HAYLEY and MICHAELA PETIT - 17 and 11 yo (2007) - New Haven CT

New Haven CT ---- On Tuesday, Steven
Hayes, one of the two men accused in the deadly Cheshire home invasion, said he
will take the advice of his attorney and plead not guilty.
The judge announced a recess and said jury selection
would now begin.
Last Thursday, Steven Hayes was ruled competent to stand
trial on murder charges in connection with the home invasion, which made
national headlines.
Hayes told the judge in open court last Thursday that he
would like to change his plea. The judge immediately called a recess so he and
the attorneys for both sides could determine how to proceed.
Hayes and Joshua Komisarjevsky are charged with capitol
felony murder and sexual assault charges in connection with the deaths of
Jennifer Hawke Petit and her two daughters, 17-year-old Hayley and 11-year-old
Michaela.



Komisarjevsky has pleaded not guilty.
Four jurors were selected before Hayes was admitted to
the hospital after an apparent suicide attempt in January. The hospitalization
prompted the call for a competency hearing.
After Hayes' attempt to plead guilty, his attorneys said
in a prepared written statement, "We are not here to assist Mr. Hayes in
committing suicide, whether by his own hands or by the state of Connecticut. We
would violate our obligation and our oaths of office were we to assist his
efforts to accomplish 'suicide by state.'"
Within an hour, jury selection resumed, a process that is
still expected to last another month or two.

Defense: Life sentence 'worse than death' for home invasion killer

November 5, 2010 4:00 a.m. EDT


Steven Hayes may receive the death penalty for his role in the slayings of two sisters and their mother.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• "It is a fate worse than death," Steven Hayes' lawyer says
  
• Hayes and another man are accused in deaths of woman, two daughters
  
• Prosecutor calls for execution: "We do have the death penalty"
  

New Haven, Connecticut -- A Connecticut jury begins deliberations Friday on whether Steven Hayes should be sentenced to life in prison or put to death.

Hayes was convicted of killing two sisters and their mother during a 2007 home invasion. Tom Ullmann, Hayes' lawyer, told jurors on Thursday his client would suffer more if given a life sentence.

"Life in prison without the possibility of release is the harshest penalty," said Tom Ullmann. "It is a fate worse than death."

Ullmann then had his 47-year-old client stand directly in front of the jury, put his hand on Hayes' shoulder and said to the five men and seven women, "He isn't a rabid dog that needs to be put to death. He has lost 80 pounds. He will never have a private bath. He goes to the bathroom in public. He will never eat a dinner that he makes but one that they provide. He has a rec cage for an hour a day. Like an animal at the zoo."

As he stood, Hayes -- who did not testify during the trial -- looked down at the floor.

His lawyer continued, "If you want to end his misery, put him to death. ... If you want him to suffer and carry that burden forever, the guilt, shame and humiliation, sentence him to life without the possibility of release."

But prosecuting attorney Michael Dearington sought to persuade the jurors to order Hayes be executed for his role in in the deaths of Jennifer Hawke-Petit, 48, and her daughters, 17-year-old Hayley Petit and 11-year-old Michaela Petit.

"We cannot tie Steven Hayes to a bed, pour gasoline on him and set him on fire," Dearington said, referring to the killings. "But under our laws, we do have the death penalty."

He added that the Petit family had been "destroyed because Steven Hayes wanted money."

Superior Court Judge Jon Blue then read a 36-page charge and verdict form to the jury.

A psychiatrist testified in October that Hayes had told him, "I would rather they kill me," reflecting Hayes' apparent hope that he'd be executed.

The high school dropout said he had a long history of substance abuse, the psychiatrist said.

But Dearington said Thursday that that did not excuse the murders. "Drugs don't necessarily lead to violent crimes," he said.

Hayes was convicted of 16 of the 17 charges against him, including nine counts of murder and capital murder and four counts of kidnapping.

Prosecutors allege that Hayes and Joshua Komisarjevsky invaded the Petit home in Cheshire, beat Dr. William Petit, raped and strangled his wife, Jennifer Hawke-Petit, sexually molested one of their two daughters, set the house afire and tried to flee.

The girls died of smoke inhalation; Petit himself escaped to a neighbor's home.

Komisarjevsky is to be tried separately.

In March, Hayes said he no longer wanted to commit suicide "but intended to let the state do it," a psychiatrist testified.

