9:15 PM: There's been a small amount of cross done today by the prosecution... look for a lot more in the morning... Renee Martin has yet to testify.
8:55 PM: Juror #7... I'm told she seems to spend more time with her head turned-away than focused. More later.
5:25 PM: A court watcher tells me that while Harlow did shed some 'real' tears in the beginning... it appeared that for the most part he was crying 'crocodile tears', all the while trying to muster the real thing... in their opinion it came across as an act.
4:03 PM: The Citizens' Voice is reporting that Harlow Cuadra went to Bryan Kocis' Dallas Township home on Jan. 24, 2007, thinking he would shoot pornography, Cuadra testified today in his capital homicide trial.
His partner, Joseph Kerekes, dropped him off around 7 p.m. that night, Cuadra said, and then left. Cuadra was at Kocis' Midland Drive home for about 20 minutes that evening, laughing and talking with Kocis, Cuadra said, when a "rapid knock" came at the front door.
"I never thought it would be Joe," Cuadra said.
Kerekes stormed through the door and began to fight with Kocis, before pulling out a small knife and slashing Kocis' throat, Cuadra testified.
"I'm shouting at Joe 'What are you doing? What are you doing?'" Cuadra said. "He pushed me down."
Scared, Cuadra said he ran and hid in the back seat of the rental car Kerekes had driven, as Kerekes did "something" inside the house.
Cuadra has testified for about four hours today, saying he never knew or heard of a plan to kill Kocis. Cuadra could face the death penalty if found guilty of first-degree homicide in Kocis' Jan. 2007 death.
Cuadra said he wanted to tell police his story, but Kerekes was very controlling.
“People can say ‘Harlow, do this’ or ‘Harlow do that,’ but they don’t know," Cuadra said. "They’re not Harlow. They’re not with Joseph. Individual valor doesn’t matter when you’re with Joseph in a little room.”
Prosecution will cross-examine Cuadra later this afternoon.
3:51 PM: The Times Leader reports that homicide suspect Harlow Cuadra put the murder of Bryan Kocis on his former lover - Joseph Kerekes.
Going against his lawyer's advice not to testify, Cuadra told the Luzerne County jury that he was inside Kocis' home in Dallas Township on Jan. 24, 2007, when they heard a loud, rapid knock on the door.
"Bryan gets up and goes up to the door; the minute he turns that knob, Joseph comes in," a sobbing Cuadra told the jury. "They fight a little at the door, I'm yelling, 'Joseph, what are you doing.'
"Joseph looks at me, and knocks Bryan in the face. Bryan was wearing one of those workout suits, all black, no socks, and Joseph grabs Bryan and throws him on the couch and starts punching the hell out of him.," Cuadra said.
Cuadra said he jumped on Kerekes' back in an attempt to stop the assault.
"Joseph reaches in his pocket and pulls out a knife and slashed Bryan's throat. I yelled, "Joe, what are you doing, he said to get the (expletive) out."
Cuadra said he was scared for his life and the life of Kerekes. They fled to South Beach, Fla., where they stayed in a motel for more than a month. They returned to their Virginia Beach, Va., home the day before Easter in 2007.
Cuadra said he understood that he was a "person of interest" in the case and wanted to talk to Pennyslvania investigators.
"Joseph wouldn't let me," Cuadra said. "I can't even go to the store to buy toilet paper without him."
1:18 PM: According to the Citizens' Voice, Harlow Cuadra was considering shooting a film with Cobra Video in January 2007, the company owned Bryan Kocis, Caudra testified Monday in his capital homicide trial.
Cuadra, 27, who is accused of killing Kocis Jan. 24, 2007, at Kocis' Dallas Township home, testified for less than two hours this morning and will continue after lunch.
Joseph Kerekes, Cuadra's former lover and business partner, was urging Cuadra to shoot a video with Cobra to increase business to their Web site, Cuadra said. Kerekes thought that if Cuadra shot a video with Cobra, a well-known pornography company, it would increase traffic to the gay pornography Web site they ran in Virgnia Beach, Va.
