Cuadra's attorneys allowed to withdraw from case

Sheena Delazio

Judge Peter Paul Olszewski let Harlow Cuadra’s attorneys withdraw from his case today and new attorneys will be appointed by the end of the day.

Attorneys for convicted murderer Harlow Cuadra filed court papers on May 8 asking a judge to allow them to be dismissed from the case because they believe Cuadra has no funds to pay them.

The also said they were to be retained only for his trial, not the appeal process.

The papers were filed by attorneys Paul Walker and Joseph D’Andrea Friday. They asked that new counsel be appointed to represent Cuadra in any further matters of appeal.

Cuadra was found guilty of his role in the January 2007 stabbing death of Dallas Township resident Bryan Kocis. Cuadra and Joseph Kerekes, his business partner in the escort business and the production of gay pornographic movies, were arrested on May 15, 2007, in the slaying of Kocis, 44, inside Kocis’ home.

Cuadra and Kerekes, who pleaded guilty to homicide charges, were sentenced to life in prison.

On April 7, the attorneys notified the state Superior Court that Cuadra was appealing his conviction and sentence handed down on March 16 by a Luzerne County jury and Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas Judge Peter Paul Olszewski, Jr.

Olszewski set a hearing for today for the attorneys to argue why they should be withdrawn.

In court papers filed on April 30, Cuadra’s attorneys said they were appealing because the judge erred in denying a motion to suppress recorded statements and conversations at a California restaurant and recorded statements and conversations at Black Beach in San Diego in April 2007.

They also argued evidence seized from Cuadra’s home during a search warrant execution and evidence seized regarding Cuadra’s e-mail accounts should have been suppressed. The appeal also claims the court should not have allowed “gruesome photographs” into evidence, which “served no purpose.”

In the filing on May 8, Walker and D’Andrea said that "since (Cuadra) has been continuously incarcerated since the time of his arrest, it is presumed that he is without funds to retain counsel to pursue his appeal."

The attorneys also said they were not hired to pursue Cuadra’s appeal.