Crowds Fill Courtroom for Cuadra's Trial

A report from the Times Leader says... there were empty seats inside Luzerne County courtroom No. 2 on the first day of Harlow Cuadra’s capital murder trial on Tuesday.

By Friday, it was standing room only.

That was when assistant district attorneys Michael Melnick, Shannon Crake and Allyson Kacmarski called perhaps the most important witness to testify against Cuadra, 27, charged in the killing of gay pornographic movie producer Bryan Kocis more than two years ago.

Adult film star Sean Lockhart, 22, spent several hours on the witness stand on Friday, telling the jury that Cuadra desperately wanted to appear in movies with him. Lockhart’s testimony about how Cuadra pressured him for weeks to begin filming summed up Melnick’s last words in his opening statement to the jury that Kocis’ murder was “All for a buck.”

Adult film producer Grant Roy, Lockhart’s business partner, is expected to testify on Monday and will likely take just as long.

Roy is expected to tell the jury about how he and Lockhart cooperated with Pennsylvania investigators in April 2007.

Investigators with assistance from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Naval Intelligence placed a recording device on Roy when he, Lockhart, Cuadra and Joseph Kerekes sat down to have dinner at Crabcatcher’s Restaurant near San Diego, Calif., on April 27.

Kerekes, 35, Cuadra’s partner, pleaded guilty in December to second-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

A picture of the four men sitting at a table was shown to the jury on Friday. During dinner, Kerekes told Roy he understood his anxiety, telling Roy that he couldn’t talk because he was worried Roy was wearing a wire.

Shortly after making that statement, Kerekes laughed, Melnick said during his opening statement.

The next day on April 28, Roy carried a remote car opener containing a recording device when the four men visited a nude beach near San Diego.

Transcripts and the recordings are expected to be played to the jury when Roy testifies.

According to the transcripts, Kerekes was pushing Roy into allowing Lockhart to work with Cuadra in several pornographic movies, and discussed ways to pay Roy and Lockhart royalty fees under the table to avoid paying Kocis’ estate.

For most of last week, prosecutors pieced together alleged evidence linking Cuadra and Kerekes to Kocis’ murder on Jan. 24, 2007.

Two former adult film models, Andrew Shunk and Justin Hensley, testified last week that Cuadra and Kerekes would make a fortune if they filmed movies with Lockhart, known in the industry as Brent Corrigan.

Representatives from different cell phone companies and Internet service providers told the jury that phone calls and e-mails to Kocis before his death were traced to Cuadra and Kerekes.

County Coroner John Corcoran, Chief Deputy Coroner William Lisman and forensic pathologist Dr. Mary Pascucci testified Kocis suffered a brutal death inside his Midland Drive home in Dallas Township.

Several residents on Midland Drive testified they saw a light colored sport utility vehicle parked in front of Kocis’ home the night he was killed.

An assistant store manager at Enterprise Car Rental in Virginia Beach, Va., testified Cuadra rented a silver 2006 Nissan XTerra on Jan. 23, 2007, the same day an employee at a Virginia Beach pawn shop told the jury that Cuadra and Kerekes purchased a knife, a .38-caliber handgun and ammunition.

A Virginia Beach detective testified he saw a silver Nissan XTerra parked in front of the home of Cuadra and Kerekes on the morning of Jan. 25, the same day investigators said they returned the vehicle to Enterprise Car Rental with more than 1,000 miles on the odometer.

Cuadra’s lawyers, Joseph D’Andrea and Paul Walker, appear to be shifting blame to Kerekes, who, according to Shunk and Hensley, was the more dominate one in the relationship with Cuadra.

Hensley, who said he worked as an escort and adult film model for Cuadra and Kerekes, said he quit when Kerekes fired several rounds from a handgun during an argument with Cuadra inside their Virginia Beach home.

But it was Lockhart’s testimony that packed the courtroom on Friday. Lockhart explained that a year-long federal civil lawsuit Kocis filed was nearing an end. The lawsuit prevented Lockhart from benefiting financially in adult films as Brent Corrigan, a name Kocis had trademarked in Pennsylvania.

Roy was surfing male escort Web sites for potential adult film models in anticipation of the lawsuit being settled. An offer was made to Cuadra and Kerekes, Lockhart testified on Friday.

Lockhart said he reviewed some of their films. He called the quality “poor.” He liked Cuadra and advised him to build muscle. “I thought he had potential,” Lockhart said about Cuadra.