Judge Rejects Plea Deal In Komisarjevsky Trial


A Superior Court judge has denied an effort by lawyers for Joshua Komisarjevsky to enter a guilty plea in the Cheshire home invasion murders. His lawyers had offered to enter a guilty plea in exchange for a court-imposed sentence of life in prison with no possibility of parole. If convicted in a jury trial, Komisarjevsky faces the death penalty. The other defendant in the case, Steven Hayes, was convicted at trial and sentenced to death.
In ruling against the request, Judge Roland Fasano says he is “not inclined” to grant the motion, even if he had authority to do so.
Komisarjevsky and Hayes are charged in the deaths of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters Hayley and Michaela at their Cheshire home.
http://hartford.cbslocal.com/2011/03/23/judge-rejects-plea-deal-in-komisarjevsky-trial/

Judge Denies Komisarjevsky New Probable Cause Hearings



Superior Court Jon C. Blue rules that the revised charges against Komisarjevsky are not substantially different from the original charges.



July 8, 2011


The trial judge for the second Cheshire home invasion case has denied a defense motion to hold new probable cause hearings on nine counts against the defendant, Joshua Komisarjevsky.
Superior Court Judge Jon C. Blue issued a decision today stating that none of the charges were substantially different or subject to more serious penalties than the original charges filed shortly after the home invasion triple homicides took place.
The nine charges included some of the most serious ones, which might lead to Komisarjevsky’s execution by lethal injection if he is convicted and the jury decides to give him the death penalty.
The jurors could decide to sentence Komisarjevsky to life in prison without possibility of release or parole if they feel the mitigating factors outweigh the aggravating factors presented during the penalty phase of the trial.
Komisarjevsky is accused with murdering Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters, Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11, during the home invasion kidnapping. Other charges accuse him of sexually assaulting Michaela during the kidnapping.
Steven Hayes, his co-defendant, was convicted in a separate trial in 2010 and sentenced to die by lethal injection.
The probably cause hearing issue arose because in March 2011, at the beginning of jury selection, State’s Attorney Michael Dearington filed revised charges against Komisarjevsky.
Originally, a few days after the triple homicide, the state filed 21 charges against Komisarjevsky. At that time Komisarjevsky waived his right to a probably cause hearing.
But when the revised charges were filed, Special Public Defender Jeremiah Donovan, one of Komisarjevsky’s lawyers, made an oral motion in court for new probably cause hearings on the new charges.
In his decision today, Judge Blue said he denied that motion without prejudice because it might have disrupted the jury selection process.
However, following the completion of jury selection in June, a new motion was introduced and arguments were heard this Thursday.
The defense claimed that any change in the charges, even the addition of a comma, should require a new probable cause hearing.
The judge agreed instead with prosecutors that revised charges do not require new probably cause hearings if the revisions are insubstantial enough.
He cited a 1992 case, State v. Diaz, which ruled that the purpose of a probable cause hearing was only to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to try a defendant on the charges that he participated in a particular crime.
Judge Blue said he divided the new charges into three categories. He said five of the counts were virtually identical with the original charges, "with only minor changes in phraseology," and so they did not require new probably cause hearings.
A second group of three charges were lesser offenses than the original charges. "A waiver of a probable cause hearing on a greater offense is likewise a waiver of a probable cause hearing on a lesser included offense," Judge Blue said, thus ruling that new probable cause hearing were not required on those charges either.
The remaining charge was different because it alleges that Komisarjevsky "did intentionally aid" Hayes in causing the death of Jennifer Hawke-Petit during the home invasion on July 23, 2007.
But Judge Blue ruled the allegation of accomplice liability does not trigger the right to a new probable cause hearing.
"There is no practical significance in being labeled an ‘accessory’ or a ‘principal’ for the purpose of determining criminal responsibility," Judge Blue said.

http://cheshire.patch.com/articles/judge-denies-komisarjevsky-new-probable-cause-hearings-2

Defense says Connecticut home invasion suspect not "pure evil"
Mon Aug 1, 2011 4:45pm EDT

(Reuters) - The second suspect in a brutal 2007 Connecticut home invasion is a damaged human being but is not "pure evil," his lawyers said, arguing such descriptions by the victims' family threaten his right to a fair trial.

Joshua Komisarjevsky is accused of murdering Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11, and beating her husband, Dr. William Petit, in a home invasion described as one of the most brutal attacks in Connecticut memory.

In court papers unsealed on Monday, lawyers for Komisarjevsky said he should be spared the death penalty, and that the "provocative language" of the Hawke-Petit's loved ones was impinging on their client's right to a fair trial.

