...you people wouldn't believe.
Porn stars making fake rape claims.
I walked in the footsteps of heroes, and liveblogged the non-arrival of a person of absolutely no importance whatsoever.
I exposed a deceitful witness, cutting her exposure time from a full day to a mere 30 minutes.
All those moments will be remembered, like words on a page.
Time to say goodbye.
Update: Happy Arrest Day 2009! I'm off to Boston Market to celebrate...
Update 2: One final adminstrative matter - on reflection
I now think "Victory Day" (March 12) has surpassed "Arrest Day" in appropriateness to serve as the day for our planned annual reunions here. So, if you are so inclined check back here on March 12, 2010 for an open Reunion thread.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Final Thoughts III
The Trial
-------------
I was so eager to write this post in March, right after the verdict was announced. At that time, I was possessed with such...emotion...that words were just bursting to get out. But I decided to hold off until today, because, as you'll see, that emotion expressed itself as a question, indeed, a burning question. And was hoping beyond hope that the people to whom that question would be asked would have perhaps shed some light on the answer in the meantime.
Well, alas no. The question today remains largely unanswered. So, I guess we'll have to ask and try to search for the answer that question, on our own, today.
But first, I felt I needed to recapture that same emotion I had when I first formed The Question. So, I spent this better part of this morning re-reading all my Trial Musings posts. In fact...I recommend everyone do that as well. Yes, Trial Musing 1, all the way through Victory! Yes, I know it's a lot of reading, but it'll be time well spent, trust me. It'll put you in the same frame of mind as myself right now, as we prepare to probe The Question.
Done reading? Good. By now, most of you should have figured out exactly to whom The Question is addressed: Naturally, The Question is addressed to the Harlowites. Yes, that same group of people who for close to two years have been lecturing us on how Harlow is innocent until proven innocent. On how we must all wait for the trial. On how, once we hear Harlow's side of the story, the scales will fall from our eyes, and how our world view will change overnight.
And all that trial re-reading, The Question itself should be obvious as well. It being:
WHAT THE FUCKING HELL WERE YOU PEOPLE THINKING???????
That's The Question, pretty much in a nutshell. And since the verdict, there just has been no satisfactory explanation from those primarily responsible for this farce of a trial for their actions. A travesty which not only WASTED two years of our lives here, but perhaps more importantly, ruined the lives of the Kerekes and Zaldivar families.
---
I want to elaborate on that last point, because it is of critical moral importance. It is my firm belief that Harlow and Joe, had they been reasonable after their arrest on May 15, would have been able to easily secure plea bargains at that early stage far more lenient than the life w/o parole sentences they ended up with by fighting and foot dragging to the verge (in Joe's case) or the actuality (in Harlow's) of a trial.
Consider the case of Bobby Lee Komrowski. Some of you may remember him as the prison cellmate of Joe Kerekes, transported to testify at Harlow's trial, but (for whatever reason) not called. The reason I bring him up actually has nothing to do with his stint an aborted witness, but rather, on the merits of his own case for which he was incarcerated.
Comparisons between Komrowski and Harlow/Joe are interesting. Both were capital murder cases. Both were grisly stabbings. Both in 2007. Both were committed in Luzerne County, and prosecuted by the Luzerne County DA's Office. Komrowski was defended by Mark Bufalino, who was for a time Joe Kerekes alternate public defender.
The differences? Well, the key one being, Komrowski did not unreasonably try to drag his case to trial, but instead allowed Bufalino to negotiate a reasonable plea arrangement early on. He and the DA quickly agreed to a 20-40 year sentence, which was routinely approved in due course by the court.
Oh, and there were other interesting differences as well. Komrowski committed his crime alone, meaning, there was no co-defendant he could offer to "roll" on. In addition, Komrowski's victim, his girlfriend and mother of their child, was needless to say a rather more sympathetic one than Harlow/Joe's. And on top of that, the Komrowski case was VASTLY less complex, with all local witnesses; hence could have been prosecuted by cash-strapped Luzerne County much more cheaply than the Kocis case, had the case gone to trial.
In other words...all the differences between these similar cases indicate that Harlow and Joe could have gotten an even better deal than 20-40, had they been so inclined early on.
And THAT folks, is what makes my blood boil right now. WHY were Harlow and Joe not-so-inclined? Who manipulated them into such self-detrimental folly?
---
Well, I think we can safely say it was not their court appointed attorneys. Surely, they would have advised Harlow and Joe that the state of the evidence against them was so overwhelming that a plea was their best and only hope, and the sooner they could start bargaining, the better.
So, why didn't Harlow and Joe listen to their veteran public defenders, who knew the lay of the land: the judges, the DAs, the clerks; who knew better than most what was possible and what was impossible in their own familiar court system?
It's possible, I suppose, Harlow and Joe may have deluded themselves to some extent. Their well established narcissistic personalities, which led in the past to delusions of grandeur, could also have inflicted them with a mental illusion of invulnerability.
But to me...that explanation alone just does not cut the mustard. No, someone else must have been urging them to reject the common sense proffered by their attorneys. I speak, naturally, of that breed of vermin I have referred to over the past two years as the Harlowites.
---
So, who are the Harlowites?
Well naturally, as the name implies, they are people who have since the murder supported Harlow, and the notion he was innocent. And I've noticed they can be divided into three categories:
1) The Corrigan Derangement Syndrome (CDS) sufferers;
2) The Harlow Clients and Associates (HCA);
3) Elm
Let me deal with that last one first.
Elm is a rare bird. He, and he alone that I know of, doesn't really pigeonhole into either of the first two categories. I could say more...but I don't see the need to, really. I have opinions about Elm, which I have stated here in the past...just enter "Elm" as a search term on this blog if you want read them. The thing about Elm is, I don't think he ever was so close to Harlow and/or Joe as to influence their decision making, one way or the other. So in view of that...I am giving him a pass.
Elm, you are free to leave the woodshed unharmed. Go in peace.
---
The first group of Harlowites are easily my favorite, because they are so predictable and easy to understand. There is very little mystery as to what motivates a Corrigan Derangement Syndrome sufferer!
CDS sufferers are also fun to study, because they can be further subdivided into subcategories. This is important to do, because as it turns out...not all CDS sufferers turned out to be Harlowites.
I shall explain. On the various pre-arrest online forums, CDS sufferers were united in stridently declaring Grant and Brent the murderers. That was their defining trait. When they spoke about Harlow, if at all, it was as the poor innocent waif set up by the aforementioned evildoers.
My theory as to why: The CDS sufferers back then were afraid that by introducing a non-Sean non-Grant party into their various conspiracy theories, it could be pointed out that that party may have acted alone. A fear that turned out to be pretty well justified, because as we all know, that is exactly the reality of what happened.
After Arrest Day, a schism developed. Some CDS sufferers read the arrest affidavit, accepted reality, and immediately acknowledged Harlow and Joe as the killers. Naturally, "...put them up to it..." became their new battle cry.
The blogger "BB" would become perhaps the best known representative of this "Realist" subcategory. Since they are by definition not Harlowites, I should say no more of them here; however, for the sake of historical completeness I cannot resist writing a brief post-script here as to what became of them. As the evidence mounted against "put them up to it," they gradually fell back upon "they failed to warn!" and other such less impressive arguments for culpability which never quite caught on. Their Waterloo, however, was during the trial, when both Sean and Grant were called to testify for the prosecution. For YEARS, they had openly salivated in great anticipation of this sacred and holy moment, when under no-doubt withering cross-examination "they would have a meltdown" and "all their lies would be exposed." But like the actual battle of Waterloo, well...things did not go exactly as planned. Brent by all accounts "performed brilliantly," and Grant's testimony, rather than melting down or exposing lies was noted most for the remarkable candor in which he calmly detailed his less-than-favorable opinion of the victim, Bryan Kocis. La Garde recule! Palpably dispirited afterwards, the Realists have since then more or less faded away.
Other CDS sufferers, OTOH, never could abandon Harlow. For them, their contempt for Brent was so extreme, they simply could not fathom the notion that anyone in their right mind could commit murder in order to work with him, either "put up to" or no. The motive for the crime was thus by objective definition ridiculous; therefore, Harlow HAD to have been framed. Jason Ridge and John Roecker are the leading lights of this "Harlowite" wing of the CDS sufferers, and really, half of what this post is about today.
As I've said before, I don't really watch a lot of gay porn, so, I can't say I know a whole lot about Jason Ridge. While I obviously never saw any of his movies, from what I've been able to determine by reading his blog, he appears to be an aging, balding, out of shape and pathologically insecure porn star. Apparently, he first came into contact with Brent while working together on The Velvet Mafia, and for reasons unknown seems to have developed some sort of bug up his butt towards he and Grant during that time. Shortly after Harlow was arrested, Ridge announced that he had made a large donation to Harlow's defense fund, in doing so taking a stand against "the nasty pedifiles defending Brent Corrigan."
(You know, the funny thing looking back on that old post of mine, is that I and pretty much everyone else back then simply assumed this was just a publicity stunt by Jason Ridge. That it had to be, as nobody could be so stupid as to truly believe Harlow was innocent. Well, fast forward to today, and based on his words and actions since, I'll be the first to admit: I was wrong. It wasn't just a publicity stunt. He really did think Harlow was innocent. He really was that stupid. Yep, he sure showed me.)
And I confess to know even less about Roecker. All I know is that he's a relatively obscure LA based filmmaker, rumored to be a regular escort client of Jason Ridge, who by producing a slavishly sympathetic documentary of Harlow Cuadra (complete with a re-enactment of Sean and Grant sneaking into Bryan's house), became in effect the Leni Riefenstahl of the Harlowites. Roecker also allegedly paid $50,000 to Harlow's defense fund, as a "fee" for the interview.
