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The state Superior Court on Friday upheld the conviction of Juan Borbon on the machete “gang-type” fight that resulted in a teenage boy nearly losing his hand in 2012.
Borbon, 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 a teen boy.
Judge Joseph Sklarosky Jr. sentenced Borbon to eight to 16 years in state prison.
Borbon’s conviction and appeal has been upheld on a previous direct appeal with the Superior Court in 2015.
In his latest appeal filed in February under the state’s Post Conviction Relief Act, Borbon challenged the legality of the sentence. Borbon filed the appeal on his own behalf after his appellate attorney was permitted to withdraw in April.
Last month, the Superior Court ruled Borbon could continue appealing his sentence under the PCRA application after determining Borbon was never sent court papers related to his appeal. Defense lawyers who represented Borbon received court records but Borbon was never officially served, the Superior Court ruled.
The appellate court last month directed Sklarosky to determine whether Borbon was properly served or to proceed with Borbon’s PCRA petition accordingly.
Sklarosky earlier this month determined Borbon was properly served with court papers and denied Borbon’s petition for relief.
A three-member panel of the Superior Court determined Borbon filed his relief petition too late, upholding Skarlosky’s dismissal of Borbon’s request. The appellate court found Borbon had until April 11, 2016 to file his petition for relief but he did not file it until Feb. 24, 2017.