Wilkes Barre, PA- [gaywired.com]- Brent Corrigan testified for about 40 minutes Friday morning before the court took a recess. He'll be back on the stand after lunch. But before they broke, Brent's testimony was interrupted by the judge, and it had nothing to do with the murder case. Ruh-roh! More after the jump.
Drama!
Sean Lockhart (Brent Corrigan) walked into the courtroom and sat down, awaiting to be called to the witness stand.
Lockhart's business agent and partner, Grant Roy, is also expected to testify today.
Cuadra, 27, turned to the right when Lockhart entered the courtroom, and put his head down.
Lockhart testified he had several "internet interactions" with Cuadra beginning in December 2006.
Lockhart said he was "17" years old when he did "two shoots that were spread onto four DVDs," adding that his first film was for Cobra Video, operated by Bryan Kocis, 44.
Luzerne County Judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. excused the jury to inquire if Sean Lockhart wanted a lawyer after Lockhart made "potentially incriminating" statements that he worked in adult films as a minor. Lockhart was answering questions from Assistant District Attorney Michael Melnick about his background in adult films when Olszewski stopped the proceeding and excused the jury from the courtroom.
Olszewski cautioned Lockhart that he may have "incriminated himself criminally" by admitting under oath he provided a false identification and was performing in adult films while a minor.
Olszewski gave Lockhart several options, to include speaking with a lawyer or declining to speak with a laywer and continue to testify.
Lockhart declined to speak or have a lawyer, and Olszewski returned the jury to resume the trial.
First of all, "incriminated himself criminally"? That's redundant, judge. And Earth to Judge Olszewski: Everyone in the world knows that Corrigan was 17 when he worked for Kocis. I love that Brent was all, "Duh. Nah dude, it's cool."
I'm no lawyer, but I think the statute of limitations are expired, considering Brent's underage work was over five years ago. And what kind of jurisdiction does this judge think he has?
Just who is this nut, anyway? Well, let's digress for a moment. Turns out, he's the same judge who last year threatened four men with jail terms if they failed to learn English. Huh?
Luzerne County Judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. was inspired to issue his ruling when he saw defendants Luis Reyes, Ricardo Dominguez, Kelvin Reyes-Rosario and Rafael Guzman-Mateo appear before the court with the aid of a translator.
[The judge] sentenced them each to four to 24 months in the county prison, but paroled three of them because they have already served at least four months.
But in order for them to avoid the 24 months in prison, Olszewski ordered the men to learn to read and write the English language...the defendants, who range in age from 17 to 22, are to return to court in one year with their parole officers to take an English test, according to Olszewski’s order.
“If they don’t pass, they’re going in for the 24 (months),” Olszewski said.
The defendants are in the country legally as resident aliens. Their lawyers aren't yet sure whether or not to appeal, having never before seen such an absurd order.
Good grief, Judge Olszewski is going to force Brent Corrigan to learn Spanish if he doesn't stop doing gay porn.
UPDATE 2: Lunch time is over, and Brent is back on the stand, presumably speaking English. No mention of the taped confessions that Brent got out of Harlow yet. More soon...
UPDATE 3: Videos of that nude beach encounter between Brent and Harlow (when the wiretapped confession went down) are being played for the jury. Ha, these rural jurors get to watch softcore porn:
A second minute video of Harlow Cuadra and Sean Lockhart playing catch with a football and walking nude on a beach near San Diego, Calif., was played to the jury on Friday.
Lockhart, who is testifying on the fourth day of Cuadra's capital murder trial, said Cuadra's partner, Joseph Kerekes, recorded the video on Black's Beach, a nude beach, on April 28, 2007.
Conversations Cuadra and Lockhart had on the beach, including having dinner the day before, is expected to be played to the jury.
While walking along the beach on April 27, 2007, Lockhart said Cuadra and Kerekes were "opening up" about the murder. This made Lockhart upset, he testified, and he fell behind.
"Cuadra dropped back, he touched my arm and he said, 'don't worry, it was quick, he went quick,'" Lockhart testified while nearly sobbing.
