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Citing a possible mix-up with paperwork, the state Superior Court has continued the appeal of Juan Borbon, convicted of using a machete in a “gang-type” fight that resulted in a teenage boy nearly losing his hand in 2012.
Borbon, now 26, was convicted by a Luzerne County jury in September 2013 with assaulting a then 15-year-old boy during a fight outside Wilkes-Barre Area’s GAR High School in February 2012. Borbon grabbed a machete from a bag and swung it, nearly severing the hand of the teen boy.
Judge Joseph Sklarosky Jr. sentenced Borbon to eight to 16 years in state prison.
Borbon’s conviction and sentence has been upheld on a previous direct appeal with the Superior Court in 2015.
In his latest appeal filed in May under the state’s Post Conviction Relief Act, Borbon is challenging the legality of the sentence. Borbon filed the appeal on his own behalf after his appellate attorney was permitted to withdraw in April.
The Superior Court in a recent posting says Borbon can continue appealing the sentence under the PCRA application.
The appellate court determined Borbon was never served with instructions from Sklarosky that directed him to file a statement of errors he believes were made during his trial and sentencing hearing.
Borbon’s previous lawyers received Sklarosky’s instructions but not Borbon, the Superior Court found.
“… Nothing in the docket entries indicates that Borbon, himself, was served with the court’s … order,” the appellate court ruled.
The Superior Court directed Sklarosky to determine “whether Borbon was properly served” or if “Borbon was never served,” and to proceed with Borbon’s PCRA petition accordingly.
Borbon maintained he was nowhere near GAR during the fight. He claimed he was inside a residence on South Franklin Street in Wilkes-Barre.
Borbon was captured by U.S. Marshals in Passaic, N.J., on March 1, 2012.