"Contrary to the families' aspersions, however, Mr. Komisarjevsky is not 'pure evil'. He has displayed remorse, and his execution would not advance justice, as that concept is defined in most of the civilized world," the defense team said in an extrajudicial statement.

After a jury trial last year, Komisarjevsky's alleged accomplice, Steven Hayes, was convicted of the triple murder and sexual assault and sentenced to death.

Komisarjevsky's lawyers criticized public comments made by the victims' family, including in a memoriam published in New Haven newspapers and in an interview on the Oprah Winfrey Show describing both men as evil and deserving of the death penalty.

Komisarjevsky's lawyers, in the document, say their client was a "damaged human being" and suggest he had a mental disorder following years of trauma and abuse. They said he wants to avoid the death penalty and spend the rest of his life in a maximum-security prison.

Prosecutors have already said they have no plans to offer Komisarjevsky a plea deal that might spare his life. Connecticut's last execution, the only one since 1960, was in 2005, according to state authorities.

According to prosecutors, Komisarjevsky and Hayes decided to rob the Petit home in Cheshire, Connecticut after targeting Hawke-Petit at a local grocery store.

Breaking into the family's home in the middle of the night, the assailants found Petit asleep, beat him and tied him up.

After being held for several hours, Petit escaped the house, at which point the attackers sexually assaulted and killed Hawke-Petit, sexually assaulted the youngest daughter and set a fire that killed the two girls.

Komisarjevsky's lawyers said there were reasons their client was in the house on that night that will become known if the trial opens as scheduled on September 19.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/01/us-crime-homeinvasion-idUSTRE7705K320110801

Judge Denies Komisarjevsky's Request To Make Statement
Defendant In Cheshire Home Invasion Case Asked To Respond To Petit Family's Characterizing Him As 'Evil'
8:05 p.m. EDT, August 3, 2011
A judge's ruling barring Joshua Komisarjevsky from responding in court to comments made in a recent newspaper memoriam marking the fourth anniversary of the 2007 Cheshire home invasion killings did not stop the accused killer's comments from being reported.

Excerpts from the statement that Komisarjevsky wanted to make in court — unsealed by a judge Monday morning — were publicized by the media, including The Courant.

Now, a Superior Court judge is making sure that future requests for "extrajudicial statements" — in a case with a court-ordered gag order muzzling parties on both sides — are filed under seal.

In a motion filed last Friday, Komisarjevsky said that comments made by Dr. William Petit Jr. and other family members of the victims, calling him "evil" and an "animal," were part of "an ongoing public relations campaign" that could affect whether Komisarjevsky receives a fair trial. The motion said that the "families' characterization" of Komisarjevsky as an animal and evil murderer was inaccurate. And Komisarjevsky wanted the chance to respond.

His motion took issue with remarks that Petit, the only person to survive the attack on his family, made during various interviews with journalists, in e-mails, in letters to the editor and on "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

"Komisarjevsky is a damaged human being (rather than the embodiment of evil) and has, in fact, displayed remorse," the motion said.

The motion also quoted the memoriam to Petit's wife, Jennifer Hawke-Petit and their daughters, Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11, that was published July 23 in the obituary section of various newspapers. The memoriam displayed a photograph of Hawke-Petit and the girls and the words: "Your unrealized potentials were stolen by pure evil without a second thought of remorse."

The memoriam included quotes from Mother Teresa and Mahatma Ghandi.

Judge Roland D. Fasano pointed directly to the memoriam in his ruling Wednesday, saying that it was "clearly intended as a tribute to tragically lost family members and fashioned to attract little notice other than that of family and friends."

Fasano went on, saying, "There is reference neither to any named individual nor to legal proceedings, and any resulting adverse publicity is negligible, at best. Additionally, publicity generated by the [memoriam] pales in comparison to the publicity generated by defendant's motion filed in response."

Fasano said that "any subsequent motions to make 'extrajudicial statements' will be filed under seal for reasons recited by the court." Those reasons were outlined Friday when Judge Holly Abery-Wetstone initially sealed Komisarjevsky's motion "to preserve an interest which overrides the public interest in viewing this material at this time."

Abery-Wetstone called the sealing "time-limited" and "no broader than necessary to protect the overriding interests of all parties."

Komisarjevsky, 30, of Cheshire, faces the death penalty if convicted of killing Hawke-Petit and her daughters during a home invasion and arson at the Petit home on July 23, 2007. Petit was badly beaten in the attack.

