A Garland County Circuit Court jury deliberated for less than 15 minutes Monday before sentencing a local man to life in prison for the rape of an 11-year-old girl last year.
Justin Isaiah Burns, 26, who has remained in custody in lieu of $100,000 bond since his arrest Nov. 24, 2015, was set to stand trial Monday, but opted to plead guilty that morning and let a nine-woman, three-man jury decide his fate.
With Deputy Prosecutors Joe Graham and Kara Petro representing the state and Public Defender Mark Fraiser representing Burns, a sentencing hearing was held with the victim, her sister and her cousin, who witnessed the attack, all testifying. Graham said the victim's sister testified about Burns having fondled her in the past.
Burns, classified as a habitual offender, having been previously convicted in 2009 of possession of a controlled substance, cocaine, and in 2010 of second-degree domestic battery, both felonies, did not testify.
Graham said because of his habitual offender status, the range of punishment on the rape charge was 25 to 60 years or up to life in prison. He noted the only way Burns would be eligible for parole is if his sentence was commuted by a sitting governor, which was not likely to happen.
Graham said there was DNA evidence recovered from the victim presented at Monday's hearing linking Burns to the attack so "even if he hadn't pleaded guilty it was a foregone conclusion he would have been convicted, anyway."
He said the victim and her family wanted to go to trial and didn't want to accept some lesser sentence so they were "very happy" with the jury's decision in the case.
According to the affidavit, the mother of the victim filed a report with Garland County sheriff's investigators alleging the rape of her daughter by Burns. On Oct. 25, 2015, the girl was residing with her aunt and her aunt's boyfriend. Burns, who is related to the boyfriend, was also staying at the residence at that time.
The victim was interviewed Oct. 26 at the Cooper-Anthony Mercy Child Advocacy Center and stated that she and Burns had both been drinking. She states she fell asleep on the couch and Burns pulled her shorts down and raped her. A sexual abuse exam indicated there was acute trauma to the victim's privates.
The cousin of the victim was also interviewed and stated that she arrived at the residence around 9 p.m. and the victim had appeared drunk. She said everyone left the residence around 2:30 a.m. except for her, her boyfriend, the victim, the victim's younger sister and Burns. She noted the victim was sleeping on the couch.
She stated she witnessed the victim being raped. She heard the rocking chair in the living room hit the wall and movement on the couch. She states she saw that the victim's pants and underwear were down at her ankles.
Burns' pants were also down and he was on top of the victim, she said, noting that Burns saw her looking at him and began staring at her, which scared her, so she retreated back to bed.
Local on 10/26/2016