The 385

If today's big Kocisphere story was made into a movie...this is what the poster would look like:



Update: LOL, of course, right after I declare this the big story of the day, an even bigger story comes along...

Update 2: ...which gets even bigger!

Update 3: And now this bombshell.

Saving Private Hensley

Justin Hensley (probably “Police Informant #2) was recently deployed to Iraq, which led the prosecution to motion that his prelim testimony be allowed in the main trial, if his deployment results in him being unavailable at trial.

But will he really be “unavailable?” Is there any way for DA Melnick to reach into the war zone, and extract Private Hensley for the greater good of the Republic?

I did a bit more digging into Army regulations on the subject, and from what I have been able to determine, he MAY be able to come back for the trial, if need be.

There are four main types of military leave in the U.S. Army:

1. Ordinary leave: regular chargeable leave time; the military equivalent of vacation time.
2. Emergency leave: chargeable leave based on certain enumerated emergency circumstances that may arise; none of which seem to include being a trial witness, so is likely inapplicable here;
3. Convalescent leave: Requires a doctor’s OK and is also likely inapplicable; and
4. Permissive Temporary Duty (PTDY): Defined as “nonchargeable absence from duty may be granted at no expense to the Government to perform a semi-official activity that benefits the Service and the soldier.”

Now, Justin could always come back to PA using his ordinary leave, IF he has any stored up, and IF he gets the necessary clearances. Using ordinary leave is not the best option from Justin’s point of view, however; a soldier accrues only a finite amount of ordinary leave time. Luzerne County is not exactly a known as a garden spot, and sitting around a courthouse waiting to testify is not my idea of an ideal vacation.

The other option is PTDY. This one seems to be the ticket, as one of the specific reasons for authorization is being a witness at a major criminal trial:

5–32. Permissive temporary duty authorization
PTDY may be authorized as follows:…

b. To perform State jury service or be a witness at State criminal investigation proceedings or criminal prosecution is subject to the following conditions:
(1) Soldier must have received a subpoena, summons, or request instead of process.
(2) Case must involve substantial public interest; for example, a major crime has been committed, and the soldier is a major witness.
(3) Decision to grant PTDY must be coordinated with command staff judge advocate (SJA) or legal office.

Seems to me the Kocis trial would indeed be a criminal prosecution of “substantial public interest;” a “major crime has been committed” and Justin “is a major witness.”

The advantage of PTDY over ordinary leave is that it will not be charged against Justin’s accumulated ordinary leave. One disadvantage, however, is that the army regs are very clear on one aspect of PTDY: The Army will NOT pay any travel expenses involved. Although perhaps it is fair to assume Luzerne County would pick up the tab for the air fare in the instance, saving Justin the expense to and fro.

Keep in mind, however, while the military bureaucratic mechanisms for granting leave in this case do indeed exist, it is still no sure thing. The paperwork process will have to be initiated by Justin; then approved by his commander (with input by the "command staff judge advocate (SJA) or legal office"), who has discretion to reject the application. It is for this reason that Melnick made the motion to use his prelim testimony at trial no doubt, to cover this uncertainty.

Another possibility, of course, is that what with all the trial delays, Justin Hensley’s deployment period in Iraq might come to a natural end before trial, bringing him back in time with no fuss at all. It is not entirely clear to me how long Justin is over there for…guesstimates over on PC’s blog ranged from six to fifteen months…but if it towards the 6 month estimate then yes, I could easily see this all becoming a non-issue due to trial delays.

Another even more likely possibility, of course, is that there will be no trials, that Harlow and Joe will both plead guilty in a plea bargain…making this whole problem irrelevant. I am becoming more certain this is EXACTLY how it will go down, based on the fact that Harlow and his supporters keep saying there will be a trial, and that there is no possibility of a “deal.”

The more their lips move, forming the words “there will be NO deal” the more certain I am that is exactly what they are negotiating right now.

Update: It is also possible the trial may start while Justin is still in Iraq, and then drag on for at least fifteen months while hearing from all 385 prosecution witnesses called to rebut Joe's alibi defense, thereby allowing Justin to come home, just in time to testify next.

Today's Lucy-With-Football Moment

LOL! By the way, still awaiting that "lawyer letter."

Brent Corrigan Triumphant!

Brent Corrigan won his first Cybersocket Web Award last night, in the catagory of Best Porn Star Site...putting him in the same league with other industry heavyweights such as Sean Cody, Bel Ami, Dirk Yates, and Michael Lucas. The full list of Surfer Choice winners here:



This award is actually a much bigger deal than being "presented with a one of a kind Cybersocket trophy." The magazine's circulation of 70,000 copies per month makes it the largest freely distributed gay publication in the country, which translates to a massive free PR boost to the winners of the annual awards.