Komisarjevsky's trial begins in September.

A second man, Steven Hayes, was convicted of the killings in a trial last year. He has been sentenced to death.


http://www.courant.com/community/cheshire/cheshire-home-invasion/hc-cheshire-home-invasion-0804-20110803,0,6967576.story

Petit Trial Judge Rejects Change of Venue, Testimony Starts Monday

Sept. 16, 2011
A Connecticut judge dismissed a series of last-minute motions today that would have delayed the death-penalty murder trial for Joshua Komisarjevsky.

The stage is now set for Komisarjevsky to face a jury for his alleged role in what has been called the worst homicide in the state's history.

Komisarjevsky, 31, is accused of 17 charges, ranging from murder to abduction and assault.

He and Steven Hayes had offered to plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence instead of facing a death sentence, but the state rejected their offer. Hayes was convicted and sentenced to death last year for his role in the killing. He is on death row.

Second Petit Murder Trial Set to Begin

The crime that has inflamed such passion was the July 23, 2007, home invasion at the home of Dr. William Petit in Cheshire, Conn. Petit was severely beaten and tied up, according to testimony in Hayes' trial.

His wife, Jennifer Hawke-Petit, was raped and strangled. His two daughters, Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11, were tied to their beds. The younger girl was sexually assaulted, and both girls were left bound to their gas-soaked beds as the suspects torched the house.

Hayes' inability to avoid the death penalty has prompted Komisarjevsky's court-appointed legal team to take a more aggressive approach and they had filed a series of contentious motions in recent weeks.

Today's rulings by Judge Jon Blue eliminated the last in a series of those motions, clearing the way for the trial to begin.

The most significant motion was for the trial to be moved out of New Haven where publicity from Hayes' trial and in the run-up to Komisarjevsky's trial has made it impossible to get an unbiased jury, defense attorneys argued.

They asked that the trial be moved to Stamford, Conn., which Blue rejected.

The judge also rejected requests today that the jury be dismissed and replaced by another panel, and that all the newspaper boxes -- which will presumably carry stories about the trial -- be removed from outside the courthouse.

Komisarjevsky's lawyers have also tried to limit the emotional impact of Petit, the only survivor of his alleged crime. In today's motions, they asked the judge to restrict Petit's testimony to what happened during the crime, and that he not be allowed to discuss the charities and other activities in which his wife and children were involved. Blue dismissed the request.

Other motions dismissed in the weeks before the trial included attempts to keep Petit out of the courtroom during testimony on the grounds that he is a witness who will have to testify, and that other Petit family members be banned from wearing pins memorializing the victims.

Petit attended every day of Hayes' trial and sentencing, and held an emotional news conference when that case was concluded.

"We all know that God will be the final arbiter and I think the defendant faces far more serious punishments from the Lord than he can ever face from mankind," he said at the time.

Petit said he dreaded the prospect of sitting through all the gruesome details of what happened to his family again.

"I didn't want to be here and listen to things that were being said," he said. "Thousands of times I wanted to jump up and scream out."

On some days, Petit said, he felt "so terrible" that he didn't know if he "wanted to cry or just die."


http://abcnews.go.com/US/petit-trial-judge-rejects-change-venue-starts-monday/story?id=14537689

It never ceases to amaze me how people who brutalize and murder others are so afraid of being put to death themselves; how they can argue against testimony in behalf of their victims; how they can request privileges for themselves when they have deliberately denied innocent people of even the right to life. Did they not bestow cruel and unusual punishment on their victims?

As Komisarjevsky Trial Begins, Witnesses Recount Tense Events
Neighbor Describes Petit Bleeding From Head Wound; Bank Teller Testifies Hawke-Petit Said Her Family Held Hostage

Reporters gather outside Superior Court in New Haven on Monday. (Stephen Dunn, Hartford Courant / September 19, 2011)
By ALAINE GRIFFIN, agriffin@courant.com
The Hartford Courant
4:45 p.m. EDT, September 19, 2011

NEW HAVEN — —
During an emotional first day of testimony in the Joshua Komisarjevsky trial, jurors heard tense accounts of the events of July 23, 2007: bank employees who talked with Jennifer Hawke-Petit as she tried to withdraw money to save her family from hostage-takers; an officer who responded to the scene of the Cheshire home invasion; and the neighbor who found Dr. William Petit Jr. bleeding from a serious head wound.

