Komisarjevsky Trial: Closing Arguments Friday

Jury Faces Complex Process Of Life-Or-Death Decision

December 01, 2011|By ALAINE GRIFFIN, agriffin@courant.com, The Hartford Courant

NEW HAVEN — — Jurors deciding whether Joshua Komisarjevsky will be sent to death row or to prison for life for the July 2007 killings of a Cheshire woman and her two daughters will hear closing arguments Friday morning at Superior Court.

For weeks, the jury of seven women and five men listened and watched as defense attorneys portrayed the 31-year-old triple murderer as a troubled man struggling with a severe mood disorder since childhood.

That disorder, defense attorneys attempted to show, became worse after Komisarjevsky suffered a series of concussions, took drugs and grew up in a strict religious household with parents unwilling to seek psychiatric care for him following sexual abuse and periods of depression.

In closing arguments, expected to last about two hours for each side, the defense will argue that Komisarjevsky's role in the July 23, 2007, home-invasion killings of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters, Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11, was minor.

The defense will argue that Komisarjevsky's accomplice, Steven Hayes, was responsible for the killings and that Komisarjevsky went to the home to steal, never intending for anyone to die.

Hayes was convicted of the killings last year and sentenced to death by lethal injection. The jury that sent Hayes to death row deliberated for about 17 hours over four days before reaching its decision.

Prosecutors will argue that it was Komisarjevsky who masterminded the break-in and killings. They will remind the jurors of the evidence that led them to convict Komisarjevsky on all 17 counts that he faced at trial, including that he sexually assaulted 11-year-old Michaela while she was tied to her bed.

Komisarjevsky offered to enter guilty pleas to the charges he faced in exchange for a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of release. But his offer was rejected by prosecutors.

The jury found Komisarjevsky guilty Oct. 13 of murdering Hawke-Petit and her daughters inside their Cheshire home. Testimony showed that Komisarjevsky and Hayes broke into the home and beat and tied up the family for hours as they searched the home for cash and valuables.

At one point, Hayes forced Hawke-Petit to drive to a bank to withdraw money. When he returned, he raped and strangled her before the home was set on fire with gasoline.

Dr. William Petit Jr., Hawke-Petit's husband and the girls' father, was badly beaten but escaped. His daughters died of smoke inhalation.

Six of the 17 charges that Komisarjevsky was convicted of are punishable by death, although the jury could instead sentence him to life in prison without parole.

Judge Jon C. Blue is scheduled to charge the jury Monday morning, and deliberations could begin that afternoon.

Deciding On The Sentence

If they are instructed in the same way the jury in the Hayes trial was, the jurors in the Komisarjevsky case will go through a series of steps to reach a verdict on each of the six capital counts.

The defense's burden of proof for establishing mitigating factors is less than the burden that the prosecution bears in establishing aggravating factors.

First, the jury will evaluate two statutory mitigating factors — whether Komisarjevsky's "mental capacity was significantly impaired" or his "ability to conform his behavior to the requirements of law was significantly impaired," as well as decide whether Komisarjevsky's role in the killings was minor.

If the jurors find at least one mitigating factor under the statute, the death penalty cannot be imposed.

If no mitigating factors are found, then the jury must decide whether Komisarjevsky committed the murders in an especially heinous, cruel or depraved manner and whether he created a grave risk of death to another person. These are called aggravating factors.

If jurors do not unanimously agree that an aggravating factor exists, their task is over and Komisarjevsky will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of release.

If they determine that an aggravating factor exists, the jurors must do so "beyond a reasonable doubt" and proceed to the next step.

The jury will then move on to the 42 additional mitigating factors claimed by the defense.

These factors, which are not covered by statute, focus mostly on Komisarjevsky's background, his mental health, his employment record, his cooperation with police after the slayings, the value of his life to his family and the defense's assertion that he has been a well-behaved, productive prisoner.

If none are found, Komisarjevsky will be sentenced to death.

If the jurors agree unanimously that at least one of these factors exists, they then weigh the aggravating factors against the mitigating factors and determine which prevails.

They can identify different factors, as long as they all agree that one is present.

If they find that aggravating factors outweigh the mitigating factors, Komisarjevsky will be sentenced to death. If not, the sentence is life in prison.



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