Victory Day 2013, Part Six

Update 46: And finally, the where-are-they-now section for Harlow.

First of all, I don't begrudge him all his appeals. Getting to file fruitless appeals for the rest of his life was one of the advantages he bargained for when he refused to take the plea deal and allocute as Joe did, risking a death sentence in the process. So, might as well take advantage of that perk, since he did indeed earn it.

Although, it's funny when you think about it: Joe opted for the safe, secure, meek and humble path of the offered life sentence plea deal, while Harlow opted to put his life at peril by taking the aggressive, highly risky and hubristic path of going to trial. In other words, exactly the opposite personality traits supporters of Harlow would have us believe the two possessed.

Second, I gather that Harlow was politely asked by PC and Stoner to contribute to the book, and unlike Joe, refused? Or refused to respond? So, all we have to go on I guess are these prison letters to "Natasha."

What's interesting to about these letters is not so much what was said, but what was UNsaid. Just a bit of background: I think I've mentioned this before, but I've had a friend in prison before, who communicated with me a fair amount while behind bars. 

The letters from this friend of mine was VERY similar to the Harlow-Natasha letters, in that both constantly went on and on about the false hopes of appealing conviction. "[A]ccording to the legally inclined, the odds (of winning the appeal) are in our favor" is a virtually identical paraphrase of what my friend would write to me, over and over and over again. The similarity in both content and tone is uncanny.

But you know what was unsimilar between the two? Money. The letters from my friend, after going on about this or that pending aspect of the appeal procedure, would INVARIABLY wrap up with a plea for money. He'd need the money to pay an attorney to file this, or for more canteen funds, or to try to sell some items from his storage unit for needed cash, etc. And I've talked to others in the same boat as me, who have gotten prison letters from different inmates...they ALWAYS ask for money.

By contrast, the Natasha letters seem to contain no requests for money. In my experience, this is HIGHLY unusual. Did Natasha not publish parts of Harlow's letters asking for money? That seems unlikely; if anything she'd want to broadcast his plea and start up a Kickstarter.

Or perhaps Harlow never asked for money because he's got all the funding, legal, canteen, the works, that he ever could possibly need. This despite coming from a family of humble means.

And THIS gets back to a question we covered earlier...see past discussions of who's paying for Fannick, Mitch Hal(lford) the go-between, and the "mystery Senator." 

Mark my words folks, this is the last bombshell revelation in this saga, which has yet to be detonated yet. And when it goes off (I'm fairly sure it eventually will) it will be BIG.


Update 45: As for the investigators: "Higgins and Jolley said the investigation was "a huge effort."..." That, and the fact that they felt the need to consult with the county supervisors over the cost of this is very interesting. It goes back to my earlier point about the severe budget constraints Luzerne County was under. If Harlow and/or Joe had only taken advantage of that and pled early, I am certain a MUCH better deal could have been obtained.


Update 44: As to the section about the Kocis family moving on, the part I take issue with the most is the opinion of Bryan's sister on how blame for all this should be apportioned.

When you consider that Bryan knew, FOR A FACT, at the conclusion of the filming of Schoolboy Crush that Brent was only 17 (Bryan was tipped off Brent was underage, Bryan tested that suspicion by having a surprise ID check at the end of filming, and Brent decisively failed that test), and that he went ahead and edited, completed and sent off to his distributor what he knew FOR A FACT to be child pornography, you reach many conclusions. That "the victim was Bryan the whole time" is not one of those conclusions.

Bryan was every bit as culpable for the knowing production and distribution of kiddie porn as Chris Henriquez and Brent were, and unlike Brent he was never actively deceived as to the severity of the consequences of his actions.

As to the "rebranding" of Cobra Video with EuroMedia, has anything significant become of that deal since the book was published?


Update 43: As far as the rest of the where-are-they-now section for Brent goes, Albert comment below indicates that since the books publication, his planned move from the porn world to the non-porn world has come along even further:

"Sean is doing well. Missing some hair over his left ear from his recent fall. In addition to 'Truth' and 'Triple Crossed,' he has four more movies that will be released in the next year. He said that they treat him well but in the end it is not enough to pay the bills. Fleshjack has been a big help. He gets a little from the sales of each of his molded toys. With the two canadians out of the picture, I am pretty sure he remains their top seller. He is also a big draw at the nightclub circuit. I have also heard a rumor that Fleshjack may use him as their spokes model at the annual marketing conventions."

