The Houston Chronicle reported Tuesday that Ruben Cantu was wrongfully executed in 1993 for the murder of Pedro Gomez. A prosecutor, the jury forewoman, an alibi witness and even a victim told the Chronicle that Cantu was the wrong man.
Miriam Ward, forewoman of the jury that sent Cantu to his fate, said the entire process failed.
"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." [Yahoo]
Cantu was convicted based on the testimony of a single eye-witness who twice failed to identify him and who was later pressured by police into fingering him on the third try. Subsequently, Cantu's friend David Garza confessed to committing the robbery that culminated in Gomez' murder. Cantu wasn't even there, he said in a sworn statement obtained by the Chronicle.
[Hat tip to Grits for Breakfast.]
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