News flashes coming shortly (done)...
Update 1:29 PM: A Luzerne County judge has ruled prosecutors can not use certain statements homicide suspect Joseph Kerekes made to police regarding the investiation into the death of Brian Kocis.
Update 1:44 PM: PPO also rules that there will be one trial, denying requests by attorneys for homicide suspects Joseph Kerekes and Harlow Cuadra to have separate trials.
Update 2:12 PM: Two recorded conversations Cuadra and Kerekes had with Sean Lockhart and Grant Roy in California can be used by prosecutors, Olszewski ruled.
Update 2:55 PM: The Citizen's Voice is reporting that Harlow Cuadra and Joseph Kerekes will stand trial together for the January 2007 killing of Bryan Kocis in Dallas Township, and prosecutors will be allowed to present nearly all the evidence they planned to use against the defendants, including recorded conversations and e-mail messages, Judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. ruled today.
Prosecutors will be permitted to introduce recordings and transcripts of April 2007 conversations in which Cuadra and Kerekes shared details of the killing with two acquaintances in San Diego.
They will be able to introduce a series of e-mail messages Cuadra sent to Kocis under a pseudonym in the days before the killing and physical evidence seized from the defendants' home in Virginia Beach, Va.
But, they will not be allowed to use any of the statements Kerekes made to investigators hours after his arrest in Virginia Beach in May 2007.
Kerekes' attorneys argued those statements, which included references to the killing, were elicited after Kerekes asked for an attorney, as he provided Cpl. Leo Hannon of the Pennsylvania State Police with "biographical information" and listened to an informal reading of the affidavit filed against him.
"At no time did Cpl. Hannon permit the defendant to consult with counsel prior (to) questioning regarding the aforementioned information," Olsewski wrote in a 50-page answer to motions filed earlier this year by Kerekes' attorneys.
Olszewski filed a similar 40-page answer to motions filed by Cuadra's attorneys.
Update @ 4:28 PM: The Times Leader also reports that a Luzerne County judge ruled that there will be one trial, denying requests by attorneys for homicide suspects Joseph Kerekes and Harlow Cuadra to have separate trials.
The ruling by Court of Common Pleas Judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. is one of several pre-trial issues in anticipation for the scheduled January capital murder trial.
Kerekes, 34, and Cuadra, 27, both from Virginia Beach, Va., are charged in the killing of Bryan Kocis, 44, at Kocis' Dallas Township home in January 2007.
Investigators allege they killed Kocis, whom they considered their main rival in the gay movie production industry.
Attorneys for Kerekes and Cuadra attempted to have separate trials, claiming they may incriminate the other in the murder.
Two recorded conversations Cuadra and Kerekes had with two men in California can be used by prosecutors, Olszewski ruled.
Olszewski did prohibit prosecutors from using statements Kerekes allegedly made to state police Cpl. Leo Hannon Jr.
Kerekes was arrested by Virginia Beach authorities and allegedly made statements while Hannon read him the criminal complaint.
Update 1:29 PM: A Luzerne County judge has ruled prosecutors can not use certain statements homicide suspect Joseph Kerekes made to police regarding the investiation into the death of Brian Kocis.
Update 1:44 PM: PPO also rules that there will be one trial, denying requests by attorneys for homicide suspects Joseph Kerekes and Harlow Cuadra to have separate trials.
Update 2:12 PM: Two recorded conversations Cuadra and Kerekes had with Sean Lockhart and Grant Roy in California can be used by prosecutors, Olszewski ruled.
Update 2:55 PM: The Citizen's Voice is reporting that Harlow Cuadra and Joseph Kerekes will stand trial together for the January 2007 killing of Bryan Kocis in Dallas Township, and prosecutors will be allowed to present nearly all the evidence they planned to use against the defendants, including recorded conversations and e-mail messages, Judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. ruled today.
Prosecutors will be permitted to introduce recordings and transcripts of April 2007 conversations in which Cuadra and Kerekes shared details of the killing with two acquaintances in San Diego.
They will be able to introduce a series of e-mail messages Cuadra sent to Kocis under a pseudonym in the days before the killing and physical evidence seized from the defendants' home in Virginia Beach, Va.
But, they will not be allowed to use any of the statements Kerekes made to investigators hours after his arrest in Virginia Beach in May 2007.
Kerekes' attorneys argued those statements, which included references to the killing, were elicited after Kerekes asked for an attorney, as he provided Cpl. Leo Hannon of the Pennsylvania State Police with "biographical information" and listened to an informal reading of the affidavit filed against him.
"At no time did Cpl. Hannon permit the defendant to consult with counsel prior (to) questioning regarding the aforementioned information," Olsewski wrote in a 50-page answer to motions filed earlier this year by Kerekes' attorneys.
Olszewski filed a similar 40-page answer to motions filed by Cuadra's attorneys.
Update @ 4:28 PM: The Times Leader also reports that a Luzerne County judge ruled that there will be one trial, denying requests by attorneys for homicide suspects Joseph Kerekes and Harlow Cuadra to have separate trials.
The ruling by Court of Common Pleas Judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. is one of several pre-trial issues in anticipation for the scheduled January capital murder trial.
Kerekes, 34, and Cuadra, 27, both from Virginia Beach, Va., are charged in the killing of Bryan Kocis, 44, at Kocis' Dallas Township home in January 2007.
Investigators allege they killed Kocis, whom they considered their main rival in the gay movie production industry.
Attorneys for Kerekes and Cuadra attempted to have separate trials, claiming they may incriminate the other in the murder.
Two recorded conversations Cuadra and Kerekes had with two men in California can be used by prosecutors, Olszewski ruled.
Olszewski did prohibit prosecutors from using statements Kerekes allegedly made to state police Cpl. Leo Hannon Jr.
Kerekes was arrested by Virginia Beach authorities and allegedly made statements while Hannon read him the criminal complaint.
