WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - Harlow Cuadra will spend life in prison for his role in the murder of Cobra Video owner Bryan Kocis, a judge determined Monday.
The jury that convicted Cuadra of first-degree murder March 12 deadlocked when it came to deciding whether "aggravating factors" warranted the death penalty. After deliberating for roughly five and one-half hours, the eight men and five women told Judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. they would not be able to arrive at a unanimous sentencing recommendation regardless how much more time they were given.
Two aggravating factors were presented to the jury, along with instructions that if they found either factor unmitigated by defense evidence, the death penalty could be imposed. The jurors told the judge they dismissed one of the factors, but could not reach agreement on the other. At press time, there was no indication which factor was which. Either could have been problematic: the felony theft of Kocis' computer and video equipment after his death or the risk presented to firefighters' lives by the subsequent arson.
Because the only two sentencing options available for a first-degree murder conviction in Pennsylvania are life in prison and capital punishment, the judge bestowed the former upon Cuadra.
During pre-sentencing arguments, the defense presented impassioned pleas for the jury to spare Cuadra's life. Defense attorney Paul J. Walker brought up Cuadra's three years of service in the Navy, from which he was discharged prior to the Iraq conflict after openly admitting he was homosexual. Walker also presented potentially mitigating evidence of sexual abuse and poverty Cuadra reportedly suffered as a child.
Lead prosecutor Michael Melnick said none of those things forced Cuadra to mastermind or even participate in rival gay adult movie producer Kocis' January 2007 murder. He replayed for the jury a wiretapped conversation in which Cuadra said of Kocis, "Actually, seeing that [expletive] going down, actually it's sick, but it made me feel better inside."
Afterward, he asked the jury to consider whether "the defendant, as he's presenting, demonstrate[s] selfless sacrifice or selfish indulgence?
"The appropriate sentence in this case is that of capital punishment," Melnick added.
Joseph Kerekes, Cuadra's former lover and apparent partner in the crime, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder charges in December and is serving life in prison without parole.