Given all of the above, I don't think it's a leap to suggest both Ridge, Roecker, and the other various CDS Harlowites played a huge role in Harlow's decision to gamble his life away at trial. A plea was the last thing these people wanted, as it would remove suspicion from where they wanted it to be. Tearing down Brent was always the main objective with this group, not saving Harlow. Harlow was merely a tool to be used towards that objective.
One final highly amusing point, before I move on: Roecker's Harlow interview was, by quirk of fate, conducted before Joe pled out. Meaning, it portrayed Joe in a way completely at odds with the way the defense wanted Joe portrayed at trial - a loving soul mate who coyly courted Harlow at a mall, rather than a monster who Stockholm Syndromed Harlow into thralldom. Naturally, Melnick used the Roecker interview to very effectively impeach Harlow on the stand, so that ultimately, John Roecker's propaganda ended up swaying the only 12 people who mattered in precisely the opposite direction as was intended.
I must say, the gods of poetic justice have truly worked wonders in this saga!
---
On Day 7 of the Harlow Trial back in March, facial orifices expanded all over the Kocisphere as we read:
$70,000 is a lot of money to spend for "love." And it's interesting that this insane degree of love didn't motivate Mr. Hallford to back up an alibi for Harlow, which Harlow asked him to do.
So naturally, I begin to wonder: If Roecker gave Harlow $50 grand in order to selfishly convince Harlow not to plea, might Hallford be giving his $70 grand for the same general purpose? This theory begins to make sense, if you consider the possibility that much of that $70 grand came from other people.
OK, I'll be honest with you folks: I am now entering purely speculative territory. What I am presenting for your consideration today is just a theory. It is a theory that is consistent with the facts we know, but it is currently untested, and hence unproven. Perhaps others after me will care to put it to some tests. Then again, perhaps not. We'll see. I leave it to you all as a parting gift; an unpolished gem, to do with as you wish.
I put forth to you that Mr. Hallford was acting as a "bag man." Oh, I'm sure a small portion may have come from him. But the lion's share I propose came from other escort clients of Harlow. Other clients who are very keen not to be discovered, and used Mr. Hallford to launder their donations.
Other members of this theoretical "Harlow Clients and Associates" group would probably include Barry Taylor (a known client of Harlow), Cheryl "Sassy" Conrad (works for Mr. Taylor), and Renee Martin (at her old job was previously embroiled a financial misappropriation scandal; then managed the Harlow Defense Fund, which by an amazing coincidence is currently embroiled in a financial misappropriation scandal). Heck, I would be surprised if Preacher George is part of this group as well, in some less-than-holy capacity.
I believe these HCAs did not want Harlow and Joe to plea, because they didn't want a "little black book" (actually, I have no idea what color it is, nor whether it's even a book...but you get my drift) possibly ending up as a bargaining chip in these negociations.
These HCAs I wager are also exceedingly happy with the end result of Harlow and Joe being in jail for life...even being on death row would have been peachy with them. As things stand now, all they have to do keep their respective canteen fund at a healthy level, and for a nominal sum of money, buy their silence for life. Had Harlow or Joe ever been released, say, due to a plea bargain, the cost of silence would have risen exponentially. Cigarettes, writing paper, and gum are cheap. Rolexes and cars named Old Blue are not.
Lastly, I now believe that one of these unknown clients is indeed a United States Senator.
Now as you all know, I am not a conspiracy nut. So, I don't make this claim lightly. Initially, I was skeptical when Joe first made this claim:
As to the exact identity of this US Senator, who knows. I'm outa here on the 15th, so, this yet another project I bequeath to some enterprising soul who may chose to undertake it. Who knows, the answer may be closer than we realize. Perhaps on this very blog. Perhaps all someone has to do is connect the dots.
Well, however close to the truth these new theories of mine get, one thing is for certain: These HCA's, by their misguided (perhaps even self-serving) support, probably urged Harlow Joe away from a sensible early plea deal. Thanks to them we had to endure these two years of waiting, all for this incredible joke of a trial.
---
But like all good jokes, I will admit the trial was entertaining. And as unexpectedly entertaing as the trial turned out to be...and as much as I've enjoyed you all's company these past two years as well...
On May 16, 2007, I can remember how happy we were all then that the whole mess was sure to be just days away from being OVER.
And then the affidavit came out, and we saw what it was they were arrested on...and we thought...WHEW! Oh yeah. This is OVER! No way this'll go to trial...only a matter of days now...or minutes...
Days turned into weeks, weeks into months, months into years...
You know, it's my belief that people in general are rational beings, and that they'll always tend to follow their rational self-interests. And when they don't, that means one of two things: Either a fool is in the equation, OR there are some hidden self-interests out pushing things in what appears to be an unexpected direction.
Now, it is possible both Harlow and Joe were monumental fools. But...it's kind of unlikely. One monumental fool, well we see that all the time. But two monumental fools, in the same situation, simultaneously? That stretches probability a bit.
So, for that reason I have to believe that other furtive self-interests opportunistically entered the picture in May of 2007, and rather callously led Harlow and Joe down a two year path to destruction.
To all you Harlowites out there, who made this trial happen...yeah, I hope your all happy. In 20 years, Harlow will be 46. Joe, somewhere in his 50s. Both with many years of life expectancy ahead of them. But for you and your efforts these past two years, Harlow and Joe might have spent these years as free men, reunited with their families. Instead, thanks to you, in 20 years they will still be making license plates. Atta boy!
To the Brent haters out there like Ridge and Roecker, hey a little word of advice to you guys: Next time a fit of jealously compels you to express your mindless hatred, perhaps next time consider doing so in a way that, say, doesn't cause a half a lifetime of unneccessary misery to an innocent woman like Gladis Zaldivar? Maybe consider doing something a little less destructive, like, oh I don't know, writing an angry blog post? Or if you really are frustrated with the failure of your porn company compared to Brent's, maybe try grabbing an unattended microphone, and saying some bad things about him to a large audience? Or if you are really upset for some reason, just settle for having Brent's boyfriend placed in handcuffs for 10 seconds? Because as vicious and as classless and as stupid and as mindlessly vindictive as all those actions are...that's all PEANUTS compared to the collateral damage you've inflicted on people other than your intended target. This was a trial, a capital murder TRIAL. This was not a fucking game...your childish little porn spat with Brent Corrigan came within four votes of getting a man EXECUTED. Think about that. Oh, and uh, Layla Tov.
And to other Harlow enablers and clients out there...if you had truly loved Harlow, you would have given him good advice two years ago, and dissuaded him from the Kamikaze course he ended up on. Which means at best you're idiots, at worst, you're something more sinister. Whichever it is, I don't really care. But I will say this: the only thing more stupid out there than Harlow's trial is Harlow's appeal. It'll fail, but if by a miracle it succeeds, and a new trial is granted...God help Harlow. On a rerun, I would not be surprised to see a 12-0 vote for death.
Not that I'll be watching this appeal at all. Waiting two years for one ridiculous trial is enough for me.
-------------
I was so eager to write this post in March, right after the verdict was announced. At that time, I was possessed with such...emotion...that words were just bursting to get out. But I decided to hold off until today, because, as you'll see, that emotion expressed itself as a question, indeed, a burning question. And was hoping beyond hope that the people to whom that question would be asked would have perhaps shed some light on the answer in the meantime.
Well, alas no. The question today remains largely unanswered. So, I guess we'll have to ask and try to search for the answer that question, on our own, today.
But first, I felt I needed to recapture that same emotion I had when I first formed The Question. So, I spent this better part of this morning re-reading all my Trial Musings posts. In fact...I recommend everyone do that as well. Yes, Trial Musing 1, all the way through Victory! Yes, I know it's a lot of reading, but it'll be time well spent, trust me. It'll put you in the same frame of mind as myself right now, as we prepare to probe The Question.
Done reading? Good. By now, most of you should have figured out exactly to whom The Question is addressed: Naturally, The Question is addressed to the Harlowites. Yes, that same group of people who for close to two years have been lecturing us on how Harlow is innocent until proven innocent. On how we must all wait for the trial. On how, once we hear Harlow's side of the story, the scales will fall from our eyes, and how our world view will change overnight.
And all that trial re-reading, The Question itself should be obvious as well. It being:
WHAT THE FUCKING HELL WERE YOU PEOPLE THINKING???????
That's The Question, pretty much in a nutshell. And since the verdict, there just has been no satisfactory explanation from those primarily responsible for this farce of a trial for their actions. A travesty which not only WASTED two years of our lives here, but perhaps more importantly, ruined the lives of the Kerekes and Zaldivar families.
---
I want to elaborate on that last point, because it is of critical moral importance. It is my firm belief that Harlow and Joe, had they been reasonable after their arrest on May 15, would have been able to easily secure plea bargains at that early stage far more lenient than the life w/o parole sentences they ended up with by fighting and foot dragging to the verge (in Joe's case) or the actuality (in Harlow's) of a trial.
Consider the case of Bobby Lee Komrowski. Some of you may remember him as the prison cellmate of Joe Kerekes, transported to testify at Harlow's trial, but (for whatever reason) not called. The reason I bring him up actually has nothing to do with his stint an aborted witness, but rather, on the merits of his own case for which he was incarcerated.Comparisons between Komrowski and Harlow/Joe are interesting. Both were capital murder cases. Both were grisly stabbings. Both in 2007. Both were committed in Luzerne County, and prosecuted by the Luzerne County DA's Office. Komrowski was defended by Mark Bufalino, who was for a time Joe Kerekes alternate public defender.
The differences? Well, the key one being, Komrowski did not unreasonably try to drag his case to trial, but instead allowed Bufalino to negotiate a reasonable plea arrangement early on. He and the DA quickly agreed to a 20-40 year sentence, which was routinely approved in due course by the court.
