Feb
16
Crime Blotter: Jury Selection Gets Underway in Cuadra Trial
February 16, 2009 | 3 Comments
Crime Blotter: A quick update for you this morning about the pending murder trial of Harlow Cuadra (that is, for those of you not dedicated to chronicling every sub-blip on the radar of this baffling and lurid story). Jury selection begins this week in a Luzerne County, Pennsylvania courthouse. You’ll recall Mr. Cuadra’s co-defendant, Joseph Kerekes, on December 8 abruptly pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of Cobra Video producer Bryan Kocis in January 2007; he was sentenced to the mandatory life in prison without parole. He has vowed that he will not take the stand against Mr. Cuadra, who has refused a plea agreement and as a result, “faces the death penalty,” reports the Citizen’s Voice newspaper today. “He has been charged with an open count of homicide. He had been scheduled to stand trial Jan. 5, but [presiding Judge Peter Paul] Olszewski approved a six-week delay to allow two private attorneys hired by Cuadra, Joseph D’Andrea of Dunmore and Paul J. Walker of Scranton, ‘a reasonable amount of time to prepare’ for the case.” Expect some fireworks.
See also:
* “Crime Blotter: Cuadra Trial Delayed (Again)”
* “Crime Blotter: Kerekes Pleads Guilty to Kocis Murder“
Comments
3 Comments so far
sub-blip? Whats That a discussion of Harlows prison diet and if he works out?
Right?
in a somewhat related matter, the current and former President Judges of The Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas (Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella) plead guilty last week to sending kids to a Private Detention Facility for kickbacks.
Conahan and Ciavarella appear to have appointed their cronies to Luzerne County’s CONFLICT COUNSEL POOL to represent criminal defendants.
of course, BOTH Cuadra and Kerekes were represented by attorneys from Luzerne County’s Conflict Counsel Pool of Lawyers.