"(Kerekes) said do you want to film with Cobra, baby" Cuadra said. "He really wanted me to do it, but Grant Roy had painted Bryan Kocis as a monster."
Kerekes and Cuadra met with Roy, another pornography producer, and his business partner Sean Lockhart in Las Vegas around Jan. 10, 2007, Cuadra said. Kerekes and Roy wanted Lockhart and Cuadra to shoot three films together.
"They talked about the deal like (Lockhart and I) weren't even there," Cuadra said. "Joe and Grant were both really excited about the deal."
Kerekes tried to give Roy $12,000 in cash to seal the negotiation, Cuadra testified, but Roy turned it down saying "we'll all make a lot of money out of this."
But Kocis, who had a contract with Lockhart a the time, was a problem, Cuadra said. Roy mentioned during dinner that the issue was being settled but there was still animosity, Cuadra said.
"Joe said 'I would’ve killed him a long time ago,'" Cuadra testified. According to Cuadra's testimony Roy responded: "Yeah, I thought about that. But you know what, the way this thing is if that (expletive) ends up dead everyone will be looking at pointing the finger to me."
After dinner, Cuadra said, Roy and Kerekes finished working out a deal, but because of the litigation it didn't seem like the collaborative film would be shot as soon as Kerekes had hoped, Cuadra said. That's when Kerekes got the idea that Cuadra should try to film with Cobra, Cuadra said.
1:16 PM: The Times Leader is reporting that for For nearly two years, Harlow Cuadra has refused to talk about his alleged role in the murder of Bryan Kocis.
Inside a Luzerne County courtroom on Tuesday, Cuadra is talking and he's talking a lot.
Cuadra, 27, is testifying in his own defense on the homicide charges.
Cuadra spent much of the morning talking about his life, from being molested by his step-father, enlisting in the U.S. Navy and meeting Joseph Kerekes before getting discharged after three years in the service.
"I don't mean this in a bad way, but it is a straight man's military," Cuadra said.
Cuadra said he began escorting soon after meeting Kerekes, whom he described, as a controlling man with charming skills.
Escorting turned into producing gay pornographic films as a "hobby," Cuadra said, which turned into boybatter.com.
Cuadra told the jury that the Web site earned several hundred dollars and Kerekes quickly took it over.
Cuadra discussed meeting Grant Roy and adult film actor Sean Lockhart at the Adult Video News expo in Las Vegas, Nev., in mid-January 2007. During dinner, in which, Cuadra said Roy and Kerekes talked about filming movies together, Cuadra said he and Lockhart were "playing footsies" under the table.
Cuadra is expected to continue his testimony when the trial resumes after lunch.
12:31 PM: WNEP TV-16 reports that It turned out to be a bizarre morning in the murder trial of Harlow Cuadra. His former lover and alleged partner in crime took the stand Tuesday but said he didn't want to talk about the murder of Bryan Kocis.
The drama at the Luzerne County courthouse is just beginning to unfold. The two most important men in the case were on the stand, the accused, Harlow Cuadra and the man the defense expected to be a big help, Joseph Kerekes.
Kerekes pleaded guilty to second degree murder of Bryan Kocis in December. He is serving a life sentence. Kocis was stabbed more than two dozen times in his Back Mountain home in January, 2007. The home was then set on fire, according to police, to cover up the crime.
Kerekes was called by the defense Tuesday morning. He took the stand and said he backed out of helping in Cuadra's trial because, he said, it would destroy his family to admit to something he didn't do.
Harlow Cuadra took the stand in his own defense and gave the jury an edcation in his background; computers and the pornography business. Cuadra said he was sexually abused by his stepfather beginning when he was eight years old. He went on to say his homosexuality caused big problems in his family.
As for living with Kerekes, Cuadra said Kerekes had a violent temper and controlled everything in their relationship.
There were a lot of tears in the courtroom. Cuadra broke down and cried several times while he was on the stand. A lot of sobbing could also be heard coming from the gallery. Those sobs came from Cuadra's mother.