Oh, and there were other interesting differences as well. Komrowski committed his crime alone, meaning, there was no co-defendant he could offer to "roll" on. In addition, Komrowski's victim, his girlfriend and mother of their child, was needless to say a rather more sympathetic one than Harlow/Joe's. And on top of that, the Komrowski case was VASTLY less complex, with all local witnesses; hence could have been prosecuted by cash-strapped Luzerne County much more cheaply than the Kocis case, had the case gone to trial.
In other words...all the differences between these similar cases indicate that Harlow and Joe could have gotten an even better deal than 20-40, had they been so inclined early on.
And THAT folks, is what makes my blood boil right now. WHY were Harlow and Joe not-so-inclined? Who manipulated them into such self-detrimental folly?
---
Well, I think we can safely say it was not their court appointed attorneys. Surely, they would have advised Harlow and Joe that the state of the evidence against them was so overwhelming that a plea was their best and only hope, and the sooner they could start bargaining, the better.
So, why didn't Harlow and Joe listen to their veteran public defenders, who knew the lay of the land: the judges, the DAs, the clerks; who knew better than most what was possible and what was impossible in their own familiar court system?
It's possible, I suppose, Harlow and Joe may have deluded themselves to some extent. Their well established narcissistic personalities, which led in the past to delusions of grandeur, could also have inflicted them with a mental illusion of invulnerability.
But to me...that explanation alone just does not cut the mustard. No, someone else must have been urging them to reject the common sense proffered by their attorneys. I speak, naturally, of that breed of vermin I have referred to over the past two years as the Harlowites.
---
So, who are the Harlowites?
Well naturally, as the name implies, they are people who have since the murder supported Harlow, and the notion he was innocent. And I've noticed they can be divided into three categories:
1) The Corrigan Derangement Syndrome (CDS) sufferers;
2) The Harlow Clients and Associates (HCA);
3) Elm
Let me deal with that last one first.
Elm is a rare bird. He, and he alone that I know of, doesn't really pigeonhole into either of the first two categories. I could say more...but I don't see the need to, really. I have opinions about Elm, which I have stated here in the past...just enter "Elm" as a search term on this blog if you want read them. The thing about Elm is, I don't think he ever was so close to Harlow and/or Joe as to influence their decision making, one way or the other. So in view of that...I am giving him a pass.Elm, you are free to leave the woodshed unharmed. Go in peace.
---
The first group of Harlowites are easily my favorite, because they are so predictable and easy to understand. There is very little mystery as to what motivates a Corrigan Derangement Syndrome sufferer!
CDS sufferers are also fun to study, because they can be further subdivided into subcategories. This is important to do, because as it turns out...not all CDS sufferers turned out to be Harlowites.
I shall explain. On the various pre-arrest online forums, CDS sufferers were united in stridently declaring Grant and Brent the murderers. That was their defining trait. When they spoke about Harlow, if at all, it was as the poor innocent waif set up by the aforementioned evildoers.
My theory as to why: The CDS sufferers back then were afraid that by introducing a non-Sean non-Grant party into their various conspiracy theories, it could be pointed out that that party may have acted alone. A fear that turned out to be pretty well justified, because as we all know, that is exactly the reality of what happened.
After Arrest Day, a schism developed. Some CDS sufferers read the arrest affidavit, accepted reality, and immediately acknowledged Harlow and Joe as the killers. Naturally, "...put them up to it..." became their new battle cry.
The blogger "BB" would become perhaps the best known representative of this "Realist" subcategory. Since they are by definition not Harlowites, I should say no more of them here; however, for the sake of historical completeness I cannot resist writing a brief post-script here as to what became of them. As the evidence mounted against "put them up to it," they gradually fell back upon "they failed to warn!" and other such less impressive arguments for culpability which never quite caught on. Their Waterloo, however, was during the trial, when both Sean and Grant were called to testify for the prosecution. For YEARS, they had openly salivated in great anticipation of this sacred and holy moment, when under no-doubt withering cross-examination "they would have a meltdown" and "all their lies would be exposed." But like the actual battle of Waterloo, well...things did not go exactly as planned. Brent by all accounts "performed brilliantly," and Grant's testimony, rather than melting down or exposing lies was noted most for the remarkable candor in which he calmly detailed his less-than-favorable opinion of the victim, Bryan Kocis. La Garde recule! Palpably dispirited afterwards, the Realists have since then more or less faded away.
Other CDS sufferers, OTOH, never could abandon Harlow. For them, their contempt for Brent was so extreme, they simply could not fathom the notion that anyone in their right mind could commit murder in order to work with him, either "put up to" or no. The motive for the crime was thus by objective definition ridiculous; therefore, Harlow HAD to have been framed. Jason Ridge and John Roecker are the leading lights of this "Harlowite" wing of the CDS sufferers, and really, half of what this post is about today.As I've said before, I don't really watch a lot of gay porn, so, I can't say I know a whole lot about Jason Ridge. While I obviously never saw any of his movies, from what I've been able to determine by reading his blog, he appears to be an aging, balding, out of shape and pathologically insecure porn star. Apparently, he first came into contact with Brent while working together on The Velvet Mafia, and for reasons unknown seems to have developed some sort of bug up his butt towards he and Grant during that time. Shortly after Harlow was arrested, Ridge announced that he had made a large donation to Harlow's defense fund, in doing so taking a stand against "the nasty pedifiles defending Brent Corrigan."
(You know, the funny thing looking back on that old post of mine, is that I and pretty much everyone else back then simply assumed this was just a publicity stunt by Jason Ridge. That it had to be, as nobody could be so stupid as to truly believe Harlow was innocent. Well, fast forward to today, and based on his words and actions since, I'll be the first to admit: I was wrong. It wasn't just a publicity stunt. He really did think Harlow was innocent. He really was that stupid. Yep, he sure showed me.)
And I confess to know even less about Roecker. All I know is that he's a relatively obscure LA based filmmaker, rumored to be a regular escort client of Jason Ridge, who by producing a slavishly sympathetic documentary of Harlow Cuadra (complete with a re-enactment of Sean and Grant sneaking into Bryan's house), became in effect the Leni Riefenstahl of the Harlowites. Roecker also allegedly paid $50,000 to Harlow's defense fund, as a "fee" for the interview.Given all of the above, I don't think it's a leap to suggest both Ridge, Roecker, and the other various CDS Harlowites played a huge role in Harlow's decision to gamble his life away at trial. A plea was the last thing these people wanted, as it would remove suspicion from where they wanted it to be. Tearing down Brent was always the main objective with this group, not saving Harlow. Harlow was merely a tool to be used towards that objective.
One final highly amusing point, before I move on: Roecker's Harlow interview was, by quirk of fate, conducted before Joe pled out. Meaning, it portrayed Joe in a way completely at odds with the way the defense wanted Joe portrayed at trial - a loving soul mate who coyly courted Harlow at a mall, rather than a monster who Stockholm Syndromed Harlow into thralldom. Naturally, Melnick used the Roecker interview to very effectively impeach Harlow on the stand, so that ultimately, John Roecker's propaganda ended up swaying the only 12 people who mattered in precisely the opposite direction as was intended.
I must say, the gods of poetic justice have truly worked wonders in this saga!
---
On Day 7 of the Harlow Trial back in March, facial orifices expanded all over the Kocisphere as we read:"Mouths opened and eyes widened among a few jurors on Wednesday when a customer of Harlow Cuadra’s male escort business in Virginia testified he gave Cuadra $70,000 to help pay for his defense on criminal homicide charges.Re-reading this today, however, it is my nostrils that are flaring. Frankly folks, after months of reflection...I now smell BS.
Howard Mitchell Hallford, 48, told the Luzerne County jury he gave the money to Cuadra, 27, because he loves him."
$70,000 is a lot of money to spend for "love." And it's interesting that this insane degree of love didn't motivate Mr. Hallford to back up an alibi for Harlow, which Harlow asked him to do.
So naturally, I begin to wonder: If Roecker gave Harlow $50 grand in order to selfishly convince Harlow not to plea, might Hallford be giving his $70 grand for the same general purpose? This theory begins to make sense, if you consider the possibility that much of that $70 grand came from other people.
OK, I'll be honest with you folks: I am now entering purely speculative territory. What I am presenting for your consideration today is just a theory. It is a theory that is consistent with the facts we know, but it is currently untested, and hence unproven. Perhaps others after me will care to put it to some tests. Then again, perhaps not. We'll see. I leave it to you all as a parting gift; an unpolished gem, to do with as you wish.
I put forth to you that Mr. Hallford was acting as a "bag man." Oh, I'm sure a small portion may have come from him. But the lion's share I propose came from other escort clients of Harlow. Other clients who are very keen not to be discovered, and used Mr. Hallford to launder their donations.
Other members of this theoretical "Harlow Clients and Associates" group would probably include Barry Taylor (a known client of Harlow), Cheryl "Sassy" Conrad (works for Mr. Taylor), and Renee Martin (at her old job was previously embroiled a financial misappropriation scandal; then managed the Harlow Defense Fund, which by an amazing coincidence is currently embroiled in a financial misappropriation scandal). Heck, I would be surprised if Preacher George is part of this group as well, in some less-than-holy capacity.I believe these HCAs did not want Harlow and Joe to plea, because they didn't want a "little black book" (actually, I have no idea what color it is, nor whether it's even a book...but you get my drift) possibly ending up as a bargaining chip in these negociations.
These HCAs I wager are also exceedingly happy with the end result of Harlow and Joe being in jail for life...even being on death row would have been peachy with them. As things stand now, all they have to do keep their respective canteen fund at a healthy level, and for a nominal sum of money, buy their silence for life. Had Harlow or Joe ever been released, say, due to a plea bargain, the cost of silence would have risen exponentially. Cigarettes, writing paper, and gum are cheap. Rolexes and cars named Old Blue are not.
