Back on August 14, 2008... Judge Peter Paul Olszewski filed an order that briefs be filed on the motion to suppress. Today... PPO once again allows defendant Joseph Kerekes' attorneys an enlargement of time to file:
08/14/2008 Order of Court filed. Briefs to be filed on Motion to Suppress - Olszewski, Peter Paul Jr.
08/19/2008 Motion for Enlargement of Time to File Def's Brief In Support of Motion to Suppress & Order-Granted - Olszewski, Peter Paul Jr.
Guess there's still a few motions of suppression that PPO hasn't decided upon yet... here's hoping he can at least rule on a few of the other previously filed motions this week, including the one's filed by Harlow Cuadra's attorneys. Though to quote PPO from the last hearing: “No sense in rushing it at this point”... so who knows.
In PPO's defense however... he was a former district attorney who has dealt with most/if not all of these attorneys previously both as a judge and/or as a foe, and I still honestly believe he has complete control over this case.
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Update @ 08/21/2008: The Times Leader is saying that attorneys for homicide suspect Joseph Kerekes have asked a judge for more time to file court papers stating Kerekes’ stance on a motion to suppress evidence seized from his vehicle.
Kerekes, 34, and his partner, Harlow Cuadra, 27, both from Virginia Beach, Va., were stopped and arrested by Virginia Beach authorities while driving on Virginia Beach Boulevard, according to court records, shortly after investigators in Pennsylvania filed criminal homicide charges in the January 2007 slaying of Bryan Kocis, 44, in Dallas Township.
In court papers filed Tuesday, Kerekes’ attorneys, John Pike and Shelley Centini, asked for a two-week extension on filing their response because they have not yet received a police report concerning the arrest of Kerekes and the search of his vehicle in Virginia Beach.
“Counsel is unable to author any meaningful brief without possessing information relative to Mr. Kerekes’ arrest and search of his vehicle,” court papers say. “Such extension would not delay the hearing presently scheduled in the matter, nor would such extension prejudice the Commonwealth.”
Centini and Pike claim that “Virginia authorities possessed no warrant for (Kerekes’) arrest, nor did (Kerekes) commit any motor vehicle offense which would authorize a traffic stop,” according to their court filing.
After Kerekes and Cuadra were arrested, their vehicle was searched by Virginia authorities and certain items were seized, Centini and Pike said. One of the items taken from their vehicle, according to court records, was a knife.
Luzerne County assistant district attorneys Michael Melnick, Shannon Crake and Allyson Kacmarski are seeking the death penalty for Kerekes and Cuadra if they are convicted. Prosecutors claim in court records that Kerekes and Cuadra killed Kocis, whom they considered their main rival in the gay pornographic film industry.
A hearing on the issue is still scheduled for Sept. 22.
08/14/2008 Order of Court filed. Briefs to be filed on Motion to Suppress - Olszewski, Peter Paul Jr.
08/19/2008 Motion for Enlargement of Time to File Def's Brief In Support of Motion to Suppress & Order-Granted - Olszewski, Peter Paul Jr.
Guess there's still a few motions of suppression that PPO hasn't decided upon yet... here's hoping he can at least rule on a few of the other previously filed motions this week, including the one's filed by Harlow Cuadra's attorneys. Though to quote PPO from the last hearing: “No sense in rushing it at this point”... so who knows.
In PPO's defense however... he was a former district attorney who has dealt with most/if not all of these attorneys previously both as a judge and/or as a foe, and I still honestly believe he has complete control over this case.
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Update @ 08/21/2008: The Times Leader is saying that attorneys for homicide suspect Joseph Kerekes have asked a judge for more time to file court papers stating Kerekes’ stance on a motion to suppress evidence seized from his vehicle.
Kerekes, 34, and his partner, Harlow Cuadra, 27, both from Virginia Beach, Va., were stopped and arrested by Virginia Beach authorities while driving on Virginia Beach Boulevard, according to court records, shortly after investigators in Pennsylvania filed criminal homicide charges in the January 2007 slaying of Bryan Kocis, 44, in Dallas Township.
In court papers filed Tuesday, Kerekes’ attorneys, John Pike and Shelley Centini, asked for a two-week extension on filing their response because they have not yet received a police report concerning the arrest of Kerekes and the search of his vehicle in Virginia Beach.
“Counsel is unable to author any meaningful brief without possessing information relative to Mr. Kerekes’ arrest and search of his vehicle,” court papers say. “Such extension would not delay the hearing presently scheduled in the matter, nor would such extension prejudice the Commonwealth.”
Centini and Pike claim that “Virginia authorities possessed no warrant for (Kerekes’) arrest, nor did (Kerekes) commit any motor vehicle offense which would authorize a traffic stop,” according to their court filing.
After Kerekes and Cuadra were arrested, their vehicle was searched by Virginia authorities and certain items were seized, Centini and Pike said. One of the items taken from their vehicle, according to court records, was a knife.
Luzerne County assistant district attorneys Michael Melnick, Shannon Crake and Allyson Kacmarski are seeking the death penalty for Kerekes and Cuadra if they are convicted. Prosecutors claim in court records that Kerekes and Cuadra killed Kocis, whom they considered their main rival in the gay pornographic film industry.
A hearing on the issue is still scheduled for Sept. 22.