Cuadra's testimony began shortly before noon and is expected to continue quite a while.
11:44 AM: According to the Times Leader, Harlow Cuadra wept as he recalled telling his family that he was gay in 2001. Cuadra said he felt abandoned by his family and became more attached to Joseph Kerekes, whom he had met in a chat room.
"When I met Joe and his family, they loved me," a sobbing Cuadra told the jury on Tuesday, the 11th day of his capital murder trial presided by Judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr.
Cuadra is charged with killing Bryan Kocis, 44, at Kocis' home in Dallas Township in January 2007. Kerekes, 35, pleaded guilty to second degree murder and is serving a life sentence. Earlier today, Kerekes refused to testify for Cuadra and was immdiately escorted out of the courtroom.
Cuadra is telling the jury about his life in Florida, enlisting in the U.S. Navy in late 1999 or early 2000, and falling in love with an Naval officer who was later transferred to San Diego, Calif.
Cuadra said after his lover was transferred, he felt alone and met Kerekes at a mall in Norfolk after chatting with him in a chat room. He described how his relationship with Kerekes grew into the escort and gay film production business.
"(Kerekes) was always with me, everywhere I went, he was with me," Cuadra said.
Cuadra said he began escorting clients on advice from Kerekes. Escorting turned into sexual relations with clients that eventually led to producing gay pornographic films, in which, Cuadra called it a "hobby."
Cuadra said Kerekes found out thier adult film Web site, boybatter.com, earned a profit of several hundred dollars in the first few weeks.
"It changed overnight," Cuadra said about boybatter. "(Kerekes) took possession of it."
Cuadra said Kerekes once assaulted a client because he believed the client was "having too much fun with me."
Cuadra is answering questions from his co-defense attorney, Paul Walker.
Assistant District Attorney Michael Melnick will have an opportunity to question Cuadra later today.
11:21 AM: The Citizens' Voice reports that Joseph Kerekes controlled Harlow Cuadra’s e-mail accounts and kept his credit and identification cards when the two men went out, Cuadra testified Tuesday morning.
Cuadra testified for an hour this morning before jurors were given a break at 11 in the capital homicide trial.
Cuadra is the third defense witness. Kerekes, Cuadra's former lover, business partner and co-defendant, took the stand this morning, but the 35-year-old Kerekes didn't testify.
After answering several brief questions from Cuadra Attorney Joseph D'Andrea, Kerekes said he wouldn't testify on Cuadra's behalf.
"I've been thinking a lot about my parents and it would destroy them if I said something that I didn't do," Kerekes said.
Kerekes, 35, pleaded guilty to second degree homicide in December and is serving a life-sentence. In his plea he said Cuadra had killed Bryan Kocis and then set fire to his Dallas Township home in Jauary 2007.
Cuadra's mother seated in the courtroom, shouted at Kerekes as he left the courtroom.
Cuadra's attorney Paul Walker is questioning Cuadra. Much of the testimony has focused on how Cuadra met Kerekes and how he was molested as a child by his step-father. Cuadra said he stopped talking to his family after he left the Navy.
He couldn't reveal to his family his homosexuality, or what his stepfather did, he said.
A weeping Cuadra apologized to his mother, who was also crying
"I'm sorry, Momma," Cuadra sobbed.
Walker had to tell Cuadra to compose himself before testimony continued.
Cuadra could face the death penalty if found guilty of first-degree homicide for Bryan Kocis' death in January 2007. Prosecutors allege Cuadra killed Kocis, 44, in order to lure an actor to the gay pornography he co-owned with Kerekes.
Prosecution's other witness, James Quare, 24, testified he met Kocis online and stopped by the Dallas Township home for a sexual rendez vous.
10:00 AM: The Citizens' Voice is reporting that Harlow Cuadra's former lover and co-defendant Joseph Kerekes took the stand this morning in Cuadra's capital homicide trial, but the 35-year-old Kerekes didn't testify.
After answering several brief questions from Cuadra Attorney Joseph D'Andrea, Kerekes said he wouldn't testify on Cuadra's behalf.
