KILLER'S APPEAL DENIED BY JUDGE MURDERER SOUGHT A NEW ATTORNEY.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

LANCASTER - A judge Friday turned down a request by a convicted Antelope Valley double murderer to hire a new attorney and get a new sentencing hearing.

Josif Jurcoane, 54, serving a sentence of 32 years to life in prison for the shotgun slayings of his fruit ranch employers, was denied his request after the judge who presided over his trial conducted a hearing into whether he should have been allowed to change attorneys before his 2002 sentencing.

``The motion was denied, so everything stands in the same place as it was before,'' Deputy District Attorney Rouman Ebrahim said.

San Fernando Superior Court Judge Shari Silver, who was the trial judge, rejected Jurcoane's request after completion of the so-called Marsden hearing.

Appellate judges from the Second District Court of Appeal last November set aside Jurcoane's sentence and ordered that a Marsden hearing be held to determine whether he should get a new attorney.

Jurcoane on the day of his sentencing presented a letter saying he wanted to fire his attorney and listing reasons why, but Silver did not allow him to speak in court about it.

The appellate judges had said they found merit in Jurcoane's claim that he was wrongly denied a Marsden hearing.

Jurcoane, a former fruit-ranch worker who hid out in Mexico for 17 years, 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 gave statements that conflicted with ones he had earlier given to Mexican authorities.

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

Jurcoane was housed at Ironwood State Prison in Blythe before his appeal was granted.

In their ruling, the appellate judges had 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.

Karen Maeshiro, [phone]

karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com