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Message From A Corporate Christmas Card.

By TERRIE MORGAN-BESECKER; Times Leader Staff Writer
 Friday, December 19, 1997 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 6A 





WILKES-BARRE- A Luzerne County judge heard testimony Thursday in the case
of a New Jersey man who is trying to overturn his 1995 murder conviction. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Juan Torres, 22, claims he did not kill Andrew Danko of Hazleton. He wants
to appeal the verdict to the state Superior Court, but he faces a legal
obstacle because his attorney did not file a post-trial motion in time. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In a hearing Thursday before Senior Judge Gifford Cappellini, Torres argued
he did meet the deadline. He claims he filed a motion he prepared himself with
the help of another inmate, but the paperwork never made it to the Luzerne
County Courthouse, said Charles Rado, Torres' new attorney. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Torres and a co-defendant, Wilson Hernandez, were convicted of the 1994
robbery and beating death of Danko. The Superior Court later granted Hernandez
a new trial, ruling a prosecutor misled jurors when he said no deals were made
with three witnesses who also faced charges in connection with the murder.
Hernandez's new trial is scheduled for February in Luzerne County Court of
Common Pleas. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Rado said it would be a "miscarriage of justice" if Torres is denied a new
trial, but he conceded he faces a tough legal challenge because there is no
proof that Torres filed the appeal he claims he did. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The county's Clerk of Courts office has no record of the appeal. Torres'
previous attorney, Joseph Vullo, also did not have a copy of the appeal, Rado
said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Rado said the only proof Torres has is letters he wrote to Vullo and others
in which he mentions the appeal, asking about its status. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 After he discovered the first appeal was never received, Torres filed a
second motion in June 1997 with Rado's help. But the appeal was well past the
one-year deadline for such motions. That means Torres must get a judge to
allow the appeal before it can go further. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In a previous interview, Vullo said he was appointed to represent Torres
after the trial. He said he did not receive the case until shortly before the
appeal period expired, and did not get the trial transcript until it had
elapsed. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Cappellini took the matter under advisement and will issue a ruling at a
later date. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Appeal Sought In Murder Conviction 
Convicted Murderer 
Juan Torres Says He Was 
Denied A New Trial After A 
Motion He Filed From Jail 
Never Got To The Courthouse

Appeal Sought In Murder Conviction Convicted Murderer Juan Torres Says He Was Denied A New Trial After A Motion He Filed From Jail Never Got To The Courthouse