Testimony in Superior Court will resume Tuesday morning, and Petit is expected to testify.

Leaving court after Monday's testimony, Petit did not stop to speak to reporters, but when asked how is getting through the trial, he said, "We plan to stick together as a family."

Komisarjevsky, 31, is the second man to be tried in the Cheshire home invasion that left Petit's wife, Jennifer Hawke-Petit, 48, and their daughters, Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11, dead. He faces 17 counts, including murder, capital felony, kidnapping, sexual assault, arson, assault and larceny.

Steven Hayes, who was tried in the same packed courtroom by the same judge almost exactly a year ago, was convicted and sentenced to death.

In Monday's opening arguments, defense attorney Walter C. Bansley III attempted to distance Komisarjevsky from the 2007 killings of Hawke-Petit and her daughters and fingered Hayes throughout his remarks, saying Komisarjevsky "was a willing participant in the break-in but not" in the killings.

Bansley said the evidence will show that Komisarjevsky never intended for anyone to die inside the Petit home.

He said what jurors will hear will "shake your very confidence in humankind." The testimony will "break your hearts."

He said evidence will show Komisarjevsky did intend to break in the Petit home and steal but he did not have a weapon.

Bansley said it was Hayes who raped and strangled Hawke-Petit and set the fire that killed the girls.

Bansley recreated for the jury the tension between Komisarjevsky and Hayes in the moments Komisarjevsky realized that Petit had escaped.

Bansley said that Hayes — worried that Komisarjevsky had used his name and concerned about possible evidence left behind in the house — said they needed to kill the family and burn the house down.

"Joshua Komisarjevsky was stunned, perplexed with the whole situation. That wasn't part of the plan," Bansley said. He said Komisarjevsky said, "I'm not killing anyone. No way."

Bansley said Hayes then told Komisarjevsky "I'll take care of it."

Bansley also said that after fleeing from the house, Komisarjevsky noticed that Hayes wasn't with him. Bansley said Komisarjevsky re-entered the house and saw Hayes coming out of the master bedroom with two empty jugs that had contained gasoline.

Bansley also said that, during his confession to police, Komisarjevsky had said: "I can't imagine being burned alive. They did what they were supposed to do. … There was no reason for them to die."

New Haven State's Attorney Michael Dearington told the jury he would not present opening arguments and instead would offer evidence.

The first witness to testify was Mona Huggard, who recounted Hawke-Petit calling in sick for her husband at 6:45 a.m. that day. Huggard said it was only the second time she recalled Petit calling in sick in her 18 years of working with him.

Kristin Makhzangi, a teller at Bank of America branch in Cheshire, testified that Hawke-Petit came into the bank and asked to withdraw $15,000. When Hawke-Petit could not offer two forms of ID, she told the teller she needed the money because two men were holding her family hostage.

Makhzangi testified that she then called her bank manager, who approved getting Hawke-Petit the money after hearing about the hostage situation.

Hawke-Petit appeared calm overall, Makhzangi testified, but her hands were shaking.

Prosecutors showed the jury black-and-white bank video footage, in which Hawke-Petit stands at the teller window. She appears calm and leans in at one point, putting her hand to her mouth as if to whisper something.

Makhzangi said Hawke-Petit left the bank after she received the money. Makhzangi said she watched from a window as Hawke-Petit waited in the parking lot until a man in an SUV wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and baseball cap picked her up.

Bank manager Mary Lyons testified that when Hawke-Petit was unable to show a second form of ID, Hawke-Petit showed her photos of her daughters that she had in her purse.

"With that, I believed her," Lyons said. "I assumed she was who she said she was."

Lyons said Hawke-Petit was deliberate.

"To me, she seemed like she was trying to get done what she was sent in the bank to get done so she could get back to her family," Lyons said.

Lyons said she went back to her office, kept the lights off and called police.

Prosecutor Gary Nicholson played the 911 call for jurors as Lyons, talking quickly and breathing heavily at times, told the dispatcher Hawke-Petit needed the money to help her family being held hostage at her home.

Lyons said Hawke-Petit told her "if police are told, they will kill the children and the husband."

Hawke-Petit had told her the hostage-takers had "been very nice," Lyons said, and that "she knows they'll leave after they get the money."

"It's amazing how calm she was, but then again she could have been petrified," Lyons told the dispatcher.

In afternoon testimony, Officer Thomas Wright said he was patroling the northeastern section of Cheshire when he heard on his police radio about a possible home invasion at a home on Sorghum Mill Road.