Lastly, I now believe that one of these unknown clients is indeed a United States Senator.
Now as you all know, I am not a conspiracy nut. So, I don't make this claim lightly. Initially, I was skeptical when Joe first made this claim:
"mark @ www.boisrus.com said...But when you factor in Justin Hensley testifying under oath to the existence of this Senator as well, combined with Quicky's earwitness courtroom account of the Black's Beach tape volume being turned down to inaudible levels at certain key points in the conversation...I have to admit the unthinkable may be thinkable: that Joe may have, to some extent, been telling the truth.
Diligently working Harlow is on his star studed blog :-)~...
Harlow and I along with Calvin just returned from a dude ranch in Montana where we thought we were just spending time in R & R a lo and behold. here we are nearly 70 miles from the nearest gas station and probably the same from the nearest "hot spot" we meet a Cowboy who almost instantly recognizes Harlow and asks, OMG are you ready for this..."Are you guys on the RUN."
I have to admit I almost slipped on my spilt tea. But this gentleman burst out with laughter and said, "Boy...see my shotgun over there on the wall?...If you are guilty I aint a US Senator."
Yes so we went horseback riding with Senator " " of " ".
Turns out Harlow and I spent the afternoon riding a different cowboy, and this Senator actually paid for our entire little vacation in an unplanned Escort booking. LOL Also...Harlow is heading out there again tomorrow for some more trail riding :-)
Just a Hello from all of us here in Norfolk today, and we look forward to all of your enlightening and exciting comments on Harlows blog. www.harlowcuadraonline.com
April 17, 2007 4:47 AM"
As to the exact identity of this US Senator, who knows. I'm outa here on the 15th, so, this yet another project I bequeath to some enterprising soul who may chose to undertake it. Who knows, the answer may be closer than we realize. Perhaps on this very blog. Perhaps all someone has to do is connect the dots.
Well, however close to the truth these new theories of mine get, one thing is for certain: These HCA's, by their misguided (perhaps even self-serving) support, probably urged Harlow Joe away from a sensible early plea deal. Thanks to them we had to endure these two years of waiting, all for this incredible joke of a trial.
---
But like all good jokes, I will admit the trial was entertaining. And as unexpectedly entertaing as the trial turned out to be...and as much as I've enjoyed you all's company these past two years as well...
On May 16, 2007, I can remember how happy we were all then that the whole mess was sure to be just days away from being OVER.
And then the affidavit came out, and we saw what it was they were arrested on...and we thought...WHEW! Oh yeah. This is OVER! No way this'll go to trial...only a matter of days now...or minutes...
Days turned into weeks, weeks into months, months into years...
You know, it's my belief that people in general are rational beings, and that they'll always tend to follow their rational self-interests. And when they don't, that means one of two things: Either a fool is in the equation, OR there are some hidden self-interests out pushing things in what appears to be an unexpected direction.
Now, it is possible both Harlow and Joe were monumental fools. But...it's kind of unlikely. One monumental fool, well we see that all the time. But two monumental fools, in the same situation, simultaneously? That stretches probability a bit.
So, for that reason I have to believe that other furtive self-interests opportunistically entered the picture in May of 2007, and rather callously led Harlow and Joe down a two year path to destruction.
To all you Harlowites out there, who made this trial happen...yeah, I hope your all happy. In 20 years, Harlow will be 46. Joe, somewhere in his 50s. Both with many years of life expectancy ahead of them. But for you and your efforts these past two years, Harlow and Joe might have spent these years as free men, reunited with their families. Instead, thanks to you, in 20 years they will still be making license plates. Atta boy!
To the Brent haters out there like Ridge and Roecker, hey a little word of advice to you guys: Next time a fit of jealously compels you to express your mindless hatred, perhaps next time consider doing so in a way that, say, doesn't cause a half a lifetime of unneccessary misery to an innocent woman like Gladis Zaldivar? Maybe consider doing something a little less destructive, like, oh I don't know, writing an angry blog post? Or if you really are frustrated with the failure of your porn company compared to Brent's, maybe try grabbing an unattended microphone, and saying some bad things about him to a large audience? Or if you are really upset for some reason, just settle for having Brent's boyfriend placed in handcuffs for 10 seconds? Because as vicious and as classless and as stupid and as mindlessly vindictive as all those actions are...that's all PEANUTS compared to the collateral damage you've inflicted on people other than your intended target. This was a trial, a capital murder TRIAL. This was not a fucking game...your childish little porn spat with Brent Corrigan came within four votes of getting a man EXECUTED. Think about that. Oh, and uh, Layla Tov.
And to other Harlow enablers and clients out there...if you had truly loved Harlow, you would have given him good advice two years ago, and dissuaded him from the Kamikaze course he ended up on. Which means at best you're idiots, at worst, you're something more sinister. Whichever it is, I don't really care. But I will say this: the only thing more stupid out there than Harlow's trial is Harlow's appeal. It'll fail, but if by a miracle it succeeds, and a new trial is granted...God help Harlow. On a rerun, I would not be surprised to see a 12-0 vote for death.
Not that I'll be watching this appeal at all. Waiting two years for one ridiculous trial is enough for me.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Final Thoughts II
The Investigation
------------------------
Ah, the murder investigation period. January 25, 2007 to May 15, 2007. 111 days of my life I shall never forget.
Here's a excerpt from one of this blog's early posts, explaining how I got involved in all this:
And that's what today's Final Thoughts will mostly be about - the blogger investigation of the Kocis murder, and my not-so-humble involvement in it. The blogger investigation (as opposed to the police, or "real" investigation) was conducted by bloggers and commenters after the murder/before the arrest mainly on Jason Curious' News Desk, and then increasingly on Elm's blog.
Here's from another earlier blog post of mine, briefly describing those tempestuous days:
1) The murderer stole Harlow's photo off the internet at random, by trolling escort sites (interestingly, this was Harlow's explanation to the media, when he was first contacted);
2) The murderer stole Harlow's photo off the internet intentionally, in order to frame him; or
3) Harlow was involved in the murder.
A few days after the Harlow/Drake connection was made, some enterprising commenteer made the next big revelation in the "blogger investigation" of the crime - the discovery of Harlow's Photobucket account, which had the famed photo of Brent and Harlow outside Le Cirque, with bow-tie askew.
Of course, we knew nothing of Le Cirque at that time. But by examination of the time/date EXIF data of the photo, I was able to determine it had likely been taken in Las Vegas, the weekend of the big AVN convention that year, which Brent Corrigan was known to have been in attendance at. The date being the significant fact to bear in mind here; this was a relatively recent photo.
Which meant, we could now eliminate possibility 1 from our list above. The odds of a random murderer randomly choosing Harlow's photo from the ENTIRE internet to be Drake, AND Harlow hanging out with Brent Corrigan just days before the murder...astronomical to one against. Either the murderer is intentionally framing Harlow, or...Harlow is the murderer. Those were the only two choices that remained.
Notice that Harlow almost certainly lied to the media when he said the photo MUST have just been plucked off the internet at random. He must, in fact, have known otherwise, having met with Brent in Vegas just days before. He also made another nearly certain lie in that initial interview...that he had no idea who Bryan Kocis was. Needless to say, it would have been extremely unlikely to have just socialized with Brent Corrigan, and not have known who Bryan Kocis was. Not to mention that, in addition to escorting, they ran a competing gay twink porn studio in the very same Mid-Atlantic region as Cobra Video.
These obvious lies by Harlow were certainly suggestive. But the last piece of the puzzle fell into place when news accounts revealed ALL of Bryan's computers had been stolen from the house prior to the murder and arson.
This iced it. We could now eliminate possibility 2 from our list, because stealing the computers that received and held the Drake photo would have been the LAST thing a framer using the Drake photo to frame someone with would EVER want to do (it turns out, in fact, the reason police had the Drake photo at all was because it had been casually forwarded to Robert Wagner...an event our hypothetical framer could never have predicted).
So, I had now eliminated possibilities 1 and 2 from our list. That left 3, and to quote Conan Doyle:
---
Trying to make others on Jason Curious see the obvious was not so simple. Few there was interested in logic and deduction; most everyone else there had a pig-headed fixation with question of motive. And that meant Sean and Grant, who had the most compelling emotional motive (with the lawsuit irrevocably settled, a financial motive was far more hypothetical) MUST have been the murderers. And Harlow, who seemingly lacked a motive at the time (this would eventually be prooved otherwise, with PC getting the gold star for his investigation into Harlow's finances) must be innocent.
My frustrations increased when "Mark@boisrus.com" started posting. At first, I did not know what to make of him. I even tried to subtly warn him via tactfully worded comments that one of his escorts was very probably a murderer. Not surprisingly (in hindsight), he ignored my well-meaning advisories.
But my biggest frustration was with the police. As February gave way to March, and March gave way to April...I could not believe they had not arrested Harlow. It was so obvious! And of course, everyone online was making hay of this fact, at my expense. 'But jim...' they would say, '...if Harlow were guilty as you say, certainly the police would have arrested him by now!' Grrrrr... >:-(
Honestly, this is one of the few things about the police investigation (as opposed to the blog investigation, which I am focusing on here) that amaze me: the length of time they allowed Harlow and Joe to roam free. The PA State Police, like I, must have deduced early that Harlow and Joe were killers. They ordered SWAT raid on their house in February, and while I have heard rumors that it was intended they be arrested that night in the house too...they were not there, and they weren't. Harlow and Joe were lulled into a sense of security by the police after that, and given months of freedom.
