Trial Musings 15: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

The prosecution rests.

As on Friday, there were a few minor revelations today. One, Harlow's laptop had photos of Bryan Kocis on it. Evidence I'd say you could draw inferences roughly the same as that of the USA People Search report Harlow ordered.

Two, Harlow had a brief email exchange with executives at Falcon, in which Harlow used the claim that he was "working with a high profit porn star beginning in three weeks" as leverage to get his Falcon application noticed. A high profit porn star who Falcon immediately figured out was Brent Corrigan (the reference on his application).

And three, Harlow blurted out a few interesting things after he was arrested and read the affidavit against him, including "Joe didn't do it."

Michael Kocis, Bryan's father, also testified today. Although his testimony was not new (to us), one bit of it was important: That his son was a very private person who "you just couldn't drop in" on. This will be critical to the jury, as it shows Harlow (not Joe) had the ability to enter the Kocis home, as only someone looking like Harlow (aka "Danny") was expected that evening. Bryan would never have opened the door had Joe (or anyone else not looking like Harlow/Danny) called on him that fateful night.

So now...it's *finally* Harlow's turn to play show and tell. And besides the possibility of Harlow himself taking the stand, it looks like he has three witnesses lined up, that we know of so far:

1) Chaplain Tom Winiarczyk of Providing Hope Ministries, which provides hope and ministrations to the inmates and staff at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility;

2) Joe Kerekes, Harlow's life-incarcerated co-murderer, tenderly described in a documentary interview by him a few months ago as his "partner in life" and "first and only," but now portrayed as an evil gunslinging dominator who was so controlling that he actually wrote and sent every email purportedly from Harlow, both before and after the murder; and

3) Bobby Lee Komrowski, a probable former cellmate of Joe Kerekes, and currently serving 20-40 years after pleading guilty to the stabbing death of his girlfriend back in October of 2007 (although he now appears to be suffering from some buyers remorse over that deal).

So, which one of these duelling defense witnesses will the jury find more credible? The saintly Chaplain Tom, perhaps telling them Harlow has now found salvation? The malevolent Joe, who pled guilty and then claimed that Harlow did all the actual killin' work? Or the rather unattractive cellmate Bobby Lee, to whom Joe possibly told a different story?

Stay tuned Chinchilla readers, as this trial's climactic final scene unfolds...


Update: Here's a fun fact I just noticed in that news story about Komrowski: His lawyer is former Joe Kerekes attorney Mark Bufalino, whose belatedly revealed conflict of interest back in July derailed this trial for months; see here here here here and here.

Update 2: Ah, those globe-trotting cameras!

"Two Sony digital cameras with obliterated serial numbers found under a towel in the Virginia Beach, Va., home of Cuadra and Kerekes were the same exact models missing from Kocis’ residence, Hannon said.

Hannon said the cameras seized from the Virginia Beach home were analyzed by the FBI in Virginia, and shipped to Sony corporate offices in Japan. Sony engineers were unable to find a second serial number on both cameras, Hannon said."

Update 3: "The surprise development appeared to have caught prosecutors off guard..." Hmm, they must not be keeping up on the blogs:

"Earlier today and without the jury in the courtroom, Judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. questioned Cuadra, who waived his right to remain silent.

The surprise development appeared to have caught prosecutors off guard.

Melnick and Crake were observed running out of the courtroom on the third floor, and were leaning over the shoulders of state police Trooper Brian Murphy, a computer forensics investigator, working on a laptop computer."

Were they reading HAJOT or SOTC? Or both? :-)