From the Times Leader:
"Convicted murderer Harlow Cuadra believed he deserved a new trial because his defense lawyers were ineffective and failed to present evidence his partner was the actual killer.
The state Superior Court on Friday rejected Cuadra’s request for relief, upholding his life sentence for the brutal slaying of Bryan Kocis on Jan. 24, 2007.
A Luzerne County jury — after a three-week trial before former judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. in March 2009 — convicted Cuadra, 33, with killing Kocis, 44, inside Kocis’ Dallas Township home he set ablaze in an attempt to cover up the murder.
Prosecutors alleged Cuadra and his partner, Joseph Kerekes, 41, planned to kill Kocis, their rival in the pornography industry.
Kerekes pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison.
Cuadra sought relief for his conviction claiming his trial lawyers, Joseph D’Andrea and Paul Walker, were ineffective and failed to object to several questions by Olszewski. Cuadra also claimed his trial lawyers failed to introduce evidence that Kerekes was responsible for Kocis’ murder.
D’Andrea and Walker were appointed to defend Cuadra three months before the trial that ended with the jury conviction on March 12, 2009.
The appellate court ruled questions by Olszewski in the presence of the jury were neither bias or prejudicial toward Cuadra.
“The trial court’s questioning of Cuadra merely clarified Cuadra’s narrative of the events surrounding the homicide and the actions of Joseph Kerekes,” the Superior Court ruled.
Cuadra testified in his own defense that he was inside Kocis’ house modeling for a position with Kocis’ company, Cobra Video, when a jealous Kerekes rushed in and killed Kocis.
Olszewski asked Cuadra if he saw Kerekes holding a knife and if Kerekes carried anything inside Kocis’ residence.
Cuadra further argued his trial lawyers failed to show the jury he was under duress claiming Kerekes was dominant and abusive in their relationship.
Defense strategy taken by D’Andrea and Walker during the trial attempted to convince the jury Kerekes was the killer, not Cuadra. A duress defense would have suggested Kerekes forced Cuadra to kill Kocis, which wasn’t offered during the trial.
The Superior Court ruled the two separate defense strategies would have confused the jury.
Cuadra’s conviction has been upheld by the Superior Court on direct appeal on Oct. 14, 2010."
The entire court's opinion can be found
here.