"I've been thinking a lot about my parents and it would destroy them if I said something that I didn't do," Kerekes said.
Kerekes, 35, pleaded guilty to second degree homicide in December and is serving a life-sentence. In his plea he said Cuadra had killed Bryan Kocis and then set fire to his Dallas Township home.
Cuadra's mother seated in the courtroom, shouted at Kerekes as he left the courtroom.
Cuadra started testifying after Kerekes stepped down.
Cuadra could face the death penalty if found guilty of first-degree homicide for Bryan Kocis' death in January 2007. Prosecutors allege Cuadra killed Kocis, 44, in order to lure an actor to the gay pornography he co-owned with Kerekes.
Kerekes was the second defense witness called this morning. Testimony started more than an hour late because of several legal issues that had to be addressed prior to Kerekes' testimony.
9:59 AM: According to the Times Leader, admitted killer Joseph Kerekes refused to testify against his partner, Harlow Cuadra.
A shackled Kerekes, 35, dressed in a white shirt with the letters "DOC" on the back, and brown pants, walked into the courtroom with Cuadra staring at him. Kerekes didn't appear to look at Cuadra who sits just 15 feet away from the witness stand.
Cuadra's co-defense attorney Joseph D'Andrea questioned Kerekes about the few times he visited him at the State Correctional Institution at Camp Hill in Dauphin County.
"I've been thinking a lot about my parents, I think it will destroy them to say something that I didn't do," Kerekes said. "What I told you (D'Andrea) is untrue."
Whatever Kerekes told D'Andrea during their few meetings wasn't disclosed.
Kerekes was immediately escorted out of the courtroom.
Cuadra is currently testifying on his behalf, recalling his childhood in Florida and enlisting in the U.S. Navy when he was 17 years old. He is weeping on the stand.
8:33 AM: The Times Leader reports that Harlow Cuadra waived his right to remain silent and is expected to testify in his defense today, the 11th day of his capital murder trial before a Luzerne County jury.
Cuadra, 27, is facing the death penalty if convicted of first-degree homicide in the murder of Bryan Kocis in January 2007.
Cuadra's partner, Joseph Kerekes, 35, pleaded guilty in December to second-degree murder and is serving a life sentence. Kerekes, who is being kept inside a tiny third floor courtroom, is expected to testify on Cuadra's behalf.
Assistant district attorneys Michael Melnick, Shannon Crake and Allyson Kacmarski rested their case against Cuadra on Monday, spending 10 and presenting 86 witnesses to the jury.
Investigators alleged Cuadra and Kerekes killed Kocis, 44, whom they considered thier main rival in the adult film production industry. A motive to the killing, investigators claim, was the two men wanted to work with adult film actor Sean Lockhart, a contract adult film actor for Kocis' company, Cobra Video.
Earlier today and without the jury in the courtroom, Judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. questioned Cuadra, who waived his right to remain silent.
The surprise development appeared to have caught prosecutors off guard.
Melnick and Crake were observed running out of the courtroom on the third floor, and were leaning over the shoulders of state police Trooper Brian Murphy, a computer forensics investigator, working on a laptop computer.
Prosecutors used several laptop computers during their case to play two recordings investigators intercepted involving conversations between Cuadra, Kerekes and Grant Roy and Lockhart in San Diego, Calif., in April 2007.
Renee Martin, a prosecution witness who returned to her home state of Texas after she testified last week, is in the courthouse and likely will be called to testify by Cuadra's attorneys, Joseph D'Andrea and Paul Walker.
Martin arranged hundreds of phone calls between Cuadra and Kerekes while they were jailed. Two of the jailhouse phone calls were recorded and played to the jury during the prosecutions case.
8:24 AM: Today is Harlow Cuadra's eleventh day of trial, and Cuadra’s attorneys, Joseph D’Andrea and Paul J. Walker, will begin presenting their evidence. Expected to take the stand today are Joseph Kerekes, Bobby Komrowski, Harlow Cuadra, and possibly Chaplain Tom Winiarczyk. Stay tuned for further updates throughout the day.