And notice too, the winners are determined by online public voting, based on unique IP addresses I presume. Obviously, the efforts by some to tarnish the reputation of Brent Corrigan in order to place two murderers like Harlow and Joe back on the streets have come to naught.

Perhaps "The Jakester" or one of the other members of the Free Harlow set would be so kind as to relay the good news to Harlow and Joe, during their next prison phone call? I'm sure it'll be a real morale booster for them!



Update: XBiz picks up the story, and not only do they correctly hyperlink to Brent Corrigan Inc (avoiding this from happening again) but they go on to write:

"Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton won Best Celebrity Site (he was not in attendance), director Lucas won Best Personality and controversial performer Brent Corrigan received the award for Best Porn Star Site."

LOL...Brent is perhaps the only person in the world who can appear in the same sentence with Michael Lucas, and usurp the label "controversial" from him. No wonder Lucas hates him!

Update 2: GayVN News covers the story, and perhaps mindful of being the primary victim of Brent's earlier tongue lashing referred to above, hyperlinks everyone with gusto!

Update 3: Jason Ridge, who we've blogged about here before, not only got his butt stomped in direct competition with Brent last night, but tonight he lost again, this time getting completely shut out at the XBiz Awards.

As Nelson Muntz would say, "Ha Ha!"

I guess having a reputation as a Harlow-supporting mental case is not exactly so useful to your career as you once thought, eh Jason?

Update 4: Brent weighs in.

Another Very Bad Porn Star

Actually, news of this particular crime broke early in January:

TAMPA - Someone really wanted to kill Grigori and Galina Komissarchuk.

The couple, in their 60s, have homes in Sarasota and Brooklyn, N.Y., and were attacked at least four times at their homes and other places, according to federal court records. One time the attacker used a hammer. Both of them suffered skull fractures and other injuries.

Federal authorities have arrested and charged a man they identify as Edmon Vardanyan, 23, with traveling in interstate commerce with the intent to kill, injure or harass, according to a federal complaint...

But it was not until yesterday that J.C. Adams broke the story that Edmon Vardanyan is also gay porn star and Jet Set exclusive Nickolay Petrov.

Even more interesting is the fact that Mr. Petrov is up for some awards at this year's GAYVN ceremony.

Looks like someone else at Jet Set will have to accept the awards on his behalf if he wins. Should make for an awkward speech, to say the least, heh!

Update: As of this moment, the domain www.freenickolaypetrov.com is unclaimed. No word of a legal defense fund either.

Update 2: A curious additional comment by Jason Curious:

Oh and by the way... you can expect another Jet Set exclusive to be arrested in the coming days.

But not for anything as awful as attempted murder! This one's a bad boy. But he's no murderer! Stay tuned.

Update 3: From the "You Coulda Seen This One Comin' A Mile Away" department: The efforts to tie in Nikolay Petrov with the Kocis killing is already underway, among some of the more fancifully imaginitive Harlow defenders out there.

Update 4: Vardanyan/Petrov indicted in Federal court.

Joran van der Harlow

An interesting breaking news story this morning, about another even more high profile murder case...that of Natalie Holloway, and her "disappearance" in Aruba.

Interesting in that the huge break in solving the case revolves around a secret recording; no, not one made by police, but by a crack investigative reporting team.

Also interesting is the post-taping reaction of the caught-on-camera criminal, Joran van der Sloot: That what he said on tape was all a lie.

"That is what he wanted to hear, so I told him what he wanted to hear," Van der Sloot said, adding that he never fully trusted the man to whom he'd confessed.

"It is so stupid, it is so stupid, it is really stupid," Van der Sloot said, his voice cracking, the AP reported.

Gee, I wonder there are any, um...parallels...we can draw from any similar case over in this country? You know, criminal does crime, criminal gets caught confessing on tape, and then criminal says "Oh that beach tape, it was all a lie! Never fully trusted Grant and Sean, nosirree Bob! All a lie..."

Two criminal, two crimes, two recorded confessions...and despite both a cultural and oceanic rift between the two criminals, their reactions are exactly the same: "Oh that tape, I was just kidding!"

Meanwhile, Back in Virginia Beach...

Virginia Beach police seize photos from Abercrombie store

By Steve Stone
The Virginian-Pilot
© February 3, 2008
VIRGINIA BEACH

Police, saying they were responding to citizen complaints, carted away two large promotional photographs from the Abercrombie & Fitch store in Lynnhaven Mall on Saturday and cited the manager on obscenity charges....

YCMTSU.

This by the way is the same liberal-minded jurisdiction Joe Kerekes personally assured me via open comment on April 14 had green-lighted their escort business:

"...and the Srgt shook my hand and says OUR department officially will leave you guys alone as it is clear You do your job right! This made press and only big BUCKS it was at this point we purchased our 1 million dollar home."

Yeah...this seems plausible...

Update: Be sure to read the comments to the Pilot Online story too; they are a hoot as well.