The evidence?
The Blacks Beach tapes are not the slam-dunk evidence that the prosecution claims them to be.
From what we can see, there has been no evidence whatsoever presented of arson in the murder of Bryan Kocis' murder. The robbery charges against Cuadra and Kerekes are based solely on statements allegedly made by Harlow Cuadra on "The Blacks Beach Tapes". Luzerne County prosecutors, from what we can tell, cannot present The Blacks Beach Tape into evidence without triggering a call from Joseph Kerekes to separate his trial from Harlow Cuadra's trial (because, Cuadra, according to The State, incriminates Kerekes on The Blacks Beach Tapes).
Note: Luzerne County did not submit The Blacks Beach Tapes into evidence at the preliminary hearing for Cuadra and Kerekes. And, Luzerne County appeared to do everything in its power to keep the tapes from being put into evidence. From the bitchless blog
The funny thing is that statement makes sense.
Now Jim raises a good point in a comment from H & J go to Trial It is in regards to the email that Sean replied to that was sent him by Bryan, that he was willing to fulfill his contract yet Bryan did not want to do it on Sean’s terms. I find that interesting what did Bryan really want?
What I also find interesting is that Bryan filled the civil suit against Sean and Grant from the Delaware LLC version of Cobra Video which was not even in existence when Sean signed the second contract with Cobra Video in 2005. Also of note the trademarked name “Brent Corrigan” was with the Pennsylvania LLC version of Cobra Video, so in effect Bryan and his attorneys lied to the Federal Courts when they filed that suit.
Sean and Grant were not aware of the two different Cobra Video LLC’s and they fell prey to Bryan’s tactics. There counter suit was thrown out and they had no recourse but to settle as they were in a tough financial situation and to them Bryan held all the cards. Also we have Lee Bergeron who was playing both sides and he was to gain no matter which way things went.
This is another thing that is interesting about this case the deal that Bryan and Lee Bergeron had. Lee was to sell his share of LSG Media to Bryan after the settlement was signed. This is in evidence with the San Diego law enforcement team who were also conducting an investigation in to the murder of Bryan Kocis.
That is why Sean Macias is no longer with his former law office. That “backdoor deal” could have had Macias disbarred for impropriety. Sean and Grant signed the settlement agreement with Cobra Video in good faith but that was not good enough for Lee and Bryan. Lee needed cash and Bryan wanted Sean at any cost.
Sean was key in the federal investigation against Bryan and he could not afford that loose end. Robert Wagner was also a key witness as he was the one who witnessed the ID that Sean presented to Bryan and he stood to do time in prison because of it. This is also the same 2257 record that Bryan presented as evidence in the civil trial. It is one of the only original records of Cobra video still in existence. So Robert had a good reason for the death of Bryan Kocis, he himself did not want to go to prison for child pornography. What could have brought this all on is that Bryan was going to get rid of Robert and Sean. Robert possibly got wind of the plan and took matters in his own hands.
Harlow and Sean wanted to film together and Cobra Video was a way for them to do so. Sean had to do a couple of scenes for Cobra as per the settlement and Harlow figured they could do it on Bryan’s dime. Once the scenes were completed Sean and Harlow could work together and Boybatter could bill Sean as “Brent Corrigan” and all would be well. The only problem was Bryan was murdered and someone used that little bit of info to point the police towards Harlow as the killer.
Robert vetted Harlow to Bryan and he knew who Harlow was as he was the one who helped Bryan spy on Sean. Robert was also at the home of Bryan after he left Las Vegas. Robert was also not pleased with the new settlement agreement and felt that he was being put aside once again for Sean. Robert was also the one who received the pictures of Harlow and he was also the one who told the police about what was missing from the home and he testified to that in his deposition. He is said to have last been in the house on the 21st of January. There are no other witnesses who saw Bryan alive after that date. If a persuasive argument can be made that Bryan Kocis was killed prior to 1/24/07, The Prosecution's Case Against Cuadra and Kerekes IMPLODES.
I have a theory and it is plausible if the police did not get the records of where Bryan's cell phone was when the last calls were made from it. Now what I find interesting is that all of these phone calls were made to Bryan’s cell phone. So in effect Bryan could have been dead for a few days and the calls could have been recieved from anywhere. The police where checking cell tower locations for Harlow and Joe’s phones but did they check where Bryan’s phone was? The instant Message conversation with Cad could have been made from anywhere with an Internet connection and Bryan’s pass word. Melnick the DA said it himself that they were not sure when Bryan died and that he expected more arrests to be made in this case.
The issue here is that the DA’s office and the police were at a roadblock as to who comited the murder of Bryan Kocis. Bryan was running an illegal business from his home and the DA’s office knew about it yet they did nothing to close him down. The federal investigation into child pornography allowed Bryan to stay in business and his prior criminal case was reduced from sexual abuse of children to corruption of minors thus not requiring him to register as a sex offender. This allowed Bryan to continue in his line of business. It also made it easy for the federal investigation into Cobra Video to continue, Bryan was key to that investigation.
With the death of Bryan Kocis there was a major problem at hand. The records of Cobra Video were destroyed and so was much of the video footage along with a lot of the evidence for the federal case. The arson charges will be hard to prove since the Fire Marshall said in the preliminary hearing that no evidence of arson was taken form the crime scene and it has now been razed. The police seem to think they have the murder weapon but the knife that Joe and Harlow purchased was found in their car in Virginia Beach when they were arrested.
All of the other evidence is circumstantial and it does not place either Joe or Harlow at the crime scene. There are no witnesses who can ID them at Bryan’s home. And the witness testimony at the preliminary hearing was not conclusive. The Blacks Beach tapes are a double-edged sword for the prosecution as well. That could cause the cases to be spilt up and that would open up another whole can of worms.
What the prosecution is using as fact is that on the Blacks Beach tapes they are claiming that Harlow is being apologetic to Sean and Grant for what has occurred. Although he never confesses to the crime at hand he does refer to it. This was also reiterated in Grants testimony at the preliminary hearing. Harlow also says that the victim felt no pain and that he went fast. But you see when the beach tapes were recorded the first search warrants were issued and with them was a description of the murder scene and how the victim died. So Harlow could have read that and that is where he got his information from.
Who would profit from the destruction of Cobra video? Certainly not Joe and Harlow they had no stake in it. Sean and Grant would not profit from the destruction of Cobra Video, they would possibly gain satisfaction from it but they were still bound by the settlement agreement. Would Lee Bergeron gain from Bryan’s death, he needed Bryan alive to collect on the money he was to be paid from his Share of LSG Media. Although it has been claimed that Lee did receive a six-figure lump sum of money from somewhere, maybe Bryan was a silent investor and he paid Lee for his share of LSG Media. Lee being the principle share holder he would still have control of the profits since Sean and Grant walked away he would not have to give them any of the profits and it would be a win- win for Lee.
I have said from the beginning that this was a convoluted case and there are so many factors involved that we may never know the real truth. One thing for certain is there is one-person dead and two others are on trial for their lives and we are no closer to the truth. This whole case could very well be thrown out on a technicality due to the aborted RICO case from Virginia. The fact that all of their assets were seized and it made it virtually impossible for them to present a good legal defense. We will just have to wait and see about that. The Prosecution put the death penalty on the table in an attempt to get Joe and Harlow to opt out with a plea deal but as of yet it has not worked in the prosecution’s favor. So where does any of this leave us? I for one don’t know what will be proven when this goes to trial but you can truly bet it will be interesting.
This is Elmysterio and I’m out.