Lockhart said that he and Roy invited Cuadra and Kerekes to the adult video news expo in Las Vegas, Nev., in mid-January 2007. They discussed business and the lawsuit with Cobra Video over dinner at the five diamond Le Cirque restaurant at the Bellagio.

“We were going to Vegas for the AVN and for mediation with Bryan to settle the lawsuit,” Lockhart said. “We were going even if Harlow and Joe (Kerekes) were not.”

Lockhart said Cuadra and Kerekes picked up the $3,000 restaurant tab.

More than a week after the Las Vegas meeting, Kocis was killed.

In the weeks after Kocis’ death, Lockhart distanced himself from Cuadra and Kerekes.

Roy is expected to tell the jury that Kerekes threatened to blame Kocis’ murder on him and Lockhart.

Against his lawyer’s advice, Lockhart said he agreed to cooperate with investigators and invited Cuadra and Kerekes to San Diego in April 2007 when their meetings were secretly recorded.

Also this week, Renee Martin, of Texas, is expected to testify about three-way phone calls she set up with Cuadra and Kerekes while they were jailed soon after their arrest in May 2007.

Hundreds of phone calls were placed from May 2007 through October 2008. Several of the calls were recorded by investigators.

Court records alleged Cuadra and Kerekes made up several alibi plans during the phone calls.
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[Note from PC: Grant Roy will testify on Monday, Renee Martin is expected to begin her testimony as soon as Roy's is completed. Also, sources are telling me to expect the revelation of an 'interesting' letter written by Cuadra, in which he discusses his plans to have the jury feel sympathetic for him, to be reported this week.]

[Note 2 from PC:



Due to an impending winter storm that's forecasted to affect the entire I-95 corridor today, tonight, and most of Monday (some areas are expected to get over a foot of snow), I've decided that it would be best for me (and my car) not to attempt to travel up there today, or tomorrow for that matter. Ironically, I've been wanting snow all winter, but why does it have to happen now of all times? I'll get up there eventually. :)]

[Note 3 from PC: Other witnesses we should hear from this week... Matthew Brannon and Nep Malaki.]

Cuadra Trial... Day 2 Overview

According to a report by the Times Leader... Justin Hensley said he was out of work in April 2005 when Joseph Kerekes offered him a job as an escort for Norfolk Male Escorts in Virginia.

Hensley then began performing with Kerekes’ partner, Harlow Cuadra, in gay pornographic films and moved in with the two in July 2005 to help operate their Web sites.

“I grew to be a friend of Cuadra because he took care of me,” Hensley testified Wednesday during the second day of Cuadra’s capital murder trial before Luzerne County Judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr.

Cuadra, 27, is charged with killing rival pornographic movie producer Bryan Kocis, 44, at Kocis’ Midland Drive, Dallas Township, home on Jan. 24, 2007. Kerekes pleaded guilty in December to second-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Cuadra’s lawyers, Joseph D’Andrea and Paul Walker, are suggesting to the jury that three other people had more to gain from Kocis’ death, focusing on Kerekes.

Hensley, called to testify by assistant district attorneys Michael Melnick, Shannon Crake and Allyson Kacmanski, said Kerekes was more dominant in the relationship with Cuadra. Hensley quit when Kerekes fired several shots from a handgun during a fight with Cuadra in their residence.

“They wanted me to stay there and work all the time and not have a social life,” Hensley testified. “I was only allowed to leave on the weekends, and if I went out for a sandwich, I had to come right back.”

Hensley said the escort business earned $225 per hour with each client, and up to $10,000 a week. He said among escort clients were a U.S. senator, government contractors with the U.S. military and physicians.

Hensley said Cuadra and Kerekes produced mostly amateur pornographic movies they sold on their Web sites, and believed that if they filmed with gay pornographic movie star Sean Lockhart, they would rise to mainstream pornography and “profit.”

“(Cuadra and Kerekes) talked about working with Lockhart for a year,” Hensley testified. “Lockhart was in some very well-known titles … they would definitely profit a lot of money.”

Lockhart was a contract model for Kocis’ company, Cobra Video.

“The only statements I heard about Cobra Video was that it was their main rival; Mr. Cuadra said that,” Hensley said.

After Cuadra and Kerekes met Lockhart and his business manager, Grant Roy, at an adult video news award ceremony in Las Vegas, Nev., in mid-January 2007, Hensley said they “were really excited to get (Lockhart) down there to work.”