So why did they wait until mid-May to make an arrest? Of course, we know the reasons in hindsight, the main one being to gather the excellent San Diego sting recordings (which proved not only who was involved, but also who was NOT involved), but what if Harlow and/or Joe committed another murder during that time frame? They were proven violent killers, so the possibility had to be allowed for. So, it seems to me the investigators were taking a terrible risk by delaying arrest for so long.
Yes I know; as things turned out, nothing bad happened. AND much good was accomplished. But it was still a huge risk nonetheless, IMO; that's my only point.
---
As to Sean and Grant's potential involvement, I generally kept an open mind during this period. However, the fact that Brent had implicated Harlow early on with his off the cuff "on the run" comment to Jody Wheeler was suggestive of them being NOT involved criminally. It's highly irregular for one unarrested co-conspirator to publicly blow the whistle on another unarrested co-conspirator, for obvious reasons.
So, when Harlow and Joe romped on the beach in late April with Sean and Grant, I must say I was quite surprised. Once again from that earlier post, here's how I described my emotions back then:
---
And on May 16, 2007...this saga SHOULD have ended. But it did not. as we all know, this no-brainer of a case proceeded to drag on for close to two years.
In my next post, we'll take a look at those two years, the reasons for those two years, and the people most responsible for those two long years. With the discussion of the latter I am tentatively intending to place under a header entitled: The Woodshed.
Update: Here's the magazine cover Michael Lucas tried (and failed) to have to have cancelled:
------------------------
Ah, the murder investigation period. January 25, 2007 to May 15, 2007. 111 days of my life I shall never forget.
Here's a excerpt from one of this blog's early posts, explaining how I got involved in all this:
"...Then, on Towleroad, I read about the Kocis killing. Wow! Al Capone is dead! My interest is rekindled. Thru links, I am lead to the Jason Curious site (where I had never visited before).What kind of makes me LOL as I re-read this is that earlier today Sassy made a comment (to the previous post) to the effect that I should be more questioning, and that I should see to it that "the story fits the facts and sense has been made." The ironic thing being, using this methodology was precisely how I successfully deduced, in February of 2007, that Harlow Cuadra was a cold-blooded killer.
Those early days, Jason's news desk was seemingly the only place in town talking about this story. Jason was doing an update practically every other day. Comments were going into the HUNDREDS (as opposed to the dozens, for his other porn-related posts). And what struck me immediately back then was the obviously FIERCE partisanship I witnessed, between pro- and anti-Brent forces. The Brent bashers were CONVINCED that Brent and some guy named Grant (who? I wondered) did the killing. BROKE into the Kocis home, SLASHED his throat, STABBED his corpse, BURNED his house, then calmly walked out to their waiting sports utility vehicle, DRIPPING MURDER FROM THEIR FINGERS.
Hmmm. I was skeptical. Seemed to me, back then, that someone capable of sending hired minions cross country to skirmish with security would have raised the art of making enemies to a science. Surely, there must be more than this Brent kid and this Grant fellow (who I learned was a boyfriend/manager) who hated this Kocis mobster enough to kill him."
And that's what today's Final Thoughts will mostly be about - the blogger investigation of the Kocis murder, and my not-so-humble involvement in it. The blogger investigation (as opposed to the police, or "real" investigation) was conducted by bloggers and commenters after the murder/before the arrest mainly on Jason Curious' News Desk, and then increasingly on Elm's blog.
Here's from another earlier blog post of mine, briefly describing those tempestuous days:
"For MONTHS prior to this, ever since the murder and the revelation of the Drake/Harlow connection, I was one of a VERY small band of stalwarts that had been saying all along that Harlow was the murderer. It's hard to imagine this now, but before Arrest Day this was a VERY VERY minority opinion. The leading theories were that 1) Grant and/or Brent did it; 2) Aaron aka Robert Wagner did it 3) "bb" did it (LOL, ok, only one person thought this); 4) the "15 y/o" did this; 5) a random Brent fan did this; 6) Luzerne County did this, etc etc etc. All of these dominent theories had a common thread: poor innocent little Harlow being framed.I should elaborate on this a bit; here is a great example of how one can use basic deductive reasoning to solve simple crimes like this one. Like I said back then, the revelation of the Drake/Harlow connection got the ball rolling. That Bryan was supposed to meet with "Drake," and that Drake was revealed to be one Harlow Cuadra, male escort, of Virginia Beach, meant to me that there could be only three possibilities:
So, back then, whenever I tried to point out that based on what we know, it was near impossible for Harlow to have been framed, therefore, he must be the murderer (ie, Occam's Razor), I would get passionately drowned out by the majority opiners enumerated above."
1) The murderer stole Harlow's photo off the internet at random, by trolling escort sites (interestingly, this was Harlow's explanation to the media, when he was first contacted);
2) The murderer stole Harlow's photo off the internet intentionally, in order to frame him; or
3) Harlow was involved in the murder.
A few days after the Harlow/Drake connection was made, some enterprising commenteer made the next big revelation in the "blogger investigation" of the crime - the discovery of Harlow's Photobucket account, which had the famed photo of Brent and Harlow outside Le Cirque, with bow-tie askew.
Of course, we knew nothing of Le Cirque at that time. But by examination of the time/date EXIF data of the photo, I was able to determine it had likely been taken in Las Vegas, the weekend of the big AVN convention that year, which Brent Corrigan was known to have been in attendance at. The date being the significant fact to bear in mind here; this was a relatively recent photo.
Which meant, we could now eliminate possibility 1 from our list above. The odds of a random murderer randomly choosing Harlow's photo from the ENTIRE internet to be Drake, AND Harlow hanging out with Brent Corrigan just days before the murder...astronomical to one against. Either the murderer is intentionally framing Harlow, or...Harlow is the murderer. Those were the only two choices that remained.
Notice that Harlow almost certainly lied to the media when he said the photo MUST have just been plucked off the internet at random. He must, in fact, have known otherwise, having met with Brent in Vegas just days before. He also made another nearly certain lie in that initial interview...that he had no idea who Bryan Kocis was. Needless to say, it would have been extremely unlikely to have just socialized with Brent Corrigan, and not have known who Bryan Kocis was. Not to mention that, in addition to escorting, they ran a competing gay twink porn studio in the very same Mid-Atlantic region as Cobra Video.
These obvious lies by Harlow were certainly suggestive. But the last piece of the puzzle fell into place when news accounts revealed ALL of Bryan's computers had been stolen from the house prior to the murder and arson.
This iced it. We could now eliminate possibility 2 from our list, because stealing the computers that received and held the Drake photo would have been the LAST thing a framer using the Drake photo to frame someone with would EVER want to do (it turns out, in fact, the reason police had the Drake photo at all was because it had been casually forwarded to Robert Wagner...an event our hypothetical framer could never have predicted).
So, I had now eliminated possibilities 1 and 2 from our list. That left 3, and to quote Conan Doyle:
"You eliminate the impossible, and whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."Thus in mid-February of 2007 I had independently determined, with mathematical certainly, that Harlow Raymond Cuadra was a murderer. There were of course still details to discover (namely, who exactly, if any, were Harlow's co-conspirators) but in the main, I had just single-handedly solved the Kocis murder.
---
Trying to make others on Jason Curious see the obvious was not so simple. Few there was interested in logic and deduction; most everyone else there had a pig-headed fixation with question of motive. And that meant Sean and Grant, who had the most compelling emotional motive (with the lawsuit irrevocably settled, a financial motive was far more hypothetical) MUST have been the murderers. And Harlow, who seemingly lacked a motive at the time (this would eventually be prooved otherwise, with PC getting the gold star for his investigation into Harlow's finances) must be innocent.
My frustrations increased when "Mark@boisrus.com" started posting. At first, I did not know what to make of him. I even tried to subtly warn him via tactfully worded comments that one of his escorts was very probably a murderer. Not surprisingly (in hindsight), he ignored my well-meaning advisories.
But my biggest frustration was with the police. As February gave way to March, and March gave way to April...I could not believe they had not arrested Harlow. It was so obvious! And of course, everyone online was making hay of this fact, at my expense. 'But jim...' they would say, '...if Harlow were guilty as you say, certainly the police would have arrested him by now!' Grrrrr... >:-(
Honestly, this is one of the few things about the police investigation (as opposed to the blog investigation, which I am focusing on here) that amaze me: the length of time they allowed Harlow and Joe to roam free. The PA State Police, like I, must have deduced early that Harlow and Joe were killers. They ordered SWAT raid on their house in February, and while I have heard rumors that it was intended they be arrested that night in the house too...they were not there, and they weren't. Harlow and Joe were lulled into a sense of security by the police after that, and given months of freedom.
So why did they wait until mid-May to make an arrest? Of course, we know the reasons in hindsight, the main one being to gather the excellent San Diego sting recordings (which proved not only who was involved, but also who was NOT involved), but what if Harlow and/or Joe committed another murder during that time frame? They were proven violent killers, so the possibility had to be allowed for. So, it seems to me the investigators were taking a terrible risk by delaying arrest for so long.
Yes I know; as things turned out, nothing bad happened. AND much good was accomplished. But it was still a huge risk nonetheless, IMO; that's my only point.
---
As to Sean and Grant's potential involvement, I generally kept an open mind during this period. However, the fact that Brent had implicated Harlow early on with his off the cuff "on the run" comment to Jody Wheeler was suggestive of them being NOT involved criminally. It's highly irregular for one unarrested co-conspirator to publicly blow the whistle on another unarrested co-conspirator, for obvious reasons.
