Well I finally arrived home around 4:30 PM this afternoon... traffic wasn't as bad coming back thankfully.
While the hearing certainly didn't live up to what most of us had probably hoped for (trust me, I wouldn't have gone up there had I known this was going to be the outcome)... I still don't find it to be a wasted trip. It was interesting to see 'in-person', just how things are done in Luzerne County, and what the demeanor's are of all the players.
I was actually quite impressed with Mr. Melnick, he certainly seems to know his stuff, and he was the only DA to talk during the entire hearing. Judge PPO came across as stern, but also seemed to have a sense of humor. He even had a smile on his face when Melnick made the "Plan B Express" comment.
Joseph Kerekes' attorneys didn't really give me a good or bad impression. They seemed to be able to answer the questions with relative ease, other than the one PPO asked 'if Joe would try to pin Harlow for the crime', they didn't seem to want to answer that question while Harlow's attorneys were present. Joe's attorneys really didn't spend much time talking to him, and I vividly recall one time during the Wednesday hearing were he was trying to get their attention, and they just seemed to ignore him while talking amongst themselves.
Harlow Cuadra's attorneys gave me a bad impression. While they were able to answer some questions with ease, they seemed to be stuck on more important one's that PPO asked... hence several recesses. With everything that's transpired, I'd say they are definitely not prepared for trial.
While the hearing certainly didn't live up to what most of us had probably hoped for (trust me, I wouldn't have gone up there had I known this was going to be the outcome)... I still don't find it to be a wasted trip. It was interesting to see 'in-person', just how things are done in Luzerne County, and what the demeanor's are of all the players.
I was actually quite impressed with Mr. Melnick, he certainly seems to know his stuff, and he was the only DA to talk during the entire hearing. Judge PPO came across as stern, but also seemed to have a sense of humor. He even had a smile on his face when Melnick made the "Plan B Express" comment.
Joseph Kerekes' attorneys didn't really give me a good or bad impression. They seemed to be able to answer the questions with relative ease, other than the one PPO asked 'if Joe would try to pin Harlow for the crime', they didn't seem to want to answer that question while Harlow's attorneys were present. Joe's attorneys really didn't spend much time talking to him, and I vividly recall one time during the Wednesday hearing were he was trying to get their attention, and they just seemed to ignore him while talking amongst themselves.
Harlow Cuadra's attorneys gave me a bad impression. While they were able to answer some questions with ease, they seemed to be stuck on more important one's that PPO asked... hence several recesses. With everything that's transpired, I'd say they are definitely not prepared for trial.
While I never spoke to Fred Kerekes, he appeared to be a nice man.
I spoke briefly with Bryan Kocis' brother-in-law, he thanked me for my blog and it's fairness.
Several witnesses were noted, and I spoke to a couple of them. I'm not going to mention who, as I don't think it's fair to name names at this point.
I stayed at the Best Western Genetti which was within easy walking distance to the courthouse... it's not a Hyatt, but it did have free high-speed Internet, and a fairly nice bar and restaurant. The room wasn't bad either.
Now that I'm back, here's a couple of things I'll be posting over the next several days:
- Commonwealth's Answer to Harlow Cuadra's Omnibus Pretial Motions.
- Harlow's letter to Nep.
- Police Interview with witness Mitch Hallford.
- Police Conversations with witness Matthew Brannon.
- Email Conversations between Harlow/Joe and David Michaels.
- Telephone Transcripts between Renee Martin and Joseph Kerekes.
- 3-way Telephone Transcripts between Renee Martin, Joseph Kerekes, and Harlow Cuadra.