8:55 PM: Juror #7... I'm told she seems to spend more time with her head turned-away than focused. More later.
5:25 PM: A court watcher tells me that while Harlow did shed some 'real' tears in the beginning... it appeared that for the most part he was crying 'crocodile tears', all the while trying to muster the real thing... in their opinion it came across as an act.
4:03 PM: The Citizens' Voice is reporting that Harlow Cuadra went to Bryan Kocis' Dallas Township home on Jan. 24, 2007, thinking he would shoot pornography, Cuadra testified today in his capital homicide trial.
His partner, Joseph Kerekes, dropped him off around 7 p.m. that night, Cuadra said, and then left. Cuadra was at Kocis' Midland Drive home for about 20 minutes that evening, laughing and talking with Kocis, Cuadra said, when a "rapid knock" came at the front door.
"I never thought it would be Joe," Cuadra said.
Kerekes stormed through the door and began to fight with Kocis, before pulling out a small knife and slashing Kocis' throat, Cuadra testified.
"I'm shouting at Joe 'What are you doing? What are you doing?'" Cuadra said. "He pushed me down."
Scared, Cuadra said he ran and hid in the back seat of the rental car Kerekes had driven, as Kerekes did "something" inside the house.
Cuadra has testified for about four hours today, saying he never knew or heard of a plan to kill Kocis. Cuadra could face the death penalty if found guilty of first-degree homicide in Kocis' Jan. 2007 death.
Cuadra said he wanted to tell police his story, but Kerekes was very controlling.
“People can say ‘Harlow, do this’ or ‘Harlow do that,’ but they don’t know," Cuadra said. "They’re not Harlow. They’re not with Joseph. Individual valor doesn’t matter when you’re with Joseph in a little room.”
Prosecution will cross-examine Cuadra later this afternoon.
3:51 PM: The Times Leader reports that homicide suspect Harlow Cuadra put the murder of Bryan Kocis on his former lover - Joseph Kerekes.
Going against his lawyer's advice not to testify, Cuadra told the Luzerne County jury that he was inside Kocis' home in Dallas Township on Jan. 24, 2007, when they heard a loud, rapid knock on the door.
"Bryan gets up and goes up to the door; the minute he turns that knob, Joseph comes in," a sobbing Cuadra told the jury. "They fight a little at the door, I'm yelling, 'Joseph, what are you doing.'
"Joseph looks at me, and knocks Bryan in the face. Bryan was wearing one of those workout suits, all black, no socks, and Joseph grabs Bryan and throws him on the couch and starts punching the hell out of him.," Cuadra said.
Cuadra said he jumped on Kerekes' back in an attempt to stop the assault.
"Joseph reaches in his pocket and pulls out a knife and slashed Bryan's throat. I yelled, "Joe, what are you doing, he said to get the (expletive) out."
Cuadra said he was scared for his life and the life of Kerekes. They fled to South Beach, Fla., where they stayed in a motel for more than a month. They returned to their Virginia Beach, Va., home the day before Easter in 2007.
Cuadra said he understood that he was a "person of interest" in the case and wanted to talk to Pennyslvania investigators.
"Joseph wouldn't let me," Cuadra said. "I can't even go to the store to buy toilet paper without him."
1:18 PM: According to the Citizens' Voice, Harlow Cuadra was considering shooting a film with Cobra Video in January 2007, the company owned Bryan Kocis, Caudra testified Monday in his capital homicide trial.
Cuadra, 27, who is accused of killing Kocis Jan. 24, 2007, at Kocis' Dallas Township home, testified for less than two hours this morning and will continue after lunch.
Joseph Kerekes, Cuadra's former lover and business partner, was urging Cuadra to shoot a video with Cobra to increase business to their Web site, Cuadra said. Kerekes thought that if Cuadra shot a video with Cobra, a well-known pornography company, it would increase traffic to the gay pornography Web site they ran in Virgnia Beach, Va.
