WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – A former gay adult performer and escort convicted four years ago in the gruesome murder of a porn studio owner may get another chance to “tell it to the judge.”
After several continuances, Harlow Cuadra, his new attorney and his former legal team appeared in court on Friday to argue the merits of a Post-Conviction Relief Act petition Cuadra filed in May 2012. Originally scheduled for an initial hearing in May 2013, the petition raises several reasons Cuadra believes he should be granted a new trial:
- Cuadra’s former lover, Joseph Kerekes, controlled him through abuse.
- Kerekes actually committed the murder.
- Cuadra’s former lawyers had insufficient time to prepare a competent defense, as only 76 days separated the date they were hired in December 2008 and the trial’s start on Feb. 24, 2009.
- Cuadra’s new attorney was prevented from representing him during the first trial because of an unwarranted disqualification.
- The trial judge permitted prosecutors to play in court a video of Cuadra lifting weights, and that may have unfairly prejudiced the jury.
In March 2009, Cuadra was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for his role in the Jan. 24, 2007, first-degree murder of Cobra Video owner Bryan Kocis and the subsequent arson designed to obscure the crime. Kerekes, now 40, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and received a life sentence in December 2008. Both men had faced the death penalty.
At the time of his trial, Cuadra’s defense team indicated their client was “difficult” and largely unwilling to participate in his own defense, except to maintain that Kerekes was the killer. Witnesses introduced in court the idea that Kerekes was an abusive lover. Although Kerekes was scheduled to testify on Cuadra’s behalf, on the stand he declined to answer questions about what D’Andrea characterized as a jailhouse confession.
On Friday, while Cuadra, 32, watched from the courtroom sidelines, his new attorney, Demetrius Fannick, and Luzerne County, Pa., Assistant District Attorney Michael Melnick questioned the former legal team about most of the PCRA petition’s assertions. The amount of time spent preparing for the original trial consumed much of Fannick’s attention, mostly because the trial team refused to concede they were insufficiently prepared.
“Time did not play a factor in the preparation of this case,” Joseph D’Andrea, one two former Cuadra attorneys. “I know it’s a contention of your petition that we did not have enough time. We wanted more time, but it was not granted, so we just had to get it done.”
D’Andrea also indicated that although any trial can benefit from more research, he and co-counsel Paul Walker would not have adopted a different strategy had trial judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. granted their request for a 120-day continuance.
The matter of strategy launched one of the most contentious discussions during the hearing. If duress were a legitimate reason for Cuadra’s involvement in the murder, Fannick asked, why didn’t Walker and D’Andrea introduce that defense during trial?
“I wanted the people in the jury box to believe Joe [Kerekes] was the killer and Harlow wasn’t,” D’Andrea answered, explaining that duress is an affirmative defense for someone who has admitted committing a crime.
From start to finish, Cuadra denied participating in the murder itself, although physical evidence proved he acquired the weapons and was at the scene.
Judge Fred A. Pierantoni III gave Fannick until Jan. 20 to file a supplemental brief supporting the PCRA petition. The prosecution will have 10 days after that to respond.
[SIZE=1]Image: Shortly after their arrests, Harlow Cuadra, left, and Joseph Kerekes appeared on the front page of the Oct. 5, 2007, issue of Pennsylvania’s [/SIZE][SIZE=1]Citizens’ Voice[/SIZE][SIZE=1] above a headline reading “Murder Suspects Claim Innocence: Pair pleads not guilty in brutal death of rival gay pornography producer.”[/SIZE]
