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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Murder suspect to be retried

By Ken Kobayashi
Advertiser Courts Writer

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City prosecutors will retry a 33-year-old man on a murder charge related to a 2001 Salt Lake home invasion robbery after a Circuit Court jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict.

Arthur Birano was on trial on charges accusing him of shooting self-employed contractor Darryl Lee at point-blank range in the robbery attempt to get cash and ice from his Salt Lake home at about 3 a.m. in late April 2001. Lee, 46, was shot once in the chest.

After deliberating for about 14 hours over three days, the jurors notified Circuit Judge Richard Perkins on Friday that they were not able to reach a verdict and more deliberations would not help.

Birano's retrial is scheduled for the week of Nov. 14.

The prosecution contended that Birano got away with $2,000 in cash, but no drugs, and left $43,000 in a safe.

Birano's defense was that the two prosecution witnesses, both convicted felons, both had a motive to lie in blaming the defendant.

Birano is serving a life term with parole for a home invasion style robbery of a Makiki man and his wife in April 2001.

The robbery normally carries a maximum 20-year term, but Birano was given in 2003 the extended-life term based on his criminal record that included 39 convictions since 1990.

Reach Ken Kobayashi at kkobayashi@honoluluadvertiser.com.