Orsino "Cino" Thurman Court Updates

BREAKING: O.THURMAN was released on 01/21/22.
Reason: Bonded out.
Decorum Order In Re: Bedford County Central Court -Commonwealth v. Orsino Von Thurman


Schellsburg shooting suspect Thurman free on $350K bond

BEDFORD, Pa. – The man charged in a shooting during a 2020 Black Lives Matter march on U.S. Route 30 in Bedford County is now free on bond.
Court records show that a bondsman late Friday paid the $350,000 bail amount that had been set for 38-year-old Orsino Thurman, formerly of Wisconsin, enabling Thurman to be released from jail that night.
When bond agents are hired, they use resources such as insurance policies to pay bond requirements in full, then charge the person they are freeing a set fee – often 7% to 10%. Through a contract, those fees are generally not returnable.
If a defendant violates the conditions of their bond, the total posted by the bond agent would be surrendered to the court. To recoup that loss, the bond agent would have to collect the balance from the person they contracted with to bail them from jail.
In the 18 months since the shooting, Thurman has turned to social media to raise money for legal fees and bail support. Under the Facebook page “March on King Cino,” hooded sweatshirts and T-shirts with the hashtag “#CinoStrong” have been for sale for up to $45 since November.
Bail conditions set
According to staff with Bedford County’s clerk of courts, Thurman must abide by his contract with the bond agent and by several other conditions to remain free on bond.
He must provide a current address and give written notice within 48 hours to court officers if he changes that address. His address is now listed as Dravosburg, Allegheny County.
He must appear “at all times” for all court proceedings until his case is settled. He must comply with any court orders he is given and must refrain from criminal activity while on bond, court staff said.
The probation conditions did not include GPS monitoring, another frequent requirement.
Thurman faces charges of attempted aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person and possession of a firearm by a felon in the case.
NAACP leader questions case
The case involved charges against two accused gunmen until last week.
Terry Myers, 52, of Schellsburg, testified against Thurman during Thurman’s preliminary hearing, saying he fired back in self-defense after seeing a flash from a gun pointed in his direction.
Myers has agreed to continue to cooperate with prosecutors and offer testimony, and in return his charges will be dropped at the conclusion of the Thurman trial, Bedford County District Attorney Lesley Childers-Potts has said.
Some of the most serious charges against Myers already had been withdrawn by prosecutors or dismissed by the court after Thurman, as a witness and victim, failed to show up to Myers’ hearing last year.
Johnstown NAACP President Al Cashaw is frustrated by the recent decisions.
“They’re making the victim the criminal,” he said. “Mr. Thurman never invited Mr. Myers to shoot him that night.”
“It makes it look like ... he was shot for walking while Black,” he said. “Why isn’t Mr. Myers facing charges, too?”
Childers-Potts has pointed to Thurman’s violent criminal history – and the need for Myers’ testimony to convict him – as her reasons for agreeing to drop the charges against Myers.
Myers does not have a prior criminal history, according to online criminal records.
Thurman has a history of drug convictions in the Midwest, which resulted in him being prohibited from carrying a firearm. He was listed as a fugitive for months after he failed to appear for a hearing in Pennsylvania.
In September, he was arrested in Illinois on counts of domestic battery, child abduction and unlawful weapon possession after police say he battered a woman inside a hotel and fled with an infant. He was arrested after a pursuit on an Illinois highway after he livestreamed the pursuit and declined multiple times to step out of his vehicle, investigators said.
Four guns allegedly were found in his vehicle, and he faces charges for unlawfully possessing each of them.
In her statement last week, Childers-Potts said Thurman has seemed to pose a “danger to society” in multiple states – and her decision to ensure Myers’ testimony against him reflects that.
“My office needed to make a decision about what was best for Bedford County and what was needed to successfully prosecute the case against Mr. Thurman” and ensure he receives a sentence “suitable for someone with his criminal history,” she said.
Thurman also posted bond in Illinois and is awaiting trial on the charges against him there. A pretrial hearing is scheduled on the matter in April, DeWitt County State Prosecutor Dan Markwell said Friday.
Activist sees 6 figure bail set after extradition back to Bedford County
BEDFORD COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) — Orsino Thurman, an activist from Wisconsin facing charges in Bedford County in relation to a shooting from 2020, was arraigned Thursday afternoon.
Thurman, 38, was extradited to Pennsylvania, which was approved in November of 2021. Thurman was part of a group that was marching from Milwaukee to Washington D.C. in August of 2020, where their route included the Lincoln Highway in Bedford County.
A Bedford County resident, Terry Myers, 51, was accused of firing shots at the group. Thurman was transported to Conemaugh Memorial Hospital for injuries. According to police, the shots were fired after an argument.
Thurman was reportedly a witness in the case against Myers, but never showed up to court. Thurman was extradited after being arrested in September of 2021 in Illinois, where he was a suspect in a police chase and standoff in a separate incident.
Thurman faces charges of aggravated assault and illegal possession of a firearm. Myers was charged with aggravated assault, 19 counts of reckless endangerment of another person and 19 counts of simple assault.
Thurman’s bail is $350,000 cash. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 19.