A decade after Ruben Cantu was executed for capital murder, the only witness to the crime is recanting and his co-defendant says Cantu, then 17, was not even with him that night.
That witness, Juan Moreno, told the Houston Chronicle for its Sunday editions that Cantu was not the killer. Moreno said he identified him at the 1985 trial because he felt pressured and feared authorities.
Cantu, who had maintained his innocence, was executed on Aug. 24, 1993, at age 26. "Texas murdered an innocent person," co-defendant David Garza said.
Sam D. Millsap Jr., the district attorney who handled the case, said he never should have sought the death penalty in a case based on testimony from a witness who identified a suspect only after police showed him a photo three times.
I agree that the DP has killed innocents, but this example is a pretty weak one...shuamort said:Witness Clears Man Executed In Texas for 1985 Slaying
So, this is bad. Who's still for the death penalty when hearing that innocent people are executed?
Garza, currently serving a prison term at the Stiles Unit in Beaumont for an unrelated burglary, argues that his attempt to clear Cantu's name comes from a conscience long troubled by the betrayal of a best friend. Not once — from the murder trial to the day Cantu was executed — did Garza ever disclose who was with him inside the house on the night of the killing.
Even if Garza is lying, the Chronicle found other problems with Cantu's conviction, a case that was built almost entirely on the account of a lone eyewitness.
That eyewitness, Juan Moreno, was a 19-year-old illegal immigrant when, along with his friend, he was shot at least nine times during the Briggs Street robbery. Moreno survived; his friend did not.
Now, Moreno, the accuser and key witness, has joined Garza, the accused accomplice, in telling the Chronicle that Cantu was never at the murder scene.
"They put the blame on the wrong person," Moreno said. Cantu "was innocent. I am sure."
Both men insist they have no reason to lie.
shuamort said:Witness Clears Man Executed In Texas for 1985 Slaying
So, this is bad. Who's still for the death penalty when hearing that innocent people are executed?
Newspaper probe points to wrongful Texas execution Tue Nov 22, 3:51 PM ET
HOUSTON (Reuters) - A Texas man executed in 1993 for a robbery-murder was probably wrongfully convicted, according to a prosecutor, the jury forewoman, an alibi witness and even a victim, the Houston Chronicle said on Tuesday.
"Ruben Cantu had nothing to do with the murder, attempted murder and robbery of the two men ... I should know," a friend and fellow gang member, David Garza, told the newspaper.
Cantu, only 17 when the crime took place, was convicted of murdering Pedro Gomez during a 1984 robbery largely on the testimony of a single eyewitness, Juan Moreno. Moreno, then 19, an illegal immigrant wounded during the robbery, now says he is positive Cantu was not at the scene.
Moreno twice failed to identify Cantu to police, but did so when they asked him a third time, the Chronicle said. Cantu was put to death by lethal injection in 1993, when he was 26.
"(Police) told me they were certain it was him, and that's why I testified," Moreno told the newspaper. "That was bad to blame someone that was not there."
"We did the best we could with the information we had, but with a little extra work, a little extra effort, maybe we'd have gotten the right information," she told the newspaper. "The bottom line is an innocent person was put to death for it. We all have our finger in that."
We have a system that permits people to be convicted based on evidence that could be wrong because it's mistaken or it's corrupt," Millsap, now in private practice, told the Chronicle.
The Bexar County District Attorney's Office, which prosecuted, did not return a call from Reuters on Tuesday.
cnredd said:[Moderator mode]
Merged the thread "A Wrongful Execution in Texas" into this one...same topic...
[/Moderator mode]
shuamort said:Witness Clears Man Executed In Texas for 1985 Slaying
So, this is bad. Who's still for the death penalty when hearing that innocent people are executed?
TimmyBoy said:Thanks man, didn't realize their was already a thread on this topic.
cnredd said:Look before you leap!...:2wave:
Your talking to the wrong guy for that...TimmyBoy said:Yeah, I'll be sure to do that next time. Sometimes I get caught up between writing code and posting on the forum.
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