Several representatives from Internet service providers testified Wednesday that e-mails were traced from Kocis’ Cobra Video account to computers registered to Cuadra.

D’Andrea and Walker said “anyone” who had access to Cuadra’s computer could have sent e-mails to Kocis.

Kocis’ Web master, Alex Purente, of Miami, Fla., testified Cobra Video received two model applications from “Danny Moilin” on Jan. 22, 2007. Attached to the applications were several pictures of Cuadra.

Jennifer Ortega, a representative from USA People Search based in Sacramento, Calif., testified Cuadra’s Discover credit card was used on Jan. 20, 2007, to purchase personal information on Kocis. The information, Ortega told the jury, contained Kocis’ address, telephone number and names of neighbors.

Attorney Sean Ernesto Macias, of Los Angeles, testified he was speaking with Kocis on the phone when someone arrived at Kocis’ home late in the afternoon on Jan. 24, 2007.

“My conversation was brief with him,” Macias testified. “He said he was expecting a guest that day, a model or something. He went to answer the door; it sounded like he put the phone down and said ‘Hello,’ the name started with a D.”

Prosecutors allege they traced the e-mail applications to Cobra Video to a computer in Cuadra’s home.

Lockhart and Roy are expected to testify today when the trial resumes at 8:30 a.m.
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Meanwhile, the Citizens' Voice reports that one company stood in the way of Harlow Cuadra’s burgeoning gay pornography business, a former employee testified Wednesday.

Bryan Kocis’ Cobra Video, considered the industry leader of a type of gay pornography that featured younger-looking actors, was the “main competitor” for Boy Batter, the Web-based pornography company Cuadra, 27, co-owned with Joseph Kerekes in Virginia Beach, Va.

“The only statements that I actually heard and witnessed myself were that Cobra was the main rival,” Justin Hensley said. “Everyone always kept it short with that subject. They didn’t branch off into anything else.”

Hensley started working for Cuadra and Kerekes in 2005 as a prostitute and later acted in the first pornographic films Cuadra produced. Prosecutors called 11 witnesses during the second day of testimony in Cuadra’s capital homicide trial for the January 2007 stabbing death of Kocis at his Dallas Township home.

Cuadra and Kerekes’ prostitution business would pull in more than $10,000 weekly, Hensley said, when Cuadra considered expanding their pornography product. But the films were “amateur” compared to what Kocis made, Hensley said, and Cuadra wanted to hire famed gay pornography actor Sean Lockhart, stage name Brent Corrigan.

“That’s what everybody likes, enjoys that kind of entertainment,” Hensley said.

Cuadra had talked about signing Lockhart more than a year before Kocis’ death, Hensley said, but he couldn’t get the actor because of his contract with Kocis.

Hensley’s testimony detailed Cuadra’s role in his companies, as an actor and producer of pornography as well as a prostitute, but he also presented Kerekes, 35, as aggressive and the more dominant of the two men.

During cross-examination from defense attorney Joseph D’Andrea, Hensley said Kerekes fired a gun inside the house where he lived with Cuadra.

“I’m pretty sure he wanted to shoot Harlow,” Hensley said, because of a fight between them. Hensley, who lived with the two men at their pornography and prostituting hub, moved out because of the incident and has enlisted in the military, serving two tours in Iraq.

Kocis’ attorney Sean Ernesto Macias testified he was on the phone with Kocis the evening of Jan. 24, 2007, the day he was stabbed to death.

“He was expecting a guest,” said Macias, who lives in Los Angeles. “He greeted someone while I was on the phone.”

Earlier Wednesday, prosecutors presented e-mails to Kocis from a prospective actor named Danny Moilin, sent the day Kocis was killed. Attached to the e-mails were photos of Cuadra.

Most of prosecution’s 11 witnesses Wednesday detailed computer or communication information. Defense attorneys questioned the witnesses about proof that Cuadra sent the e-mails or made the online purchases, trying to indicate Kerekes, who had access to Cuadra’s credit card could’ve handled all the transactions.

Four days before Kocis was killed, Cuadra purchased a background report on Kocis, showing information such as his address, phone number and other facts, said Jennifer Marie Ortega, an employee of USA People Search. The company provided Cuadra with the “comprehensive background” report on Jan. 20, Ortega said. During cross-examination, Ortega admitted that although Cuadra’s credit card was used for the purchase, someone else could’ve used his card online.

