In a copyright story, the Houston Chronicle has demonstrated beyond a reasonable doubt that
Texas executed an innocent man in 1993.
The man's name was Ruben Cantu, tried and convicted based on the eyewitness testimony of a person who survived the shooting. The sleaze of this case involves not simply Texas' uniquely institutionalized fascism, a criminal justice system where everyone lies on behalf of prosecutors, particularly if the defendant is a person of color, but coercion by prosecutors of their star witness based on his status as an undocumented alien.
This story is important not simply because it demonstrates how Texas does not have the integrity to administer capital punishment, but because it reminds us, once again, that Texas is an uncivilized place unworthy of a star on our nation's flag. Major props to Lise Olsen for having courage and reminding us there are good Texans among the vile rabble.
Excerpts:
THE CANTU CASE: DEATH AND DOUBT
Did Texas Execute an innocent man?
Eyewitness says he felt influenced by police to ID the teen as the killer
By LISE OLSEN
Copyright 2005, Houston Chronicle
Texas executed its fifth teenage offender at 22 minutes after midnight on Aug. 24, 1993, after his last request for bubble gum had been refused and his final claim of innocence had been forever silenced.
Ruben Cantu, 17 at the time of his crime, had no previous convictions, but a San Antonio prosecutor had branded him a violent thief, gang member and murderer who ruthlessly shot one victim nine times with a rifle before emptying at least nine more rounds into the only eyewitness -- a man who barely survived to testify.
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A dozen years after his execution, a Houston Chronicle investigation suggests that Cantu, a former special-ed student who grew up in a tough neighborhood on the south side of San Antonio, was likely telling the truth.
Cantu's long-silent co-defendant, David Garza, just 15 when the two boys allegedly committed a murder-robbery together, has signed a sworn affidavit saying he allowed his friend to be falsely accused, though Cantu wasn't with him the night of the killing.
And the lone eyewitness, the man who survived the shooting, has recanted. He told the Chronicle he's sure that the person who shot him was not Cantu, but he felt pressured by police to identify the boy as the killer. Juan Moreno, an illegal immigrant at the time of the shooting, said his damning in-court identification was based on his fear of authorities and police interest in Cantu.
Cantu "was innocent. It was a case of an innocent person being killed," Moreno said.
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Second thoughts
Presented with these statements, as well as information from hundreds of pages of court and police documents gathered by the Chronicle that cast doubt on the case, key players in Cantu's death -- including the judge, prosecutor, head juror and defense attorney -- now acknowledge that his conviction seems to have been built on omissions and lies.
"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," said Miriam Ward, forewoman of the jury that convicted Cantu. "The bottom line is, an innocent person was put to death for it. We all have our finger in that."
Sam Millsap Jr., the former Bexar County district attorney who made the decision to charge Cantu with capital murder, says he never should have sought the death penalty in a case based on the testimony of an eyewitness who identified Cantu only after police officers showed him Cantu's photo three separate times.
"It's so questionable. There are so many places where it could break down," said Millsap, now in private practice. "We have a system that permits people to be convicted based on evidence that could be wrong because it's mistaken or because it's corrupt."
No physical evidence
The Chronicle found other problems with Cantu's case as well. Police reports have unexplained omissions and irregularities. Witnesses who could have provided an alibi for Cantu that night were never interviewed. And no physical evidence -- not even a fingerprint or a bullet -- tied Cantu to the crime.
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After the Chronicle showed her new statements about the Cantu case, jury forewoman Ward, who still lives in the suburbs of San Antonio, said she also is disturbed by her part in his fate: "When the pieces come together in the wrong way, disaster happens. That's not the way our legal system is supposed to work. Ruben Cantu deserved better."
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