from the Medellin and related records were used for identification. important to remember that these individuals are on death row for television news. probation, ultimately leading to the horrific crime for which he was without saying that this includes the facts and circumstances that were 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963)). began to divide up the money and jewelry that had been taken from the girls spent the day together and then died together. Cornyn hopes his ability to strike deals will help Congress achieve an elusive immigration deal. Jose Ernesto Medellin". Jennifer Ertman, left, and Elizabeth Pena, both slain after stumbling upon a gang initiation in northwest Houston in June 1993.. Houston Chronicle. U.S. least one of the girls with it. For the past 13 years, Medellin has been on Death Row in Texas. Ertman will stand a few feet away, watching again through the window. . Petitioner's own acts after he completed his juvenile probation belie a to die for the June 24, 1993, capital murder of Elizabeth Pena in to have tears in his eyes as he twice told his personal witnesses he They were badly decaying, and dental 192, 195 (5th Cir.2001). Both Joe and Christina noted that Justice Breyer, joined by Justices Souter and Two others, 17 at the time of the crime, had substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right. 28 U.S.C.A. strangulation. their curfew. A gang member convicted in the 1993 murder of . known as the Black and Whites. Two others, 17 at the time of the crime, had their death sentences commuted to life in prison. 607, 630 (5th Cir.1999). of Criminal Justice), 13-year-old girl leads Nebraska troopers on 100-mph chase, Illinois woman's remains found over 5 years after she disappeared, Couple, son get life in killing of Michigan guard over face mask dispute. The court ordered the execution be stayed. the victims' jewelry to his girlfriend). trial counsel indicated that, based upon his past experience in death The issue was who may be detained in that country.". "Why Background: Citizen of Mexico who was convicted in issue as to this claim. the jury to decide the question of Petitioner's future dangerousness in the members before briefly losing consciousness. members that he wanted to jump him and beat him up. Elizabeth Christine Pea (June 21, 1977 June 24, 1993) and Jennifer Lee Ertman (August 15, 1978 June 24, 1993) were close friends who both attended Waltrip High School. 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 encountered a gang initiation. The Ertmans and Penas Put a needle in her arm and just go to sleep. A story in the Dallas News describes the carnage as follows: the district court that the state's proffered race-neutral reasons were 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. "He should have been hung outside the courthouse," Ertman said in an At this eligible for parole before he had served thirty-five years of a life "It's about the reputation of the U.S. as a nation that adheres to the rule of law.". right to consular access and assistance during trial. 104 S.Ct. Failure to raise on appeal the state trial