So, when Harlow and Joe romped on the beach in late April with Sean and Grant, I must say I was quite surprised. Once again from that earlier post, here's how I described my emotions back then:
"So, Blacks Beach Day, yeah, that was a dark day for us Harlow-did-it stalwarts. I personally was stunned; I could not believe Brent and Grant were so stupid as to give a murdering thug a photo op like this. Did they not realize the obvious, as I did? OR PERHAPS...they knew he was a murderer, because they were all in it together? But, if that were the case...this was not only a stupid move on their part, it was a STUPENDOUSLY stupid move. It made them all look guilty! The whole thing...it was incomprehensible to me back then.But as I go on to say, just a couple weeks later, on May 15...I began to feel better. :-)
But the most depressing aspect of it all was (from my point of view) was that it indicated that the police APPARANTLY no longer had interest in Harlow and Joe as a suspect. How else could one explain Brent and Grant and Harlow and Joe's fearless decision to associate with one another so openly like this? I was crestfallen."
---
And on May 16, 2007...this saga SHOULD have ended. But it did not. as we all know, this no-brainer of a case proceeded to drag on for close to two years.
In my next post, we'll take a look at those two years, the reasons for those two years, and the people most responsible for those two long years. With the discussion of the latter I am tentatively intending to place under a header entitled: The Woodshed.
Update: Here's the magazine cover Michael Lucas tried (and failed) to have to have cancelled:
Friday, May 8, 2009
Final Thoughts I
This whole Kocis saga, from beginning to end, has been a fascinating case study in human nature. Some of the best qualities of mankind have been put on display, along with some of the very, very worst. With the incidents of the worst being in the clear majority, which is probably why most of us have found it so entertaining.I've been told via 'do-not-publish' comments that I should write a book about this saga; that I would be the perfect man to tackle such a literary endeavor.
Well, I'll start off by giving my response to that suggestion: Have you been reading this blog since the beginning? Good, then you've been reading my book.
Are you reading this blog now? Well of course you are. And this means you are almost done reading my book. Read on.
It's time to write the conclusion to this online book. I'll now attempt to wrap up the loose threads that went before it into a more unified whole, while also highlighting those events that I think are most critical to a proper understanding of the whole story...many of which I do not think have ever gotten the full attention they deserve.
I like to think of this saga as having three stages: The Underage Scandal (the period before the murder), The Investigation (after the murder, before the arrest), and The Trial (after the arrest). Lets begin with The Underage Scandal.
The Underage Scandal
--------------------
I've always said the biggest flaw in the two major Kocis murder articles (Out and Rolling Stone) has been the scanty explanations of the whole Cobra Video underage scandal. Rolling Stone was particularly egregious in this, devoting exactly one sentence (!) to the subject. Trying to explain how and why Bryan was murdered without adequate reference to what went before, is like trying to explain how an atom bomb works, without first describing what Plutonium is.
I don't want to have to rehash the whole thing here. Fortunately I don't have to, because as it turns out...I already have! Part 2 of my three-post series on Chris Henriquez inadvertently happens to be a good little summary of that whole time period, drawn from all the extant primary sources (Siren's Tale, the Cobra lawsuit, and various interviews). I heartily recommend everyone take a break, and re-read that post right now. Go! Now! READ!
OK, everyone done re-reading? Good. Looking back in hindsight, three things from this old post jump out at me, and really deserve re-emphasis:
1) As I indicated in that post, I am STILL to this day amazed how little blame people generally assign to Chris Henriquez for giving birth to this saga. It was Chris who wanted sooo badly to star in pseudo-ephebophile porn for Cobra Video, not Brent. Brent was literally asleep when Chris was selling himself as a porn star to Bryan Kocis, offering his then 16 y/o boyfriend as a bonus gift with purchase.It was Chris Henriquez who forged and sent in Brent's I.D.s, not Brent:
And it was Chris Henriquez' machinations which led to the underage secret eventually being revealed. Yet despite all this...you still see people today laying ALL the blame for the scandal on Brent. Such pontifications while in a state of obvious factual ignorance is simply astonishing to me. But I guess facts don't really matter when media attention is your true goal.
2) Bryan Kocis first discovered Brent's true age from another desperately aspiring Cobra applicant, porn star Jonathan Deverell, shortly after Every Poolboy's Dream was completed. OK, this is one of those largely unsung pivotal moments that I mentioned above that I was going to spotlight.How big was this moment? It was HUGE, and I'll show you why using alternate history.
Consider an alternate universe where Bryan's reaction to the information was totally different from his historical reaction. In this alternate timeline, Bryan (not Sean) becomes the courageous whistle blower, and he immediately pulls EPD from circulation. He drafts a press release stating the reason for the recall, apologizing to the industry for his momentary lack of diligence. He bans both Sean Lockhart and Chris Henriquez from further Cobra video work, a ban that is enthusiastically adopted by the rest of the gay porn industry. Cobra Video is then honored by various child welfare agencies for taking a stand against underage porn, and at the 2009 GAYVN Awards "Bryan Phillips" is formally inducted into the "Hall of Fame," being hailed as a pioneer in a new media known as Internet porn, and "truly a visionary."
But that's not what Bryan decided to do historically, was it? Oh no. No, no and NO he made a VERY different decision historically, at that momentous moment when Johnathan Deverell dropped the info bomb on him.
At that moment, in real history, Bryan Charles Kocis decided, AND DECIDED ALONE, to become a child pornographer.
And in doing so, he set in motion the real historical timeline that most of us are very familiar with today. He lost four videos, not just one. Brent Corrigan became the courageous whistle blower, the hero of the situation, thus earning for all time a place of honor in the industry. And surely most importantly from Bryan's perspective...Bryan ended up dead. His decision at that pivotal moment initiated the chain of events that would eventually lead to his own demise.
So, I ask myself, WHY? Why did Bryan take the wrong road here? I mean, even with the benefit of hindsight, it's pretty obvious his two options were between a smart, moral choice and a stupid, immoral choice...and he consciously chose to be stupid and immoral. Why?
Well, the answer is a simple one, really: At that moment, Bryan was obsessed with Sean Lockhart. Need I bother to elaborate? Love can make us all do very very foolish things, as I'm sure we all know through our own personal experiences. And in this case, the stupid and immoral choice was the only way for Bryan to keep his now 17 y/o obsession in his life. So, he chose it. The rest, as they say, is history.
3) Bryan's decision to sue Brent and Grant, and initiate the subsequent war of destruction on them both...obviously, another pivotal moment.
And as we now know, the lawsuit was a fraud all along. The one partner of Brent's first independent company who Bryan did not personally sue by name (that right there should have been a clue, folks), Lee Bergeron, was actually a double agent; a Benedict Arnold whose job it was to pass on sensitive information to Bryan, and to cajole them into accepting an equally fraudulent settlement agreement. The immediate object being for Lee to sellout to Bryan, and/or Bryan to allow Lee in as a Cobra shareholder; with the ultimate object being for Brent to be brought back into Bryan arms, both contractually and sexually. They had even planned to buy Brent his own condo in San Diego; a love nest for Bryan to visit whenever he was in town.Once again, you can see Bryan's obsession for Sean Lockhart dictating his actions. When Melody Kocis referred to Brent Corrigan as Bryan's biggest mistake...this pathological obsession was undoubtedly what she was referring to.
Anyways, Bryan's inability to let Sean go had negative consequences, the worst of which was the inevitable tarnishing of his public image. Not only due to the spending of reputedly over $300,000 in legal fees on this seemingly pointless and vindictive Federal lawsuit (all over a used Jetta?), but his other vile public acts committed in the course of the struggle as well - hired goons disrupting public appearances, hateful video box covers, smear campaigns via email blast, etc... It was no exaggeration when then AVN editor Doug Lawrence referred to Kocis as having a "terrible reputation" in the industry.
And as this hate campaign went on, Brent began to attract legions of sympathetic fans, as ardent in their support for Brent as they were in their disdain for Cobra Video. And two of these new supporter/disdainers happened to live in Virginia Beach.
Now, these two Virginia Beach residents had other pre-existing reasons to disdain Cobra Video (they were aspiring twink pornographers themselves, and considered Cobra Video in nearby Pennsylvania their "main rival"), but the horrific anti-Brent hate campaign kicked this up a notch, from disdain to revulsion. Kocis's inhuman actions dehumanized himself in the eyes of these two, not to mention others. In effect, Bryan signed his own death warrant.
--
I want to leave off here with just one more thought. Imagine, if you will, the night of the murder. It's 7:45pm. Bryan Kocis is pacing his living room floor, talking enthusiastically towards his Blackberry (sitting on his coffee table on speakerphone mode). How happy he is! The settlement is about to be signed. Heh heh heh! Finally! He and Lee have Sean and Grant RIGHT where they want them. Soon, Grant will be sent packing back to Texas; Sean will be cooped up in his Condo; Lee will be nearby, keeping him on a short leash...yes, everything is coming together! It's his moment of triumph, and he is openly exultant.
Openly that is, to the lanky, dark-haired twink fidgeting nervously on the couch sitting right next to the Blackberry. The twink, a prospective "new model," got here at 7pm, and he's been yakking on the phone here via conference call to Lee and Macias all this time? 'Heh, kinda rude of me' he thinks. Hmmm, he should probably end this call, as enjoyable as it is, and get down to some other "business." And in any case, should he really be talking so freely in front of this kid, calling Brent his "bitch" and such? Ah well, it probably doesn't matter. Once all the paperwork is signed, the trap will be shut...and there's not a damn thing Sean or Grant will be able to do get out of it. 'I got 'em by the balls,' he thinks, 'and they don't even realize it...yet!' Bryan smiles a sardonic smile...
At 7:50pm Bryan suddenly says to the speakerphone: "Oh hey, someone at the door...it's probably that new model!" (Bryan winks at the twink sitting on the couch) "Oh, yeah it's him, D(mumble), gotta run guys...we'll finish this chat later...yeah, just fax that paperwork on over tomorrow...yeah...bye! bye!"