So, other than Fleshjack and the occasional nightclub appearances (as a dancer?) his porn career is done and over. People tried to force him out of the gay porn industry, but he persevered and eventually left by his own free will and under his own terms.

I will note at this point the failure of one of my past predictions. I predicted many times that we'd see a "Schoolboy Crush" reunion porn of sorts with Brent Everett. But obviously that's not going to happen now.

I must say I am quite surprised my prediction did not come to pass. Can you imagine the hype that would have preceded such a release? This video would have made a buttload of money. It is amazing to me that the vast financial incentives here could not overcome whatever hurdles needed to be hurdled to make this happen.


Update 42: Lockhart gets to make his denial.

If you just read the book only, this little section doesn't make too much sense. The book as we've already noted only mentions the intense suspicion he was under and accusations against him on the blogs in passing. So I imagine a non-Kocispherian would be a bit bewildered at reading this.

However, for those of us who were there, in the trenches, and saw first hand the daily relentless anonymous comments, pitching conspiracy theory after conspiracy theory, constantly trying to paint he and Grant as murderers, despite the growing overwhelming evidence Harlow and Joe committed this murder by themselves, this section makes perfect sense.

And he's right too, about none of them ever admitting they were wrong, and apologizing. Even after Joe pled guilty. They just silently slunk away.


Update 41: "Reporter Sue Henry from WILK Radio...noted that Cuadra took the stand against the advice of his attorneys..."

There's that discrepancy is again. It's clear that one official party line story went out before Harlow testified, and another contradicting it went out after. One wonders why?

Update 40: On to the end chapter and the interview with Joe. A few thoughts:

1) The impression I get here, what with his days at the prison gym, thoughtfully styled receding hairline, three full meals a day, family visits, taking his meds, following the rules, getting along smashingly with his cellmates...is that prison life is agreeing with Joe. "His biggest worry now, he says, is trying to overcome persistent insomnia."

It makes me think this was a big factor in Joe finally deciding to plea out. I think he came to the conclusion, in the months waiting for trial, "eh, general population prison life ain't too bad" and decided to forgo the impossible chance of an acquittal along with the real risk of ending up in the far less comfortable living conditions of death row.

2) His story about prosecutors hintingly threatening to charge his parents...I actually would not be too surprised if this turned out to be true. And if that was a factor in Joe's decision-making, well so be it. One could argue there was a bit of aiding and abetting on their part, after the fact, so the threat does seem legit.

3) Now here's the thing I wish AES had asked Joe about: Why did Joe not try to plea as soon as he was arrested?

We know from the end of Chapter 12 that this case cost Luzerne County a TON of money. $112,000 for the prosecution, plus $25,000 for the public defenders. That was the ONE AND ONLY bargaining chip Harlow and Joe had with prosecutors after they were arrested...it was KNOWN that it was going to be expensive. They could have used that fact as leverage in plea negotiations to get some deal south of life in prison, HOWEVER, for every day they delayed, for every dollar towards that $137,000 the county spent, their ONE AND ONLY bargaining chip got pissed away.

We know Joe was talking to his jail cellmates early on about a plea deal. So why didn't he try for one, when his chances were at their highest?

Now, I will mention here what was going on about the Kocisphere, just after the arrest. Almost immediately the faction that was accusing Brent and Grant of murder began floating the idea of a conspiracy against Harlow and Joe, and that they hoped Harlow and Joe would fight, be found innocent, so that the "real killers" could be brought to justice. And indeed, after both Harlow and Joe made public declarations of total innocence, their excitement and glee could barely be contained. And the conspiracy theories ran wild.

What I WISH had been asked of Joe, in these book interviews, is this: "What role did outside encouragement play on the decision to refuse to plea initially? Did the public writings of people like Jason Ridge and John Roecker and perhaps others who write in multicolored paragraphs convince you and Harlow to essentially ruin your chances for a less-than-life sentence? Or did they go further, contact you guys directly, thus directly giving you the false hope which ruined both your lives?"

This is to me one of the greatest remaining mysteries about this case, for which my curiosity burns with a fervid intensity. Had these questions been asked, I think there is a good chance Joe would have found the desire to answer truthfully and thoughtfully.