1993: Ruben Cantu, an innocent child?
August 24th, 2008 Headsman
On this date in 1993, Texas gave a lethal injection to a young man for murder — a crime many involved in the case no longer believe he committed, since the sole witness against him has recanted.
Ruben Cantu was only 17 years old at the time of the crime, and for that reason would not be eligible for execution today. But according to a Houston Chronicle investigation (the story is also mirrored here) 12 years after his death, he shouldn’t have been eligible then because he didn’t do it. But Cantu himself may have kept a street code of silence to his death.
Lise Olsen — interviewed by NPR here — blew up the case; Cantu’s jury forewoman and the district attorney who tried him for his life are among those who have publicly regretted their roles in what has emerged one of the most compelling cases of an executed innocent in the modern American death penalty era. Nobody could possibly have predicted that pitiable public defender resources and an extremely aggressive capital punishment regime could result in such a thing.
The subsequent (and still current) Bexar County District Attorney checked it out (threatening to prosecute the recanting witness) and declared everything proper. So don’t worry about it. What could she possibly have to gain from a whitewash?
Also On This Date
Possibly Related Executions
- 1992: Billy Wayne White, after 47 minutes
- 1993: Leonel Herrera, perilously close to simple murder?
- 2007: Michael Richard, whose time ran out
Entry Filed under: 20th Century, Capital Punishment, Children, Common Criminals, Crime, Death Penalty, Disfavored Minorities, Execution, Lethal Injection, Murder, Posthumous Exonerations, Racial and Ethnic Minorities, Texas, USA, Wrongful Executions
Tags: 1993, august 24, bexar county, innocence, ruben cantu
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5 Comments Add your own
1. George | August 24th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Aren’t you letting your personal bias against capital punishment show a bit here? Street gang members are like the terrorists and Al Qaida, they lie to mess with the system, and aren’t very credible witnesses.
2. George 2 | August 24th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
If they aren’t very credible witnesses, perhaps they should not be relied upon as the sole reason to sentence someone to death. I think that’s the lesson here.
3. Leonardo Ricardo | August 25th, 2008 at 12:02 am
Oh, I guess that’s when George W Bush was Governor…
4. ExecutedToday.com »&hellip | September 25th, 2009 at 2:02 am
[...] it caught worldwide attention as an illustration of Texas’s cavalier approach to its numerous death penalty [...]
5. mfernandez | September 26th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
How old and how misinformed is this person? and I quote:”Aren’t you letting your personal bias against capital punishment show a bit here? Street gang members are like the terrorists and Al Qaida, they lie to mess with the system, and aren’t very credible witnesses.”
God help us. Ignorance in America is rampant.
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