Harlow Cuadra Receives Life In Prison

Taken from handjtrial.blogspot.com
Because the jury could not reach a unanimous decision on whether he really deserved to die, it looks like America’s sweetheart, Harlow Cuadra will get life without parole. They discussed it for five and a half hours. During closing arguments, the prosecution showed the knife that nearly decapitated Bryan Kocis and the tape where Cuadra said, “Actually, seeing that (expletive) going down, actually it’s sick, but it made me feel better inside.” They also took a particularly low-blow by insinuating that Cuadra had weaseled his way out of the military just before the Iraq Invasion, when in actuality he’d been discharged because he’s a ‘mo.
Earlier in the week, victim Bryan Kocis’ father told the jury he hasn’t slept a full night in the last 26 months, and blames his son’s murder for his declining health. “We were very close,” Michael said. “He was my hunting partner who saved my life when I had my heart attack.” Michael told the jury that he taught Bryan how to drive a vehicle with a stick-shift transmission, and worked three jobs to put his son through college. Bryan donated money to the Make-A-Wish Foundation and to an unwed mother who couldn’t afford Christmas presents for her children, Michael said. Bryan’s dream was to build a waterfront home at Ice Lakes in Rice Township where he owned property, Michael said, and open a restaurant. “That was the type of person he was, very generous,” Michael said.
In his defense, Paul J. Walker, one of Cuadra’s two attorneys, presented eight mitigating circumstances, including Cuadra’s Naval service and his dysfunctional childhood. The Lackawanna prison chaplain testified that Cuadra’s transformed behind bars: attending Mass in jail, giving the readings in Spanish, and even recruiting others to continue attending after he leaves (kissing up? survival tactics?). One of Cuadra’s clients spoke about their mutual a love of cheesecakes, Harry Potter books, and money; he added that Cuadra had helped him rediscover his faith and had sent him a small cross woven out of cloth. In the end though, Cuadra’s own mother, a Honduras native, gave the most impassioned plea for the life of her son (using a translator). She recounted the years of sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of his stepfather as a child and said, “Before he was born I fought for his life, and now I continue fighting so he can keep on living. It’s the only thing I can say to you. With my last drop of blood, I’ll keep on fighting.” In the end, mom got her wish.
Personally, we’re glad to be done with this whole horrible affair. What a tragic and needless waste of life and beauty on all sides. We all like porn, we all like money—it’s never worth killing someone over. Kocis’ family have lost an uncle, a brother, and a son. He and Cuadra have both lost their businesses, their passions, and their lives. We’d much rather Kocis had gone on making porn for us to jerk to and for handsome Harlow continue fucking hot guys rather than rotting in a cell. But we define ourselves by our ties to others. Harlow had no tie to anyone, not even his own family, only to his hustling clients and abusive boyfriend… a life lived out of sexual opportunity and brutal fear. Now he’ll spend the rest of his life behind bars trying to figure out what happened and if he can make amends with the ghost of Bryan Kocis and his lost life.