He went to the scene and noticed that police had set up roadblocks in the neighborhood, Wright testified Monday afternoon. At one of the homes on Hotchkiss Ridge, Wright said, he saw a man he later learned was Petit.

Petit was bloody, suffering from a serious head wound.

Jurors heard the 911 call from Petit's neighbor, David Simcik, saying Petit was wounded at his home. On the call, jurors could hear Wright approaching Petit and Simcik when Simcik was on the phone. He takes the call, telling the dispatcher he needed an ambulance for Petit.

Then on the tape, yelling can be heard and Wright said he noticed a commotion at the Petit home.

'Petit Posse'

Prior to the start of witnesses' testimony, defense attorney Jeremiah Donovan called to the attention of the judge 27 people in the gallery — the "Petit posse," Donovan called them — wearing Petit Foundation pins.

Donovan said the pins could possibly be seen by jurors in the nearby juror box.

Dearington objected to Donovan's use of the phrase "Petit posse."

"I am not the word police, sir," Judge Jon C. Blue said. "They can use any phrase they wish."

Before the start of jury selection in March, Komisarjevsky's attorneys asked that Blue prohibit William Petit and members of his family from wearing Petit Family Foundation pins while seated in the courtroom gallery, in view of prospective jurors.

In rejecting that motion, Blue said that the pins were small and "discreet." The foundation, dedicated to the memory of Petit's wife and daughters, supports the education of young people, especially women in the sciences, and those affected by chronic illness and violence.

Monday, Blue told Donovan he could put legal arguments on the record. He then began calling jurors into the courtroom one by one, asking if anything had happened in their lives that would hurt their ability to serve on the panel.

All jurors and six alternates said they were ready to serve. Blue dismissed three backup alternates, saying, "Think of us slaving away here as you go."

Of the 12 regular jurors, four are from New Haven, two are from Meriden and the rest are from Bethany, Wallingford, Hamden, Guilford, Madison and Branford.

Reporters and spectators lined up before dawn to get a seat in the courtroom which has a capacity of 118. Komisarjevksy, seated at the defense table, wore a dark suit and tie and followed the proceedings attentively.

http://www.courant.com/community/cheshire/cheshire-home-invasion/hc-komisarjevsky-day1-0920-20110919,0,4211871.story?page=1

A doctor whose wife and two daughters were killed in a
home invasion told jurors Tuesday that he was attacked with a baseball
bat in the middle of the night and described how he fell, crawled and
rolled in his frantic escape to a neighbor's house.
It's the second time Dr. William Petit has had to talk a jury through the 2007 ordeal that left
his wife, Jennifer Hawke-Petit, and their two daughters, 11-year-old
Michaela and 17-year-old Hayley, dead.
Petit testified Tuesday in New Haven Superior Court in the trial of Joshua Komisarjevsky, a
31-year-old ex-con who faces a possible death sentence if convicted.
The physician also testified at the trial of Komisarjevsky's co-defendant, Steven Hayes,
who was convicted and sentenced to death last year.
Petit was not cross-examined in the first trial but faced 20 minutes of questioning from the defense on Tuesday.
He told the jury that he awoke to a warm liquid
running down his face and initially wasn't sure if it was a dream. He
says he saw two people, one of whom said "if he moves put a bullet in him."
Petit, who had blood in one of his eyes, said he was tied up and later moved to the basement,
saying he held onto the rails with his fingertips so he didn't fall. He was tied to a pole.
He said at one point that he heard loud thumping sounds on the floor and his wife moaning. Then he
said he heard a voice say, "Don't worry everything will be over in a couple of minutes."
"It sounded much more serious, much more sinister," Petit said of the voice.
Petit said he had struggled for hours to free himself, but the ties got tighter. "I think
there were times I would fade a bit and slump against the pole," he said.
As he slumped, Petit said his weight apparently loosened the ropes and he was able to free himself.
Petit said he wasn't sure of the intentions of the men. He noted that there were two of them, that
one of the men had a gun and that his feet were bound, so fighting back wasn't an option.
"I didn't think it would be a good match," he said.
Petit said he hopped up some stairs to a basement door. He said he fell down, crawled and rolled
across a lawn to a neighbor's house.
Petit said it felt like his heart was going to explode out of his chest.
Authorities say Komisarjevsky and Hayes, two paroled burglars, broke into the family's
Cheshire home in July 2007 in a robbery attempt.
Hayes forced Hawke-Petit to withdraw money from a bank before he raped and strangled her in the
family's home. The girls, who had pillowcases placed over their heads,
died of smoke inhalation after the house was doused with gasoline and set on fire.
Both men have blamed each other for escalating the crime. Prosecutors say they're both responsible.
Komisarjesky's attorney, Jeremiah Donovan, cross-examined Petit for about 20 minutes. Donovan,
who had sought unsuccessfully to keep Petit off the witness stand, asked
Petit how much he really remembered and how much he was trying to put
together what happened based on what he heard from other witnesses and
evidence he has since seen.
"I believe what I testified is the best of my own recollection," Petit said.
Donovan pressed Petit on some pieces of his testimony and how they compared with what he had told police.
The attorney asked, for example, why Petit didn't mention to the jury that he had thought he was
being videotaped based on a bag he saw in the basement, as he told
police. Donovan noted that the bag was not in photos Petit has since
seen. Petit said he was not asked about the bag.
Donovan also questioned why Petit testified that he heard his wife call into his office the day
of the crime to say he would not be in work, but made no mention of that to police.
"Maybe your mind is playing tricks on you," Donovan said.
Petit stood by his testimony.
Petit said he did not see who poured the gas and set the house on fire. He said he heard one voice
during the ordeal, but couldn't make out whose it was.
After his testimony, Petit told The Associated Press in an interview that "it was more nerve racking" to testify this time.
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Survivor-Testifies-Connecticut-Home-Invasion-Trial-Cheshire-130211933.html

