Junius Burno was sentenced to death by the State of Pennsylvania for the murders of two men
According to court documents Junius Burno planned to rob the two men however when the two men resisted the robbery they would both be shot and killed
Junius Burno would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
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Junius Burno is incarcerated at SCI Phoenix
Junius Burno Case
On April 13, 2003, two men entered an apartment in Allentown, Pennsylvania and proceeded to shoot and kill Carlos Juarbe and Oscar Rosado. The investigation that followed eventually led the Allentown Police to arrest Terrance Bethea for the murders. Soon thereafter, Bethea implicated Burno in the shootings. On September 12, 2003, Burno surrendered to the police and was arrested. Burno elected not to speak with the police about the murders without counsel. Burno then retained the services of Glennis Clark, Esquire. In the weeks that followed, Burno provided the police with multiple inculpatory statements regarding the murders.
Attorney Clark arranged a September 24, 2003 meeting with the police and assistant district attorney (“ADA”) Maria Dantos. On that date, Burno and Attorney Clark met with Detective Wayne Simock, Detective John Miller, and ADA Dantos in the law library of the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office. At the inception of the meeting, Detective Simock and ADA Dantos detailed the rules applicable to Burno’s cooperation. Specifically, ADA Dantos explained to Attorney Clark and to Burno that Burno was required to tell the truth about what had happened on April 13, 2003, and would need to testify against Bethea at Bethea’s preliminary hearing and trial. In exchange, ADA Dantos promised that she would not seek the death penalty against Burno. However, if the negotiations fell through or broke down for any reason, any statements that Burno had made would be used against him at a future trial. Burno and Attorney Clark both agreed to these terms. Burno then spoke about the murders for approximately two hours. The conversation was not recorded.
During this conversation, Burno identified the locations of the two guns that he and Bethea used during the murders. Detectives Simock and Miller then took Burno to the police station to record his statement. On the way, they stopped to retrieve the secreted guns. Once at the police station, Detective Simock provided Burno with Miranda warnings. Burno then repeated his statement, which was tape-recorded. In this statement, Burno claimed that he drove Bethea to Juarbe’s apartment to trade guns for drugs, but asserted that Bethea was the only person to enter the apartment. Burno stated that he remained in the car at all times.
Miranda v. Arizona , 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966).
The police and ADA Dantos did not believe Burno’s statement. ADA Dantos conferred with Attorney Clark about these suspicions. ADA Dantos and Attorney Clark agreed that, in order to test the veracity of his statement, Burno should submit to a polygraph test. On September 26, 2003, police officer Keith Morris met with Burno, provided Miranda warnings, and administered the polygraph test. Although he had known about the polygraph examination and consented to it, Attorney Clark was not present for the examination itself. Typically, at the end of a polygraph examination, Officer Morris would take some time and review the results. However, Officer Morris did not find that necessary in this case inasmuch as he detected immediately that Burno’s statement was not truthful. Officer Morris then informed Burno that he had failed the polygraph test. Burno stared at Officer Morris, and stated that no one could save him at that point. Officer Morris responded by telling Burno that he did not believe that no one could save him. Officer Morris then told Burno that, generally, telling the truth is a way that a person in his position could help himself.
After pondering Officer Morris’ statement briefly, Burno asked to speak with Attorney Clark. However, Attorney Clark was unavailable at that time. After being advised of the results, ADA Dantos proceeded to the interview room to inform Burno, who was crying and upset, that authorities were attempting to contact his attorney. Burno apologized to ADA Dantos for lying, and expressed remorse for his actions. ADA Dantos reminded Burno that, because he was not truthful, the parties no longer had a deal to forego the death penalty. ADA Dantos explained to Burno, however, that if he was truthful from that point on, the parties could recommence plea discussions. She emphasized that he had to tell the truth and that, at that point, there was no deal on the table. Hearing that, Burno told ADA Dantos that he was remorseful and that he would have to face the consequences for his crimes.
Eventually, ADA Dantos was able to reach Attorney Clark by telephone. Attorney Clark then spoke with Junius Burno over the phone. Attorney Clark agreed to come to the police station, but could not get there for some time. Nevertheless, Attorney Clark authorized the police to commence discussions with Burno before he arrived, in part because he believed that Burno could not do any more damage than he already had done by lying.
Junius Burno met with Detective Simock and Detective Joseph Effting, even though Attorney Clark had not yet arrived at the police station. The detectives once again provided Burno with Miranda warnings. In the ensuing statement, Burno admitted that he and Bethea went to Juarbe’s residence, knowing that Juarbe was a drug dealer, and intending to rob Juarbe to settle a dispute that Bethea had with Juarbe. Burno admitted that he got into a scuffle with Rosado, and then shot him with a nine millimeter handgun. After Burno provided additional details surrounding the murders, Attorney Clark arrived at the station and knocked on the door of the interview room.
Once Attorney Clark was seated and had spoken to Junius Burno, Detectives Simock and Effting continued the interview. Much of this portion of the interview involved reviewing parts of what Burno had stated before Attorney Clark arrived. Among other points, Burno again admitted that he had participated in the murders.
At the conclusion of the interview, Detective Simock reminded Junius Burno that, for the authorities to consider taking the death penalty off the table, Burno’s statement had to be truthful and Burno had to testify against Bethea. However, on October 28, 2003, the day before Bethea’s preliminary hearing, Burno informed Detective Simock and ADA Dantos that he no longer was willing to cooperate in the prosecution of Bethea. In addition to removing the death penalty from consideration, Burno wanted his homicide charges reduced to third-degree. ADA Dantos would not make that deal, and, in light of Burno’s decision not to cooperate, indicated to Burno and Attorney Clark that there would be no agreement. She informed them that she would be seeking the death penalty against Burno.