On this date, August 5, 2008, Jose Ernesto Medellin was the second
of the three convicted killers of Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena on June 24,
1993 to be executed by lethal injection in Texas. Sean O’Brien was the first
one. I wish there was a Joint Enterprise Law and all six of them would
have been executed. Please go to the VFFDP Blog to learn more about the
murders.
I will post the information about this Mexican Gangster from Wikipedia.
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José Ernesto
Medellín
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José Ernesto Medellín (March 4, 1975 – August 5, 2008), born in Nuevo Laredo,
Tamaulipas, was a Mexican national who was executed for the murder of Jennifer
Ertman and Elizabeth Peña in Texas in the United States.
Medellín
was convicted of raping and killing 16-year-old Elizabeth Peña and 14-year-old Jennifer
Ertman in June, 1993.
His
case gained notoriety when Mexico sued the United States in the International
Court of Justice (ICJ) on behalf of 51 Mexican nationals asserting that, in
these cases, the US had violated the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations,
which requires that local authorities inform foreign nationals being held on
criminal charges of their right to consult with their country’s diplomats. That
court ruled that the United States was obliged to have the defendants’ cases
reopened and reconsidered. The Supreme Court of the United States agreed to
hear the case on May 1, 2007.
The
Bush administration briefed the Supreme Court on the obligation to comply with
international treaties. On March 25, 2008 in Medellín v. Texas, the US Supreme
Court rejected the Bush administration's arguments and cleared the way for Texas
to execute the sentence. The ICJ subsequently ruled that the United States had
violated its treaty obligations.
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José Ernesto
Medellín
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Rape
and murder
On
June 24, 1993, Medellín carried out a gang initiation in a park in Houston,
Texas, along with five others: Peter Cantu, Ramon Sandoval, Efrain Perez, Raul
Villareal and Derrick O'Brien. Two others, Frank Sandoval and Venancio
Medellín, were present but did not participate in the initiation. The
initiation involved the new member, Raul Villareal, submitting to beatings from
the others. After this, the gang members remained in the park, drinking beer.
Two
girls who had attended a birthday party, 14-year-old Jennifer Ertman and
16-year-old Elizabeth Pena, took a shortcut through the park to get home before
an 11:30 p.m. curfew. They encountered the gang, and Medellín began talking to
Pena and then grabbed her. She attempted to flee, but he forced her to the
ground. When Pena cried for help, Ertman ran back to aid her. In response,
Cantu and O'Brien pushed her to the ground as well. Ramon and Frank Sandoval
chose to leave at that point.
The
remainder of the gang, as well as Venancio Medellín, took turns anally, orally
and vaginally raping the two girls. Afterwards, they were beaten, then the gang
decided to murder the girls so they would not be identified as the rapists.
Medellín killed one of the girls by using her shoelaces to strangle her, then
crushing her neck with his foot. Other gang members strangled the other girl
with a nylon belt, until the belt snapped.
Medellín,
Villareal, Perez, and Cantu then gathered at Cantu's home, where he lived with
his brother, Joe Cantu, and sister-in-law, Christina Cantu. Christina Cantu
questioned why Villareal was bleeding and Perez had a bloody shirt. This
prompted Medellín to say the gang "had fun", and that details would
appear on the news. He then elaborated that he had raped both girls. Peter
Cantu then returned, and divided valuables that had been stolen from the girls.
Medellín got a ring with an "E", so he could give it to his
girlfriend, Esther. Medellín reported that he had killed a girl, and noted that
he would have found it easier with a gun. Derrick Sean O'Brien was videotaped
smiling at the scene of the crime. After the gang left, Christina Cantu
convinced Joe Cantu to report the crime to police. Four days after the crime,
the bodies were found in the park. They were badly decaying, and dental records
were used for identification. The medical examiner corroborated the cause of
death as strangulation. All those believed responsible were ultimately
arrested. Medellín gave both a written and taped confession.
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José Ernesto
Medellín
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Case
history
In
the International Court of Justice, Mexico sued the United States on behalf of
Mexican citizens who had been sentenced to death without having their national
consulate notified. The court ruled that the United States acted in error and
required that the defendants’ cases be reopened.
Initially,
the US government described Mexico’s suit as “an unjustified, unwise and
ultimately unacceptable intrusion in the United States criminal justice
system.” Reversing that position in early 2005, with Medellín’s death-penalty
appeal pending before the Supreme Court, the White House announced that it
would abide by the decision by instructing the states to reconsider the
convictions and sentences of the Mexican nationals on death row. The Supreme
Court then dismissed Medellín’s case to enable the Texas courts to comply with
that directive.
The
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals refused to change their rules barring
reconsideration of such cases. In that decision, one of the court’s judges
accused the White House of an “unprecedented, unnecessary and intrusive
exercise of power over the Texas court system”. In response, the Bush
administration entered the case on Medellín’s behalf and urged the Supreme
Court to overturn the Texas court’s decision. The case, Medellín v. Texas, No. 06-984, was argued on
October 10, 2007 and decided on March 25, 2008. The US government’s brief,
filed by Solicitor General Paul D. Clement, told the justices that the Texas
court’s decision, if not reversed, “will place the United States in breach of
its international law obligation” to comply with the International Court of
Justice’s decision and would “frustrate the president’s judgment that foreign
policy interests are best served by giving effect to that decision.” Chief Justice
Roberts, joined by Justices Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas and Alito, rejected the
Bush administration's arguments. Justice Stevens wrote a concurring opinion.
Justice Breyer, joined by Justices Souter and Ginsburg, dissented.
On
July 16, 2008, the International Court of Justice asked for a stay of execution
on behalf of Medellin and four other Mexican nationals who they believe did not
receive a fair trial.
On
July 17, 2008, Robert Black, spokesman for Texas Governor Rick Perry, said the
state would continue with the scheduled August 5 execution despite the
International Court of Justice order for a stay. "The world court has no
standing in Texas and Texas is not bound by a ruling or edict from a foreign
court. It is easy to get caught up in discussions of international law and
justice and treaties. It's very important to remember that these individuals
are on death row for killing our citizens."
Execution
Medellín
was executed at 9:57 p.m. Central time on August 5, 2008, after a three-hour
delay while the Supreme Court heard a late appeal, which was denied.
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