"(Kerekes) said do you want to film with Cobra, baby" Cuadra said. "He really wanted me to do it, but Grant Roy had painted Bryan Kocis as a monster."
Kerekes and Cuadra met with Roy, another pornography producer, and his business partner Sean Lockhart in Las Vegas around Jan. 10, 2007, Cuadra said. Kerekes and Roy wanted Lockhart and Cuadra to shoot three films together.
"They talked about the deal like (Lockhart and I) weren't even there," Cuadra said. "Joe and Grant were both really excited about the deal."
Kerekes tried to give Roy $12,000 in cash to seal the negotiation, Cuadra testified, but Roy turned it down saying "we'll all make a lot of money out of this."
But Kocis, who had a contract with Lockhart a the time, was a problem, Cuadra said. Roy mentioned during dinner that the issue was being settled but there was still animosity, Cuadra said.
"Joe said 'I would’ve killed him a long time ago,'" Cuadra testified. According to Cuadra's testimony Roy responded: "Yeah, I thought about that. But you know what, the way this thing is if that (expletive) ends up dead everyone will be looking at pointing the finger to me."
After dinner, Cuadra said, Roy and Kerekes finished working out a deal, but because of the litigation it didn't seem like the collaborative film would be shot as soon as Kerekes had hoped, Cuadra said. That's when Kerekes got the idea that Cuadra should try to film with Cobra, Cuadra said.
1:16 PM: The Times Leader is reporting that for For nearly two years, Harlow Cuadra has refused to talk about his alleged role in the murder of Bryan Kocis.
Inside a Luzerne County courtroom on Tuesday, Cuadra is talking and he's talking a lot.
Cuadra, 27, is testifying in his own defense on the homicide charges.
Cuadra spent much of the morning talking about his life, from being molested by his step-father, enlisting in the U.S. Navy and meeting Joseph Kerekes before getting discharged after three years in the service.
"I don't mean this in a bad way, but it is a straight man's military," Cuadra said.
Cuadra said he began escorting soon after meeting Kerekes, whom he described, as a controlling man with charming skills.
Escorting turned into producing gay pornographic films as a "hobby," Cuadra said, which turned into boybatter.com.
Cuadra told the jury that the Web site earned several hundred dollars and Kerekes quickly took it over.
Cuadra discussed meeting Grant Roy and adult film actor Sean Lockhart at the Adult Video News expo in Las Vegas, Nev., in mid-January 2007. During dinner, in which, Cuadra said Roy and Kerekes talked about filming movies together, Cuadra said he and Lockhart were "playing footsies" under the table.
Cuadra is expected to continue his testimony when the trial resumes after lunch.
12:31 PM: WNEP TV-16 reports that It turned out to be a bizarre morning in the murder trial of Harlow Cuadra. His former lover and alleged partner in crime took the stand Tuesday but said he didn't want to talk about the murder of Bryan Kocis.
The drama at the Luzerne County courthouse is just beginning to unfold. The two most important men in the case were on the stand, the accused, Harlow Cuadra and the man the defense expected to be a big help, Joseph Kerekes.
Kerekes pleaded guilty to second degree murder of Bryan Kocis in December. He is serving a life sentence. Kocis was stabbed more than two dozen times in his Back Mountain home in January, 2007. The home was then set on fire, according to police, to cover up the crime.
Kerekes was called by the defense Tuesday morning. He took the stand and said he backed out of helping in Cuadra's trial because, he said, it would destroy his family to admit to something he didn't do.
Harlow Cuadra took the stand in his own defense and gave the jury an edcation in his background; computers and the pornography business. Cuadra said he was sexually abused by his stepfather beginning when he was eight years old. He went on to say his homosexuality caused big problems in his family.
As for living with Kerekes, Cuadra said Kerekes had a violent temper and controlled everything in their relationship.
There were a lot of tears in the courtroom. Cuadra broke down and cried several times while he was on the stand. A lot of sobbing could also be heard coming from the gallery. Those sobs came from Cuadra's mother.
Cuadra's testimony began shortly before noon and is expected to continue quite a while.
