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Thread: Junius Cass Burno - Pennsylvania Death Row

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    Junius Cass Burno - Pennsylvania Death Row


    Junius Burno


    Summary of Offense:

    Burno was sentenced to death in Lehigh County on March 6, 2007 for the deaths of Carlos Juarbe, 45, of South Fourth Street in Allentown, and Oscar Rosado III, 35, of the 1500 block of East Seventh Street in Bethlehem. His co-defendent, Terrance Bethea, was sentenced to two life sentences. Prosecutors said the two men intended to rob Juarbe, but it turned into a shootout with Juarbe hitting Bethea in the leg and Bethea firing back numerous shots. Prosecutors said Burno finished off Juarbe then shot Rosado once in the head.

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    Senior Member CnCP Legend JLR's Avatar
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    November 18, 2009

    Junius Burno, sentenced to death in Allentown double homicide, gets new trial


    A Carbon County man sentenced to death in the April 2003 shooting deaths of an Allentown nightclub disc jockey and his cousin, who was from Bethlehem, will get a new trial.

    Lehigh County Judge Edward Reibman says former prosecutor Maria Dantos “overreached” when she told jurors that Junius Burno, 42, of Lansford, Pa., was not a “good family man” and had committed “bad acts” in the past.

    Burno was sentenced to death in March 2007 for the deaths of Carlos Juarbe, 45, of South Fourth Street in Allentown, and Oscar Rosado III, 35, of the 1500 block of East Seventh Street in Bethlehem. His co-defendent, Terrance Bethea, was sentenced to two life sentences.

    Prosecutors said the two men intended to rob Juarbe, but it turned into a shootout with Juarbe hitting Bethea in the leg and Bethea firing back numerous shots. Prosecutors said Burno finished off Juarbe then shot Rosado once in the head.

    Reibman, who presided over the trial, says jurors were left to infer that Burno “was a bad man and acted ‘in conformity’ with his previous misdeeds.” At his sentencing, Burno and his wife pleaded for his life to be spared. But Dantos told the jury to remember Burno's crime.

    "You're not sentencing his children. He's taken care of that," she said at the time. "You do not sentence his wife. You sentence him to the acts you find he committed, those two murders."

    The prosecution also asked jurors to consider two other aggravating factors -- that the murders were committed in the course of carrying out another felony and that Burno had a significant history of criminal convictions involving violence or the threat of violence.

    Burno claimed that he never entered the apartment the night Juarbe and Rosado were killed. But when he was sentenced, Reibman did not buy his story.

    "This whole episode is a result of failure on the part of you, Mr. Burno," he told him. "Two people are dead and you're going to be sentenced to death."

    Dantos, now a Lehigh County judge, declined comment until the appeal is resolved. Prosecutors say they plan to appeal to the state Supreme Court.

    http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/alle...d_to_deat.html

  3. #3
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    Burno is still listed as being on Pennsylvania's death row.

    http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal...tion_list1_pdf

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    COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA v JUNIUS BURNO

    OPINION DATE: June 16, 2014

    COURT: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

    The Commonwealth filed a criminal complaint charging appellee Junius Burno with, inter alia, two counts of criminal homicide. A jury found him guilty on two counts of first-degree murder. The jury found one aggravating circumstance and the mitigation catchall, and determined that the aggravating circumstance outweighed the mitigating, thus sentencing appellee to death. The Commonwealth appealed the trial court’s order granting appellee a new trial based on his trial counsel’s alleged ineffective representation in failing to object to remarks made by the prosecutor during her closing argument to the jury. Appellee filed a cross-appeal claiming the trial court erred in refusing to grant him relief on numerous remaining issues, which he raised in post-sentence motions. Upon review of the trial court record, the Supreme Court reversed the trial court’s order granting Burno’s motion for a new trial, remanded for the resolution of any pending preserved claims related to trial court error raised in appellee's post-sentence motion, and dismissed his claims of ineffective assistance of trial counsel without prejudice to his right to pursue those collateral claims under the PCRA.
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    In today's orders, the United States Supreme Court declined to review Burno's petition for certiorari.

    Lower Ct: Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, Eastern District
    Case Nos.: (599 CAP, 46 EAP 2009)
    Decision Date: June 16, 2014
    Rehearing Denied: August 6, 2014
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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  6. #6
    wandy love
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    The time is going so slow. Cannot wait for Mr Bruno's big day. All is not forgotten and GOD knows what you have done. You have no idea how many lives you have tormented the day that you decide to murder my brother. I try to find it in my heart to forgive you but cannot find myself to do so. He has 3 beautiful grandchildren today that he would have adored. I know you have a lot of time to think about all the wrong you have done with your life, I hope every night when you go to sleep you see my brother's face in your face as you go to sleep.

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    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    On November 23, 2015, Burno filed a habeas petition in Federal District Court.

    https://dockets.justia.com/docket/pe...cv06307/511578

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    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    On December 20, 2016, Burno filed an appeal before the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

    https://dockets.justia.com/docket/ci...ts/ca3/16-9001

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    Pennsylvania v. Burno

    Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

    Opinion Date: February 22, 2017

    In 2007, Junius Burno was convicted on two counts of first-degree murder for which he was sentenced to death. In this direct appeal, Burno challenged the admissibility of his confession to the murders, the sufficiency of the evidence, the alleged denial of his right to a speedy trial, and the admissibility of certain evidence establishing an aggravating factor for purposes of the death penalty. The Supreme Court rejected all but one of these challenges on the merits. The Court found merit to Burno’s argument that one of his statements to police was inadmissible because it was obtained during the course of plea negotiations. However, the Court ultimately concluded that the erroneous admission of this statement at trial was harmless. Consequently, the Court affirmed Burno’s death sentence.
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

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    Death warrant signed in Allentown double homicide

    By Tom Rhodin
    lehighvalleylive.com

    A death warrant was signed Wednesday for a former Carbon County man who killed two men in 2003 in Allentown, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections announced.

    Junius Burno, now 49, is locked up in Greene State Correctional Institution in Waynesburg. On April 13, 2003, he killed Carlos Juarbe, 45, of South Fourth Street in Allentown, and Oscar Rosado III, 35, of the 1500 block of East Seventh Street in Bethlehem, in the 2600 block of South Fourth Street in the Queen City.

    Burno, formerly of Lansford, and Terrance Bethea, now 54, intended to rob the pair, but a shootout ensued with Juarbe hitting Bethea in the leg, authorities said at the time. Burno then "finished off" Juarbe and shot Rosdao once in the head, prosecutors said.

    Burno was found guilty in March 2007 and sentenced to death.

    A jury deadlocked on a death sentence after Bethea was found guilty in November 2004 of two counts of homicide. County Judge Edward Reibman sentenced Bethea to two life terms and Bethea remains in the state prison in Coal Township, records show.

    Reibman had granted Burno a new trial in 2009 due to comments made in court by a prosecutor, but was overruled in June 2014 by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

    Department of Corrections Secretary John Wetzel signed the Notice of Executive after Gov. Tom Wolf declined to do so in the specified time period, the department said. The secretary had 30 days to sign the document once the governor doesn't, the department said in a news release.

    A moratorium remains in place on carrying out the death penalty in Pennsylvania so it can be further studied. Wolf has said if a court doesn't stay the execution, he will offer a reprieve, which he has done in other cases, the department said.

    http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/lehi...in_allent.html
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