CONVICTED MURDERER TO GET NEW HEARING.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

LANCASTER - An appeals court has set aside the sentence of convicted double-murderer Josif Jurcoane and ordered that a hearing be held to determine if he should get a new attorney.

On the day of his sentencing in September 2002, he presented a letter saying he wanted to fire his attorney and listing reasons why, but San Fernando Superior Court Judge Shari Silver did not allow him speak in court about it.

An appellate panel of three judges found merit in Jurcoane's claim that he was wrongly denied a so-called Marsden hearing.

``The trial court found counsel had done an outstanding job representing defendant. However, defendant's letter to the court suggests relevant events may have occurred off the record,'' wrote the author of the panel's opinion.

``Certainly there are items in defendant's letter that require explanation by defendant because the letter lacks detail. The trial court prevented defendant's oral attempts to address his claim of right to substitute counsel. The court did not hear his claims.''

Jurcoane, a former fruit-ranch worker who hid out in Mexico for 17 years, was sentenced in September 2002 to 32 years to life in prison for the shotgun slayings of his employers.

He was convicted of second-degree murder in the killings of retired Lockheed pilot Lloyd Bryden and Alice McCannel, who were found dead the evening of July 4, 1984, near a cherry stand at their Valyermo ranch.

Jurcoane's daughter, Josephine, who was not quite 4 years old when the killings occurred, testified against her father. Jurcoane testified at his trial, against the advice of his attorney, and made statements that conflicted with ones he had earlier given to Mexican authorities.

Jurcoane, a Romanian immigrant, was arrested in Mexico in April 2001 and turned over to Los Angeles County authorities after prosecutors promised not to seek the death penalty against him.

Jurcoane, 53, is at Ironwood State Prison in Blythe.

In their ruling, the appellate judges rejected two other claims from Jurcoane: that the trial court erred in discharging a juror and in failing to instruct the jury on voluntary manslaughter.

Jurcoane's trial attorney Arnold Notkoff defended his job performance.

``I got good feedback on that case that I did a good job for him. I think I did a good job for him. They all agreed if he hadn't testified, he would have a different ballgame. He convicted himself,'' Notkoff said.

If Judge Silver finds that Jurcoane has not shown good cause for appointment of new counsel, she shall reinstate the sentence, the ruling said.

If the judge appoints a new defense attorney, that attorney could ask for a new trial.

``The sentence is vacated only so that it can go back for a ... hearing (on the attorney issue). It allows the accused to state to the trial judge his complaints about his attorney and his performance such that he should be entitled to a new counsel,'' said Athena Shudde, Jurcoane's appellate attorney.

Deputy Attorney General William Harter, who represented the state on the appeal, said the court is saying Jurcoane should have been given a chance to voice more fully what he wanted to say.

``Now they are saying we will give him a chance to have a full hearing. This court voices no opinion on whether he should get a new trial,'' Harter said.

Jurcoane's letter listed 10 reasons why he wanted to fire his court-appointed attorney. ``The (trial judge) read the letter and found that nothing in it justified legal cause why sentencing should not proceed,'' the opinion said.

Jurcoane spoke of ``papers they send from here to Mexico, ... the reason Mexico send me back,'' when the judge asked Jurcoane if he wished to speak on the issue of sentencing.

``He complained that defense counsel never obtained those papers. The (trial judge) tried to redirect defendant's focus to the subject of sentencing, but defendant said he did not understand what 'issue of sentencing' meant and just wanted to know (the) truth,'' the opinion states.

``He didn't help me for year and a half. He's not going to help me now,'' the appellate panel quoted Jurcoane as having said about his attorney.

``Having repeatedly cut off defendant's attempts to speak, shortly thereafter (the judge) moved to sentencing issues,'' the opinion states.

In his letter, Jurcoane said that he never got his court transcripts from Notkoff and that Notkoff twice went on vacation, agreeing to delay court hearings, which Jurcoane did not agree to.

The letter also said Notkoff ``continues to change the story'' and ``never called the officer that transported me from Mexico to (the) United States to testify about (m)y documents that were sent from (the) United States to Mexico.''

Jurcoane also wrote, ``He tried making me look guilty by reading a letter that was sent from (the) immigration office of Mexico,'' the opinion said.

Karen Maeshiro, [phone]

karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com