11:44 AM: According to the Times Leader, Harlow Cuadra wept as he recalled telling his family that he was gay in 2001. Cuadra said he felt abandoned by his family and became more attached to Joseph Kerekes, whom he had met in a chat room.
"When I met Joe and his family, they loved me," a sobbing Cuadra told the jury on Tuesday, the 11th day of his capital murder trial presided by Judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr.
Cuadra is charged with killing Bryan Kocis, 44, at Kocis' home in Dallas Township in January 2007. Kerekes, 35, pleaded guilty to second degree murder and is serving a life sentence. Earlier today, Kerekes refused to testify for Cuadra and was immdiately escorted out of the courtroom.
Cuadra is telling the jury about his life in Florida, enlisting in the U.S. Navy in late 1999 or early 2000, and falling in love with an Naval officer who was later transferred to San Diego, Calif.
Cuadra said after his lover was transferred, he felt alone and met Kerekes at a mall in Norfolk after chatting with him in a chat room. He described how his relationship with Kerekes grew into the escort and gay film production business.
"(Kerekes) was always with me, everywhere I went, he was with me," Cuadra said.
Cuadra said he began escorting clients on advice from Kerekes. Escorting turned into sexual relations with clients that eventually led to producing gay pornographic films, in which, Cuadra called it a "hobby."
Cuadra said Kerekes found out thier adult film Web site, boybatter.com, earned a profit of several hundred dollars in the first few weeks.
"It changed overnight," Cuadra said about boybatter. "(Kerekes) took possession of it."
Cuadra said Kerekes once assaulted a client because he believed the client was "having too much fun with me."
Cuadra is answering questions from his co-defense attorney, Paul Walker.
Assistant District Attorney Michael Melnick will have an opportunity to question Cuadra later today.
11:21 AM: The Citizens' Voice reports that Joseph Kerekes controlled Harlow Cuadra’s e-mail accounts and kept his credit and identification cards when the two men went out, Cuadra testified Tuesday morning.
Cuadra testified for an hour this morning before jurors were given a break at 11 in the capital homicide trial.
Cuadra is the third defense witness. Kerekes, Cuadra's former lover, business partner and co-defendant, took the stand this morning, but the 35-year-old Kerekes didn't testify.
After answering several brief questions from Cuadra Attorney Joseph D'Andrea, Kerekes said he wouldn't testify on Cuadra's behalf.
"I've been thinking a lot about my parents and it would destroy them if I said something that I didn't do," Kerekes said.
Kerekes, 35, pleaded guilty to second degree homicide in December and is serving a life-sentence. In his plea he said Cuadra had killed Bryan Kocis and then set fire to his Dallas Township home in Jauary 2007.
Cuadra's mother seated in the courtroom, shouted at Kerekes as he left the courtroom.
Cuadra's attorney Paul Walker is questioning Cuadra. Much of the testimony has focused on how Cuadra met Kerekes and how he was molested as a child by his step-father. Cuadra said he stopped talking to his family after he left the Navy.
He couldn't reveal to his family his homosexuality, or what his stepfather did, he said.
A weeping Cuadra apologized to his mother, who was also crying
"I'm sorry, Momma," Cuadra sobbed.
Walker had to tell Cuadra to compose himself before testimony continued.
Cuadra could face the death penalty if found guilty of first-degree homicide for Bryan Kocis' death in January 2007. Prosecutors allege Cuadra killed Kocis, 44, in order to lure an actor to the gay pornography he co-owned with Kerekes.
Prosecution's other witness, James Quare, 24, testified he met Kocis online and stopped by the Dallas Township home for a sexual rendez vous.
10:00 AM: The Citizens' Voice is reporting that Harlow Cuadra's former lover and co-defendant Joseph Kerekes took the stand this morning in Cuadra's capital homicide trial, but the 35-year-old Kerekes didn't testify.
After answering several brief questions from Cuadra Attorney Joseph D'Andrea, Kerekes said he wouldn't testify on Cuadra's behalf.
