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Thread: Jose Ernesto Medellin - Texas Execution - August 5, 2008

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    Jose Ernesto Medellin - Texas Execution - August 5, 2008


    Elizabeth Pena and Jennifer Ertman




    Facts of the Crime: Convicted and sentenced to death in the June 24, 1993 rape-murders of 14-year-old Jennifer Ertman and 16-year-old Elizabeth Pena.

    Medellin, a Mexican national who spent most of his life in the United States, was condemned for the June 1993 murders of Jennifer Ertman, 14, and Elizabeth Peņa, 16. After they had stumbled into a drunken gang initiation rite while cutting through the park to get home before their curfew, the girls were repeatedly gang raped for an hour, then strangled with a belt and shoelace. Four days after the crime, a tip from a gang member's brother led authorities to the bodies, then to the suspects. Within three hours of his arrest, Medellin admitted his role in the gruesome murders, appalling authorities with his boastful, callous description of the night's events.

    Four of the other assailants were also convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. Derrick Sean O'Brien was executed on July 11, 2006. Peter Anthony Cantu was executed on August 17, 2010. Raul Omar Villareal and Efrain Perez were sentenced to death, but following the U.S. Supreme Court's 2005 ruling that executing criminals who were not yet 18 at the time of their crimes is unconstitutional, their sentences were commuted to life. Venancio Medellin, who was 14 at the time, was convicted of aggravated sexual assault and sentenced to 40 years in prison.

    Victims: Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena

    Time of Death: 9:57 pm

    Manner of Execution: Lethal Injection

    Last Meal: None

    Final Words: "I am sorry my actions caused pain. I hope this brings closure to what you seek. Don't ever hate them for what they do. Never harbor hate. I love you. Alright Warden."

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    August 5, 2008

    Court decision sends Medellin to death

    After a lengthy wait for a U.S. Supreme Court decision Tuesday night, 33-year-old Jose Medellin was executed for his part in the 1993 gang-rape and murder of two teenage girls.

    The lethal injection began flowing at 9:48 p.m., and Medellin was pronounced dead at 9:57 p.m.

    Medellin’s execution was scheduled to take place at 6 p.m. Tuesday, but at that point, the Supreme Court had not yet released its ruling on an appeal filed by Medellin’s attorneys days before.

    At approximately 9:20 p.m., a split decision by the court was released indicating that the court had dismissed the attorneys’ request for a stay of execution, giving the state the go-ahead to carry out the lethal injection.

    Without any further appeals pending, Medellin was taken from his holding cell in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Walls Unit and prepared for the lethal injection.

    According to Michelle Lyons, TDCJ public information officer, Medellin was apologetic in his last statement, addressing the families of his victims and saying “I love you” to his personal witnesses.

    “I am sorry my actions caused pain, and I hope this bring the closure you seek,” Medellin said Tuesday night at approximately 9:48 p.m. “Never harbor hate — I love you.”

    While making his final statement, Medellin appeared to have tears in his eyes as he twice told his personal witnesses he loved them.

    As the lethal solution took effect, Medellin’s eyes appeared to be slightly open.

    Medellin’s case gained international attention when Mexican officials complained that its nationals on death row — of which Medellin was only one of approximately 50 — were not informed of their right to consular access and assistance during trial.

    That alleged denial, Mexico claimed, was a violation of rights guaranteed in the Vienna Convention.

    Following the execution, Medellin’s attorney Sandra Babcock made a statement to the multitude of local and international media who had gathered outside of the Walls Unit.

    “In a situation like this, it’s hard to talk about what’s next,” Babcock said. “Now, more than ever, it is important to think not only about the fate of one Mexican (national), but about the safety of Americans who travel abroad to strange lands.

    “It is now imperative that Congress act to restore the country’s reputation.”

    Medellin was originally sentenced to death after he and five others gang-raped and murdered 16-year-old Elizabeth Pena and 14-year-old Jennifer Ertman in Houston.

    The girls walked past Medellin and five other gang members during a gang initiation, and according to reports, each of the gang members took active roles in the assaults and murders of both girls.

    Medellin was 18 years old at the time of the murders.

    Pena’s father, Adolfo Pena, spoke briefly following the execution to express his gratitude to Gov. Rick Perry.

    “We feel relieved — 15 years is a long time to get justice for Jennifer and Elizabeth,” he said. “We’re just looking forward every day to that last execution.”

    However, he and the other victim witnesses would not speak to any of the Hispanic media present.

    Pena specifically said to one reporter, “I don’t have anything to say to you, sir.”

    http://itemonline.com/local/x2125492...ellin-to-death

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    Randy Ertman is restrained Tuesday, Oct. 11, 1994, in Houston outside the courtroom where he addressed three of the five gang members convicted of killing his daughter and her friend. All five gang members were sentenced to death for the July 1993 slayings of his 14-year-old daughter, Jennifer, and Elizabeth Pena, 16.


    Randy Ertman, father of slain teen, has died

    Randy Ertman, whose daughter and a friend were raped and killed by gang members, has died of lung cancer.

    The 61-year-old died Monday, said Andy Kahan, a Houston crime victims advocate.

    Ertman's daughter Jennifer, 14, and her friend, 16-year-old Elizabeth Pena, were attacked June 24, 1993, by gang members as they walked home along White Oak Bayou. The girls were Waltrip High School students.

    Six gang members were charged in their deaths, which shocked the city.

    One of them, Peter Cantu, was tried in 1994. A major precedent was set at the end of his trial, when state District Judge Bill Harmon allowed Ertman to address the convicted murderer.

    Among his blistering comments, Ertman shouted at him, "You're not even an animal." It shocked many onlookers and outraged a few. Harmon was criticized by fellow judges and newspaper editorials for allowing the display.

    In 2008, when convicted murderer Jose Medellin, a Mexican national, was facing execution, Ertman said he didn't care about international opposition.

    "It's just a last-ditch effort to keep the scumbag breathing," Ertman said. "He never should have been breathing in the first place."

    Another change that resulted from the Ertman-Pena case was the decision to allow victims' relatives to witness executions.

    After Cantu's trial, Ertman asked to witness his execution but was told it was not allowed. Over the years, he lobbied for the right, along with Pena's parents, Kahan and the group Justice for All.

    Eventually, the Texas Board of Criminal Justice voted to change the policy.

    http://www.chron.com/houston/article...d-5698339.php?

  4. #4
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    Thank God we have the death penalty to thwart thugs like Medellin, and God Bless Our GREAT State of Texas for having the guts to enforce it.

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