Prosecutors also presented video evidence showing Cuadra and Kerekes purchasing a Sig Sauer serrated edge knife and a small pistol from a pawn shop in Virginia Beach, Va., on Jan. 23, 2007. The purchase was paid for with Cuadra’s credit card, but D’Andrea said the video shows Kerekes pulling the credit card from his pocket.

“I can’t tell what (Kerekes) pulled from his pocket from this angle,” pawn shop manager Deborah Crain said during cross-examination. “(Cuadra’s) credit card was used … he signed it.”

... and... in another article by the Citizen's Voice: Chris Hurd thought he knew Harlow Cuadra, even though they had never interacted “by sight or sound,” until Wednesday, when Hurd testified at Cuadra’s capital murder trial.

Hurd, the operator of dvinfo.net, an online message board for digital filmmakers, said he recognized “Harlow Cuadra” as the username for a member of the Web site — a user whose account was connected to the accused killer’s e-mail address, harlowrcuadra@excite.com.

Hurd, confident the “Harlow Cuadra” from the Web site was the Harlow Cuadra sitting at the defense table, defended his system of matching usernames to users’ e-mail addresses.

Still, in a digital world where nearly every message board posting, search and connection can be tracked and traced by service providers, e-mail addresses are vulnerable to being faked or hacked to create a false impression or a fictitious Internet persona, Cuadra’s attorney, Joseph D’Andrea, said.

“It’s fair to say you don’t know if the real Harlow Cuadra even was the person who registered,” D’Andrea said.

“I suppose you could say that,” Hurd said.

The site did not require Social Security or driver’s license numbers or credit card information, which can be harder to fake, but did record the Internet protocol addresses from the locations where users accessed and posted on the Web site, Hurd said.

Even the Internet protocol addresses, which are akin to digital fingerprints, are not foolproof, Gavin Pinchback of Sprint Nextel, testified. Cuadra had several wireless Internet access cards from the company, including one that was allegedly used to send an e-mail around the time of the Kocis’ killing.

Pinchback said Sprint required customers like Cuadra to provide a name, date of birth, address, home telephone number, Social Security and driver’s license numbers, all of which were verified before activation.

Motion to Include Former Testimony of Justin Hensley

(Note: This motion was filed on 11/06/07 - the trial date and counsel(s) have changed since that time)

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Due to Justin Hensley being stationed overseas in Iraq, he must be deemed unavailable at the upcoming trial that is, scheduled to begin on March 28, 2008. The Pennsylvania Rules of Evidence clearly states that "Unavailability of a witness includes a situation where the declarant is unable to be present or to testify at the hearing because the Commonwealth is not able to procure the witnesses testimony by process or other reasonable means. Pennsylvania Rule of Evidence 804(a)(4).

According to 42 Pa. C.S.A. § 5917, "whenever any person has been examined as a witness, either for the Commonwealth or for the defense, in any criminal proceeding conducted in or before a court of record, and the defendant has been present and has had an opportunity to examine or cross-examine, if such witness afterwards dies... notes of his examination shall be competent evidence upon a subsequent trial of the same criminal issue." 42 Pa. C.S.A. § 5917.

The Appellate Courts of Pennsylvania have consistently held that a deceased witness's preliminary hearing testimony is admissible in the subsequent trial at the Common Plea Court level where the defendent was provided with a full and fair opportunity for cross examination. See Commonwealth v. Williams, 460 A.2d 1178, (Pa. Super. 1983), Commonwealth v. Thompson, 648 A.2d 315 (Pa. 1994), Commonwealth v. Scarborough, 421 A.2d 147, (Pa. Super. 1980), Commonwealth v. Werner, 282 A2.d 258, (Pa. Super. 1971).

Justin Hensley was cross examined by Attorney Tom Cometa, defense counsel for Harlow Raymond Cuadra and asked approximately sixty-eight (68) questions and by Attorney Frank Nocito, defense counsel for Joseph Manuel Kerekes, who asked approximately forty-seven (47) questions. Furthermore, Attorney Cometa asked an additional seventeen (17) questions on re-cross-examination of the witness and Attorney Nocito asked and additional twenty (20) questions on re-cross-examination of the witness. Attorney Melnick did not enter any objections during the defense counsel cross examination and re-cross examination.

The Commonwealth at no time attempted to limit areas of inquiry or subject matter of either defense counsel's cross examination. Furthermore, defense counsel was given the witness statement of Justin Hensley prior to his testimony.

Those Pesky Informants...