"I've been thinking a lot about my parents and it would destroy them if I said something that I didn't do," Kerekes said.
Kerekes, 35, pleaded guilty to second degree homicide in December and is serving a life-sentence. In his plea he said Cuadra had killed Bryan Kocis and then set fire to his Dallas Township home.
Cuadra's mother seated in the courtroom, shouted at Kerekes as he left the courtroom.
Cuadra started testifying after Kerekes stepped down.
Cuadra could face the death penalty if found guilty of first-degree homicide for Bryan Kocis' death in January 2007. Prosecutors allege Cuadra killed Kocis, 44, in order to lure an actor to the gay pornography he co-owned with Kerekes.
Kerekes was the second defense witness called this morning. Testimony started more than an hour late because of several legal issues that had to be addressed prior to Kerekes' testimony.
9:59 AM: According to the Times Leader, admitted killer Joseph Kerekes refused to testify against his partner, Harlow Cuadra.
A shackled Kerekes, 35, dressed in a white shirt with the letters "DOC" on the back, and brown pants, walked into the courtroom with Cuadra staring at him. Kerekes didn't appear to look at Cuadra who sits just 15 feet away from the witness stand.
Cuadra's co-defense attorney Joseph D'Andrea questioned Kerekes about the few times he visited him at the State Correctional Institution at Camp Hill in Dauphin County.
"I've been thinking a lot about my parents, I think it will destroy them to say something that I didn't do," Kerekes said. "What I told you (D'Andrea) is untrue."
Whatever Kerekes told D'Andrea during their few meetings wasn't disclosed.
Kerekes was immediately escorted out of the courtroom.
Cuadra is currently testifying on his behalf, recalling his childhood in Florida and enlisting in the U.S. Navy when he was 17 years old. He is weeping on the stand.
8:33 AM: The Times Leader reports that Harlow Cuadra waived his right to remain silent and is expected to testify in his defense today, the 11th day of his capital murder trial before a Luzerne County jury.
Cuadra, 27, is facing the death penalty if convicted of first-degree homicide in the murder of Bryan Kocis in January 2007.
Cuadra's partner, Joseph Kerekes, 35, pleaded guilty in December to second-degree murder and is serving a life sentence. Kerekes, who is being kept inside a tiny third floor courtroom, is expected to testify on Cuadra's behalf.
Assistant district attorneys Michael Melnick, Shannon Crake and Allyson Kacmarski rested their case against Cuadra on Monday, spending 10 and presenting 86 witnesses to the jury.
Investigators alleged Cuadra and Kerekes killed Kocis, 44, whom they considered thier main rival in the adult film production industry. A motive to the killing, investigators claim, was the two men wanted to work with adult film actor Sean Lockhart, a contract adult film actor for Kocis' company, Cobra Video.
Earlier today and without the jury in the courtroom, Judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. questioned Cuadra, who waived his right to remain silent.
The surprise development appeared to have caught prosecutors off guard.
Melnick and Crake were observed running out of the courtroom on the third floor, and were leaning over the shoulders of state police Trooper Brian Murphy, a computer forensics investigator, working on a laptop computer.
Prosecutors used several laptop computers during their case to play two recordings investigators intercepted involving conversations between Cuadra, Kerekes and Grant Roy and Lockhart in San Diego, Calif., in April 2007.
Renee Martin, a prosecution witness who returned to her home state of Texas after she testified last week, is in the courthouse and likely will be called to testify by Cuadra's attorneys, Joseph D'Andrea and Paul Walker.
Martin arranged hundreds of phone calls between Cuadra and Kerekes while they were jailed. Two of the jailhouse phone calls were recorded and played to the jury during the prosecutions case.
8:24 AM: Today is Harlow Cuadra's eleventh day of trial, and Cuadra’s attorneys, Joseph D’Andrea and Paul J. Walker, will begin presenting their evidence. Expected to take the stand today are Joseph Kerekes, Bobby Komrowski, Harlow Cuadra, and possibly Chaplain Tom Winiarczyk. Stay tuned for further updates throughout the day.