Bryan walks over to the coffee table, leans over it, and disconnects his Blackberry.
...
There is some spirited academic speculation in the medical community as to how long, if at all, the human brain survives decapitation. The majority opinion is that death is instantaneous. However, others maintain there is possibly enough oxygen in the brain at any given time for life, indeed, even consciousness, for up to two seconds. The latter bolster their theory by citing anecdotal evidence from the French Revolution, where guillotined heads would open their eyes, and stare directly back at their executioners from the basket.
Assuming the latter theorists to be correct, what might have Bryan been thinking during those final two seconds? Did he have time to realize the obvious poetic justice inherent in the situation? Did the concepts of hubris, as it's known in the west, or karma, as it's known in the east, enter his thoughts? Did he have any remorse?
I'll leave those questions for the philosophically inclined amongst you to discuss.
Update: Harlow's lawyers ask to withdraw.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Leaving San Diego
It was a memorable, thought-provoking, nostalgic and above all fun visit. Thanks San Diego! :-)
We had just one more stop before we got ready to head out - a little shopping trip to this store in Hillcrest:
While there, we found these red v-neck shirts that were an incredible bargain. Only $19! Just a few days earlier I had noticed one selling for over $500...making this a 96% off sale. Wow, what a deal!
So I bought two...one to keep as a treasured souvenir, and the other to auction off someday: "One American Apparel red v-neck shirt, size medium, quite possibly placed on a hanger two years ago by Brent Corrigan! Reserve bid $500."
OTOH, how often does inventory move off the shelves at AA? Perhaps I am thinking a bit wishfully here. Oh well, I'll let the marketplace sort this thorny question out...
In any case, barring any significant Harlow/Joe developments in the next two weeks (i.e., a prison break), it looks like this blog will see exactly two more posts: A "Final Thoughts" post sometime next week, then a farewell post on Arrest Day, May 15. The latter being a few appropriate closing remarks, with the comments being more or less an open thread. New comments will be turned off on June 1.
Update: Chatting with Brent, Part One. Nothing too interesting IMO until that last question, which immediately caught my attention; naturally, Part One ends on that cliffhanger...
Update 2: Chatting with Brent, Part Two. No new Kocis saga revelations, disappointingly. The whole thing was a fluff interview, which given the forum was perhaps not surprising:
Update 3: Wow, here's an update with a LOT more meat on the bone:
Update 4: OK I lied. There will now be more than two remaining posts. The Final Thoughts are turning out to be much more thoughtful than I first thought, so, look for that to be released in three rather than one post. Look for the first one later today...
We had just one more stop before we got ready to head out - a little shopping trip to this store in Hillcrest:
While there, we found these red v-neck shirts that were an incredible bargain. Only $19! Just a few days earlier I had noticed one selling for over $500...making this a 96% off sale. Wow, what a deal!
So I bought two...one to keep as a treasured souvenir, and the other to auction off someday: "One American Apparel red v-neck shirt, size medium, quite possibly placed on a hanger two years ago by Brent Corrigan! Reserve bid $500."
OTOH, how often does inventory move off the shelves at AA? Perhaps I am thinking a bit wishfully here. Oh well, I'll let the marketplace sort this thorny question out...
In any case, barring any significant Harlow/Joe developments in the next two weeks (i.e., a prison break), it looks like this blog will see exactly two more posts: A "Final Thoughts" post sometime next week, then a farewell post on Arrest Day, May 15. The latter being a few appropriate closing remarks, with the comments being more or less an open thread. New comments will be turned off on June 1.
Update: Chatting with Brent, Part One. Nothing too interesting IMO until that last question, which immediately caught my attention; naturally, Part One ends on that cliffhanger...
Update 2: Chatting with Brent, Part Two. No new Kocis saga revelations, disappointingly. The whole thing was a fluff interview, which given the forum was perhaps not surprising:
Update 3: Wow, here's an update with a LOT more meat on the bone:
"I don't claim to know much about Cuadra, his involvement in Cobra Video or his past with Brent Corrigan, but I have worked with him in an escort capacity in the past: Years ago we had been hired together on several occasions and, on a very superficial level, we'd chat back and forth."This fascinating post is over a month old; frankly I'm a little red-faced I missed it until now. It's midway down the page, read the whole thing...
Update 4: OK I lied. There will now be more than two remaining posts. The Final Thoughts are turning out to be much more thoughtful than I first thought, so, look for that to be released in three rather than one post. Look for the first one later today...
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Harlow Appeal Update
From yesterday's Times Leader "Court Briefs" column:
May 1Update: "Instead of trying to overturn your conviction, sweet pea, maybe you should focus on being the best gutter bitch you can be!"
Court briefs
WILKES-BARRE – Convicted murderer Harlow Cuadra filed court papers Thursday through his attorney Paul Walker stating why he filed an appeal with the state Superior Court.
Cuadra, 27, of Virginia, was found guilty by a county jury in March of the murder of Bryan Kocis, 44, of Dallas Township, in January 2007.
Cuadra was sentenced to life in prison for his involvement in the death of his rival in the gay pornography industry.
His co-defendant and partner, Joseph Kerekes, 35, also of Virginia, pleaded guilty in December to murder charges and is also serving a life sentence.
In his court papers, Cuadra said he is appealing his conviction and sentence because the trial court, or judge, erred in denying a motion to suppress recorded statements and conversations at Crabcatcher’s Restaurant in La Hoya, Calif., in April 2007 and recorded statements and conversations at Black Beach, San Diego, Calif., in April 2007; evidence seized from Cuadra’s home during a search warrant execution, and evidence seized regarding Cuadra’s e-mail accounts. He claims the court should not have allowed “gruesome photographs” into evidence, which “served no purpose.”
According to court records, during dinner at the restaurant, Kerekes told an associate, Grant Roy, he couldn’t talk because he was worried Roy was wearing a wire.
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.
Evidence seized from the home included a log book, videotapes, digital cameras, camcorders, battery packs, luggage, receipts, firearms, ammunition, clothing and computers.
E-mails presented at Cuadra’s trial were traced back to Kerekes and Cuadra and it is unknown which “gruesome” photos Cuadra is specifically appealing. At trial, prosecutors showed the jury a number of photos taken at Kocis’ autopsy.
Friday, May 1, 2009
A Tale of Three (or Four) Restaurants
Wow, what a night! My head still hurts. Which is why this post is a bit delayed...we ended up having a bit too much fun out in Hillcrest last night...heh! :-)
But I'm getting ahead of myself...lets begin at the beginning. We started the day yesterday looking for a good place in Hillcrest to grab a bite to eat, and saw this hamburger joint which looked intriguing:
As you can see from the photo, there were actually a few diners sitting there, both indoors and outdoors. Not a bad crowd, it would appear, considering the size of the place. So, while still undecided as to whether we wanted to eat any of the their "famous" burgers (the sign says that, so they must be, right?), we went in for a closer look.
There is nothing particularly remarkable about the interior of Lucky Buck's, it's basically kitchy little surfer bric-a-brac along the shelves, an elaborate cartoon mural of a fantasy gay beach on one wall, and another stainless steel wall full of customer scrawlings in black ink. "'So-and-so' had their birthday here on 'such-and-such a date'" and the like. The funny thing is, if you examine these scrawlings closely, you begin to notice obvious similarities in handwriting between supposedly different past customers.
Another odd thing we notice is, all the customers have these little stickers on. We look more closely, and then it dawns on me that today (ie, yesterday) was national Dining Out For Life Day. Being on vacation, I had actually completely forgotten about this; in fact, in past years I have made a point to go out to eat and support this event. And, credit where credit is due, Lucky Buck's had indeed signed on as a sponsor.
So, I ask one of the Lucky Buck's Dining Outers there whether the place was usually this crowded..."actually no, it's usually pretty dead here...we came here because we were in a hurry and the wait to get into Betty's is just crazy long due to Dining Out Day."
"I see..." I said. "Well, how's the famous burger here?"
She hesitated a bit. "It's OK I guess," she shrugged.
Well, based on that ringing endorsement, we thought we might like to try someplace else instead. Maybe Lee Bergeron's other local business venture? Yes, Hula's San Diego, "Hillcrest’s newest fun place to have lunch or dinner, or just hang out with friends!" The flagship, showcase establishment of the Lee Bergeron restaurant empire! It was just down the street, so yeah, lets go there instead, we thought. If we were going to dine at a Bergeron restaurant, particularly on Dining Out Day, we might as well sample the very best Merlin Lee Bergeron has to offer!
So anyways, we stroll westwards (on a frankly beautiful sunny afternoon) down University Avenue in Hillcrest, past Baja Betty's, which is indeed a mob scene today (ie, yesterday) to the appropriate address for Hula's...and low and behold:
"WTF!" we said. Is it closed on Dining Out Day? And where's the sign? There's no sign...nothing.
So, we cross the street for a closer look, and inside...well, judge for yourself. It looks like the place is in the process of being stripped bare:
Remodelling maybe? They've open been open less than a year, so that seems unlikely. Well, by this time we are starting to get peckish, and need to eat somewhere, so we decide to go this obviously popular place across the street, Urban Mo's. A queer name for a place, but there you have it.
And queer it was indeed! This was the happening gay place to be yesterday afternoon, I'm happy to say. We had to wait a bit for a table due to the crowds, but it was worth it. The food, I'd say, was pretty good, and the prices reasonable considering the vast portion sizes that they served.
The best part was the ambiance, though. Lots of San Diego boys, very friendly, all chatting and drinking. We spotted porn star Phillip Aubrey in the crowd. And I suspect there were more San Diego based porn stars there too that we did not immediately recognize. No Brent, however. Or Brent. :-)
The drink portions were as generous as the meal portions. We saw one that we had to get, called a "Fishbowl." It's basically an Adios Motherfucker served literally in a small fishbowl...complete with a big orange straw and two plastic fishes bobbing around in the azure aquarium. It's $17, but it should be the only drink you have for the entire night. Woe to thee who drinks two (or more).
