Murder, robbery convictions upheld against Bristolville man

Staff report

WARREN

The 11th District Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction of a Bristolville man who killed a 22-year-old, then days later robbed a pizza shop at gunpoint.

Three judges last year sentenced Austin T. Burke to serve at least 58 years of a life sentence among three incidents, when he was just 19 years old.

Burke was convicted last year of killing 22-year-old Brandon Sample in Bristol Township, robbing the Pizza Joe’s restaurant in Cortland with a gun and possessing a plastic knife in the Trumbull County jail. He was handed a sentence of 33 years to life for Samples’ murder and a total, consecutive 25 years for the other two incidents.

In his appeal, Burke argued police seizure of cellphone records used during his trial – which was done without a warrant, rather a subpoena – violated a U.S. Supreme Court ruling from June 2018, after he had been convicted. The appellate court ruled that precedent was not retroactive.

The appellate court affirmed both convictions, according to an opinion filed Monday, but ordered a resentencing entry for Burke’s aggravated-robbery case, which made forfeiture specifications but not firearm specifications as included on his indictment.