Lurid Confession, Delivered In Calm Tones, Shocks Court
By WILLIAM GLABERSON
Published: September 21, 2011

NEW HAVEN — The judge at the Cheshire triple-murder trial abruptly sent jurors home about 10 minutes early on Wednesday, saying that one of the panel members was having a tough time with the evidence.

The judge, Jon C. Blue, did not offer any further explanation. He did not have to. He had shouted “stop” more than an hour into a tape-recorded confession by the defendant, Joshua Komisarjevsky, that the jurors had seemed to take in with growing discomfort.

In calm, conversational tones, Mr. Komisarjevsky could be heard veering eerily through the home-invasion crime, which included assaults, arson and kidnapping, and ended with the deaths of a mother and her two daughters. In flat tones, he offered tangled perceptions, including descriptions of how he had tied up his victims and sexually assaulted the younger of the daughters, Michaela Petit, 11.

The narrative of the crime has been widely known since it occurred in Cheshire, Conn., on July 23, 2007, and many of the facts of Mr. Komisarjevsky’s confession have come out before. But his gravelly voice, exuding confidence, had never been heard publicly before.

It made for a chilling afternoon in the sixth-floor courtroom. Mr. Komisarjevsky, then 26, could be heard speaking clearly in full, grammatical sentences to detectives just hours after the crime. At the beginning, before its cumulative effect brought shocked unease in the courtroom, his version sounded merely off kilter.

He cast his co-defendant, Steven J. Hayes, as the one who had pushed his less-malignant intentions into dangerous territory. Mr. Hayes was sentenced to death for the crime last year.

Why was he there, a detective asked Mr. Komisarjevsky at the beginning of the recorded session at the Cheshire police station. He hesitated. For “a home invasion gone terribly wrong,” he responded. Prosecutors are presenting the confession in their death-penalty case against him. They are expected to argue it is a wily career criminal’s effort to slip out from the most damaging of the charges.

Over the courtroom speakers, his voice sounded collected, as if he were describing a failed cash-register robbery. He said that he had been interested only in “money, quick” and that he had hesitated for many minutes before he beat the sleeping father of the family, Dr. William A. Petit Jr., with a baseball bat.

He stood over the sleeping man, he said on the tape, “not wanting to hit him, not thinking that I could.” But then Mr. Hayes, he claimed, gestured, and he swung the bat. In his casting, he was a gentle soul: “I couldn’t take the scream. I’ve never hit anybody in the head.”

It was Mr. Hayes, he claimed, who first talked of killing. Mr. Komisarjevsky said he had insisted, “I’m not killing anyone.”

But it was his talk of Michaela Petit that drew the intense reactions. Dr. Petit and members of his family seemed stricken as they sat feet from Mr. Komisarjevsky in the courtroom.

He said he had spotted her and her mother in a shopping center parking lot. “For whatever reason,” he said, “I chose to follow the mom and daughter to their house.” He added that he “thought it would be nice to be there someday.”