I originally wrote about this subject back in July, and since that time we've learned a lot more about the evidence the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has against Harlow Cuadra and Joseph Kerekes.

After re-reading what both informants stated in the affidavit, it would appear to make even more sense now... especially since we now know that one of them is Justin Hensley... a former model and escort with boybatter.com and Norfolk Male Escorts.

It should also be noted how both informants state that Harlow and Joe were 'excited' about making a "large sum of money":

Confidential Informant #1

"On 02/10/07, investigators with the Pennsylvania State Police and the Virginia Beach Police Department interviewed Confidential Informant #1. Said informant has been associated with accused Cuadra as well as Kerekes for approx eight months. Said informant has worked with the Virginia Beach Police Department in the past, and has proven to be a reliable source of information. Additionally, said informant provided known factual information to Cpl. Hannon which was independently corroborated by sources not associated with said informant. Said informant advised that the day prior to the "Las Vegas trip" of Cuadra/Kerekes, or approx the middle of January, 2007, Cuadra/Kerekes advised that they "planning something big" and were attempting to hire "Brent Corrigan" for a movie. Both Cuadra and Kerekes were expecting to make "a ton of money" pursuant to said agreement, somewhere around "six to seven figures". They were planning to pay Corrigan around fifty thousand dollars for four scenes. Cuadra and Kerekes both stated that Corrigan was somehow contractually obligated to Cobra Video/Bryan Kocis, to which Cuadra and Kerekes stated that they were attempting to make a deal with Corrigan without it costing any money to Kocis. Cuadra and Kerekes were additionally in direct competition with Cobra Video/Bryan Kocis, although both stated that they had never met Kocis before. Informant also stated that Cuadra and Kerekes stated that they were planning on traveling to Pennsylvania at some point around the time of the Las Vegas trip, although the informant could not recall if it was prior to or after the trip. The informant also added that both Cuadra and Kerekes have been acting "very suspicious and unusual" since their return from Las Vegas. Both are normally rather "flashy" and flamboyant, enjoying exotic vehicles, extravagant dinners, and making contacts for their escort business and pornographic video business."

"Both Cuadra and Kerekes collect expensive Rolex watches as well, and own approx five or six. It should be noted that none were found within the residence subsequent to the search same date."

Confidential Informant #2

"On 03/21/07, investigators from the Pennsylvania State Police and Virginia Beach Police Department interviewed Confidential Informant #2. Said informant has been proven reliable in that information relayed to Cpl. Hannon has been independently corroborated through means not associated with said informant. Said informant has been associated with both Cuadra and Kerekes since approx April of 2005. Informant #2 illustrated, as did informant #1, the male escort and homosexual pornography business of both Cuadra and Kerekes. Additionally, informant #2 advised that both Cuadra and Kerekes were at "the avn" awards within the past several months, and returned to advise that they planned a collaboration with "Brent Corrigan", which could potentially make a very large sum of money. Both additionally stated that there was some type of contractual problem with Corrigan, however a "verbal agreement" was made pursuant to the meeting."

Key Kocis Trial Witness Deployed to Iraq

The Times Leader is reporting that a key witness expected to testify against two men accused of killing a gay porn producer has been deployed to Iraq, prosecutors say.

Now, prosecutors are fighting to use the past testimony given by Justin Hensley at a preliminary hearing against the slaying suspects, Harlow Cuadra and Joseph Kerekes.

At a preliminary hearing on the charges, Hensley testified he heard Cuadra and Kerekes discuss Kocis and his company, Cobra Video.

Hensley said Cobra Video was preventing the porn business of Cuadra and Kerekes from expanding.

Hensley testified that Cuadra and Kerekes wanted to work with gay porn actor Sean Lockhart but couldn’t because Lockhart was under a contract with Kocis’ company.

But Hensley, a soldier in the U.S. Army, will be unavailable to testify at the March trial for Cuadra and Kerekes, the prosecutors said.

Hensley “is part of an Army unit that is currently deployed in Iraq,” according to the court papers filed by assistant district attorneys Mike Melnick, Tim Doherty, Shannon Crake, and William Dunn.

(UPDATED 1:19 PM) Prosecutors also want permission to introduce evidence of other “crimes” or “wrongs” the men committed relevant to the slaying. They want to show evidence that Cuadra and Kerekes:

burglarized Kocis’ home; ran an escort service and illegal prostitution service; approached individuals to ask them to give police false information about their whereabouts the day Kocis died; and destroyed some of Kocis’ personal property.