So anyways, we are halfway through our first Fishbowls, when we decide to do a little sleuthing into this Hula's mystery. So, emboldened by alcohol, we ask one of the friendly Urban Mo's staffpeople what the deal was across the street.
"HULA'S! Oh girl, don't even get me started...!"
But, like it or not, we had. I will not attempt to reproduce stenographically the subsequent flow of impassioned words verbatim, but I shall relate the gist of the "conversation" into bullet points:
Well. That sobered us up a bit! Oh and needless to say, we left a big tip. :-)
The rest of the evening is more or less a drunken blur which involved me sleeping in a location other than the one I had originally planned to. As I am certain you all are not interested in this, I shall skip on to this morning, after I had returned to the location containing my laptop...
Well, when I got back, I looked to see if I could verify what I had been told concerning the Hula's situation. And sure enough, a casual check at the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control website turns up this:
As you can see, our Urban Mo's source was essentially correct. Hula's liquor license has a "NO SALE 2 YEARS" condition dating from it's issue date of "10-JUN-2008." Lee was basically trying to sell a business that could not legally serve alcohol until June of 2010. No wonder Fiesta Cantina was furious. Here's the pending license on file for the Hillcrest Fiesta Cantina:
...and as you can see, there is a Hold on the deal, "AUTHORITY TO CLOSE ESCROW," said authority unlikely to be given anytime soon due to the two year no sale condition in the current active license.
There was one more thing I thought I'd check on while logged onto the CA ABC site. If Lee was trying to sell Hula's, might he also be trying to sell Lucky Buck's as well?
And the answer seems to be no. There is no pending transfer of Lucky Buck's liquor license in the works; indeed, it looks like such a transfer is also currently impossible. Not due to any two year restriction (the license issue date is November of 2006, so, no problem there), but due to a "BOARD OF EQUALIZATION HOLD" on the license. Apparently, Lee Bergeron is in arrears on remitting his California state sales taxes for Lucky Bucks, going back as far as February of 2008:
Well well well, I must say this certainly has been an interesting San Diego vacation, with yesterday and this morning more interesting than expected. Boy I tell ya, investigative vacations like this sure are fun! :-)
Look for more updates possibly later this weekend, at more or less irregular intervals. Who knows, maybe I'll get lucky again tonight! :-)
But I'm getting ahead of myself...lets begin at the beginning. We started the day yesterday looking for a good place in Hillcrest to grab a bite to eat, and saw this hamburger joint which looked intriguing:
As you can see from the photo, there were actually a few diners sitting there, both indoors and outdoors. Not a bad crowd, it would appear, considering the size of the place. So, while still undecided as to whether we wanted to eat any of the their "famous" burgers (the sign says that, so they must be, right?), we went in for a closer look.
There is nothing particularly remarkable about the interior of Lucky Buck's, it's basically kitchy little surfer bric-a-brac along the shelves, an elaborate cartoon mural of a fantasy gay beach on one wall, and another stainless steel wall full of customer scrawlings in black ink. "'So-and-so' had their birthday here on 'such-and-such a date'" and the like. The funny thing is, if you examine these scrawlings closely, you begin to notice obvious similarities in handwriting between supposedly different past customers.
Another odd thing we notice is, all the customers have these little stickers on. We look more closely, and then it dawns on me that today (ie, yesterday) was national Dining Out For Life Day. Being on vacation, I had actually completely forgotten about this; in fact, in past years I have made a point to go out to eat and support this event. And, credit where credit is due, Lucky Buck's had indeed signed on as a sponsor.So, I ask one of the Lucky Buck's Dining Outers there whether the place was usually this crowded..."actually no, it's usually pretty dead here...we came here because we were in a hurry and the wait to get into Betty's is just crazy long due to Dining Out Day."
"I see..." I said. "Well, how's the famous burger here?"
She hesitated a bit. "It's OK I guess," she shrugged.
Well, based on that ringing endorsement, we thought we might like to try someplace else instead. Maybe Lee Bergeron's other local business venture? Yes, Hula's San Diego, "Hillcrest’s newest fun place to have lunch or dinner, or just hang out with friends!" The flagship, showcase establishment of the Lee Bergeron restaurant empire! It was just down the street, so yeah, lets go there instead, we thought. If we were going to dine at a Bergeron restaurant, particularly on Dining Out Day, we might as well sample the very best Merlin Lee Bergeron has to offer!So anyways, we stroll westwards (on a frankly beautiful sunny afternoon) down University Avenue in Hillcrest, past Baja Betty's, which is indeed a mob scene today (ie, yesterday) to the appropriate address for Hula's...and low and behold:
"WTF!" we said. Is it closed on Dining Out Day? And where's the sign? There's no sign...nothing.
So, we cross the street for a closer look, and inside...well, judge for yourself. It looks like the place is in the process of being stripped bare:
Remodelling maybe? They've open been open less than a year, so that seems unlikely. Well, by this time we are starting to get peckish, and need to eat somewhere, so we decide to go this obviously popular place across the street, Urban Mo's. A queer name for a place, but there you have it.
And queer it was indeed! This was the happening gay place to be yesterday afternoon, I'm happy to say. We had to wait a bit for a table due to the crowds, but it was worth it. The food, I'd say, was pretty good, and the prices reasonable considering the vast portion sizes that they served.
The best part was the ambiance, though. Lots of San Diego boys, very friendly, all chatting and drinking. We spotted porn star Phillip Aubrey in the crowd. And I suspect there were more San Diego based porn stars there too that we did not immediately recognize. No Brent, however. Or Brent. :-)The drink portions were as generous as the meal portions. We saw one that we had to get, called a "Fishbowl." It's basically an Adios Motherfucker served literally in a small fishbowl...complete with a big orange straw and two plastic fishes bobbing around in the azure aquarium. It's $17, but it should be the only drink you have for the entire night. Woe to thee who drinks two (or more).
So anyways, we are halfway through our first Fishbowls, when we decide to do a little sleuthing into this Hula's mystery. So, emboldened by alcohol, we ask one of the friendly Urban Mo's staffpeople what the deal was across the street.
"HULA'S! Oh girl, don't even get me started...!"
But, like it or not, we had. I will not attempt to reproduce stenographically the subsequent flow of impassioned words verbatim, but I shall relate the gist of the "conversation" into bullet points:
1) Hula's closed abruptly, without warning, last month;Unfortunately, these neat and precise bullet points don't truly convey the spirit of this deposition; add actual adjectives like "scumbag," "dirtball," and "lowlife" and, you'll begin to comprehend the tenor in which these revelations were made.
2) Hula's staff (many of whom were close friends with this Urban Mo's staff person) was told the reason for the closure was a planned sale of the business to the owners of Fiesta Cantina, a popular gay bar and restaurant in West Hollywood, and that they might get new jobs with the new owner;
3) The sale went into escrow but did NOT take place, due to the fact Lee Bergeron neglected to tell the Fiesta Cantina group that the Hula's liquor license was non-transferable. (Hmmm, yeah, kinda important for a bar/restaurant to have a liquor license there, I'd say!) Claims of fraud were made, and the Fiesta Cantina people are trying to rescind the deal and retrieve their money from escrow.
4) Meanwhile, many vendors all over San Diego who dealt with Lee Bergeron and Hula's have unpaid bills; bill collectors seeking Lee's at the restaurant were a common occurrence in the final days, according to staff;
5) On top of that...and here our narrator gets VERY emotional...the Hula's staff were stiffed. Specifically, their penultimate paycheck bounced, and their final paycheck never delivered.
6) The Hula's staff continues to get the runaround from Lee, who tells them a new story practically every day, while flitting back and forth between residences in San Diego and Palm Springs.
Well. That sobered us up a bit! Oh and needless to say, we left a big tip. :-)
The rest of the evening is more or less a drunken blur which involved me sleeping in a location other than the one I had originally planned to. As I am certain you all are not interested in this, I shall skip on to this morning, after I had returned to the location containing my laptop...
Well, when I got back, I looked to see if I could verify what I had been told concerning the Hula's situation. And sure enough, a casual check at the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control website turns up this:
As you can see, our Urban Mo's source was essentially correct. Hula's liquor license has a "NO SALE 2 YEARS" condition dating from it's issue date of "10-JUN-2008." Lee was basically trying to sell a business that could not legally serve alcohol until June of 2010. No wonder Fiesta Cantina was furious. Here's the pending license on file for the Hillcrest Fiesta Cantina:
...and as you can see, there is a Hold on the deal, "AUTHORITY TO CLOSE ESCROW," said authority unlikely to be given anytime soon due to the two year no sale condition in the current active license.
There was one more thing I thought I'd check on while logged onto the CA ABC site. If Lee was trying to sell Hula's, might he also be trying to sell Lucky Buck's as well?
And the answer seems to be no. There is no pending transfer of Lucky Buck's liquor license in the works; indeed, it looks like such a transfer is also currently impossible. Not due to any two year restriction (the license issue date is November of 2006, so, no problem there), but due to a "BOARD OF EQUALIZATION HOLD" on the license. Apparently, Lee Bergeron is in arrears on remitting his California state sales taxes for Lucky Bucks, going back as far as February of 2008:
Well well well, I must say this certainly has been an interesting San Diego vacation, with yesterday and this morning more interesting than expected. Boy I tell ya, investigative vacations like this sure are fun! :-)Look for more updates possibly later this weekend, at more or less irregular intervals. Who knows, maybe I'll get lucky again tonight! :-)
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