As Mr. Komisarjevsky’s account of the hours-long ordeal continued, he began to refer to the child by her family’s nickname, “K. K.”

“I went back to K. K.’s room,” he said. “We were talking.” He claimed he had thought she was 14 to 16. He said he “ended up performing oral sex on her.” He is charged with forcing her to engage in sexual intercourse. His lawyers have claimed that he masturbated “in the presence of Michaela.”

On the tape in the courtroom, a detective could be heard asking if Michaela had consented. “It started off as against her will,” he answered. It was then that Judge Blue said “stop.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/22/nyregion/komisarjevskys-confession-in-cheshire-triple-murder-played.html?ref=nyregion

Alleged Home Invasion Defendant: 'I Never Thought of Untying Girls'
Published September 22, 2011
| Associated Press



NEW HAVEN, Conn. – In a confession played for jurors Thursday, a Connecticut man on trial for a brutal home invasion can't explain why he didn't untie two girls before they died in a fire.
In the recording, Joshua Komisarjevsky says he closed the bedroom doors where the girls were and couldn't believe his co-defendant was considering burning the girls alive. But he says "it just didn't cross my mind" to untie them before the house was doused with gas and set on fire.

Komisarjevsky's ongoing trial is the second in the case. In the first one last year, his co-defendant, Steven Hayes, was convicted of strangling Jennifer Hawke-Petit and killing her two daughters. Hayes was sentenced to death, and Komisarjevsky could join him on death row if he's convicted.
Authorities say Komisarjevsky and Hayes broke into the house in Cheshire in 2007, beat Dr. William Petit with a bat and tied him and his wife and two daughters up as they looked for money. Hayes later drove Hawke-Petit to a bank so she could make a withdrawal, police said.
When he returned to the house, he raped and strangled Hawke-Petit, authorities said. The girls, 11-year-old Michaela and her 17-year-old Hayley, died of smoke inhalation after the house was doused with gasoline and set on fire.
The two men have blamed each other for escalating the violence, but prosecutors say both men are equally responsible.
Jurors began listening to the confession Wednesday. New Haven Superior Court Judge Jon Blue at one point stopped the recording Wednesday, saying a juror was having a tough time. That prompted a motion for a mistrial by Komisarjevsky's attorney, who said Blue shouldn't have made the comment in front of other jurors.
Blue denied the motion, saying he chose his words carefully.
The confession was disrupted again Thursday when the court was evacuated for what turned out to be a false fire alarm.
Komisarjevsky told police he undressed 11-year-old Michaela and took explicit pictures. But he blamed Hayes for the gasoline-fueled fire that killed the girls.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/09/22/judge-denies-mistrial-in-conn-home-invasion-trial/#ixzz1Z4GP9AET

Second week of the Komisarjevsky trial starts this morning


Petit home invasion scene photo
Cheshire fire fighters leave the house as Cheshire SWAT prepares to enter and search for any remaining suspects at 300 Sorghum Mill Rd. on Monday morning, July 23, 2007. Fire fighters had not finished battling the fire when they were temporarily ordered out while police searched for suspects of a home invasion that turned into arson and murder.



Posted: Monday, September 26, 2011 8:38 am | Updated: 8:42 am, Mon Sep 26, 2011.
Mary Ellen Godin | 0 comments
NEW HAVEN -- The second week of Joshua Komisarjevsky's trial is expected to open with continued testimony from police, fire officials and a representative from Verizon Wireless, court officials said Monday.
Defense attorneys for Komisarjevsky are expected to resume their cross-examination of Cheshire Detective Joseph Vitello, who took Komisarjevsky's statement in the hours after the deadly home invasion on July 23, 2007.
Last week a 90-minute audiotape of Komisarjevsky's confession was played in open court. Komisarjevsky admitted to assaulting Dr. William Petit Jr. and molesting one of his daughters but said no one was suppose to die during the burglary attempt.
Komisarjevsky and a co-defendant Steven Hayes are accused of breaking into Petit's home and tying the family up to rob them, then setting the house on fire as they fled from police. Hayes was convicted of among murder and arson charges, strangling Jennifer Hawke-Petit. He was sentenced to death. Her two daughters died of smoke inhalation.
The Verizon officials will use cell phone technology to track the men's activities and whereabouts during the attack on the family.

http://www.myrecordjournal.com/cheshire/article_da2925ca-e83c-11e0-85ea-001cc4c002e0.html