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

Joshua Komisarjevsky's Cognitive Evaluation [PDF]

http://www.courant.com/media/acrobat/2011-10/212977260-07113754.pdf

The 17 Charges Against Joshua Komisarjevsky

Joshua Komisarjevsky faces 17 charges in the Cheshire home invasion case, including six capital felony charges that carry the possibility of a death sentence. Conviction on one or more of the capital felony charges would move the case to a penalty phase.

Here is the breakdown of the charges:

1.Aided Steven Hayes in the murder of Jennifer Hawke-Petit

2.Murder of Hayley Petit

3.Murder of Michaela Petit

4.Capital felony: Intentionally caused the deaths of two or more people

5.Capital felony: Intentionally caused the death of a person under the age of 16

6.First-degree kidnapping (William Petit)

7.First-degree kidnapping (Jennifer Hawke-Petit)

8.First-degree kidnapping (Hayley Petit)

9.First-degree kidnapping (Michaela Petit)

10.Capital felony: Intentionally caused the death of Jennifer Hawke-Petit in the course of a kidnapping

11.Capital felony: Intentionally caused the death of Hayley Petit in the course of a kidnapping

12.Capital felony: Intentionally caused the death of Michaela Petit in the course of a kidnapping

13.First-degree sexual assault

14.Capital felony: Intentionally caused the death of Michaela Petit in the course of first-degree sexual assault

15.Second-degree burglary

16.First-degree arson

17.Second-degree assault

http://www.courant.com/community/cheshire/cheshire-home-invasion/hc-komisarjevsky-17-counts-20111006,0,5392831.story

Komisarjevsky's Attorneys Seek To Curb State's Closing Argument
Urge Judge To Bar Any Statements That Contradict Arguments Made In Steven Hayes' Trial


By ALAINE GRIFFIN, agriffin@courant.com
The Hartford Courant
10:51 p.m. EDT, October 10, 2011

NEW HAVEN— Defense attorneys for Joshua Komisarjevsky say prosecutors should not be able to argue in their closing statements Tuesday morning theories that run counter to arguments they made in last year's trial of Steven Hayes, Komisarjevsky's co-defendant.

A 13-page motion filed by the defense Friday afternoon requests the court to prohibit prosecutors from arguing theories of criminal liability that "deviate or diverge" from theories prosecutors proposed during closing arguments in the trial of Hayes, who was convicted of the Cheshire home invasion killings and sentenced to death.

In their motion, Komisarjevsky's defense attorneys quote passages of prosecutors' closing statements in the Hayes trial, arguments that sought to debunk Hayes' defense attorneys claims that Komisarjevsky was the "mastermind" behind the deadly home invasion and that Komisarjevsky pressured and threatened Hayes to rape and kill Jennifer Hawke-Petit and set the fire to the home that would kill her daughters, Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11.


The motion reads in part: "…a factual argument in one case that Steven Hayes acted alone in lighting the fire, for example, and in another that it might have been Joshua Komisarjevsky are plainly antithetical scenarios. The state simply cannot argue factually inconsistent theories in the hopes of bamboozling the jury, in violation of Mr. Komisarjevsky's constitutional rights."

Hayes' defense attorneys argued that Komisarjevsky told Hayes he had to "square things up" by raping Hawke-Petit after Hayes learned Komisarjevsky had sexually assaulted Michaela, a theory prosecutors fought in closing arguments.

The defense wants the court to prohibit prosecutors from arguing that anyone but Hayes is the principal who raped and killed Hawke-Petit or that Komisarjevsky ordered, pressured or "perpetrated any violence" against Hayes. Komisarjevsky's lawyers also want prosecutors to be prohibited from arguing that anyone other than Hayes contributed to the "continuous pour" of gasoline and lit the fatal fire.

The defense is also asking the court to keep prosecutors from appealing to "the prejudices, emotions, and passions of the jury."

Attorneys are expected to argue the motion Monday morning, and closing arguments likely would soon follow.

Jurors then will begin deliberating Komisarjevsky's fate, once Superior Court Judge Jon C. Blue finishes giving them detailed instructions on how to sort through the 17 counts that Komisarjevsky faces.

Komisarjevsky, 31, of Cheshire, is accused of breaking into the Petit home in the middle of the night, beating Dr. William Petit Jr. with a baseball bat, and tying up the family as he and Hayes ransacked the home for cash and valuables. Testimony showed that at one point in the break-in, Hayes forced Hawke-Petit to go to the bank to withdraw money. During that time, according to testimony, Komisarjevsky sexually assaulted Michaela as she was tied to her bed.

When Hawke-Petit and Hayes returned from the bank, Hayes raped and strangled Hawke-Petit, and the house was doused with gasoline and set on fire as the intruders fled, testimony showed.

Six of the 17 counts against Komisarjevsky are capital felonies. If convicted of one or more of these counts, Komisarjevsky will face a death penalty hearing in which jurors will decide whether Hayes lives or dies. The method of execution currently used for capital punishment in Connecticut is lethal injection.

The capital felony counts were applied because Komisarjevsky is accused of:

Killing Hawke-Petit, 48, and Michaela and Hayley in the course of a single action.

Killing a child under the age of 16.

Killing Hawke-Petit and Michaela and Hayley in the course of a kidnapping, one count per person.

Killing Michaela in the course of the commission of a first-degree sexual assault.

Komisarjevsky is also charged with three counts of murder and four counts of first-degree kidnapping. One of the murder charges he faces says that Komisarjevsky "did intentionally aid Steven Hayes in causing" Hawke-Petit's death. He is charged with first-degree sexual assault in the rape of Michaela. He also faces charges of second-degree burglary, second-degree assault and first-degree arson.

Komisarjesky told police in an audiotaped statement played for jurors during his trial that he never intended to kill the Petit family members but did intend to break in and steal their belongings. Komisarjevsky said Hayes — whom attorneys portrayed in the trial's opening statements as a career criminal desperate for money who feared going back to prison — killed the family and set the house on fire. During the trial, jurors saw gasoline station surveillance footage of a man who resembled Hayes at the time of the crime pumping gasoline into one of the Petits' vehicles.

At his trial last year, jurors acquitted Hayes on one count: first-degree arson.

State medical examiners testified during both trials that the girls died of smoke inhalation. Testimony showed there was soot in their voice boxes, airways and lungs, meaning that they were inhaling smoke while they were still alive. Michaela died in her bed. Hayley, who was also tied to her bed on the home's second floor, managed to free herself but collapsed and died at top of the stairs.

Testimony presented by the state showed that a "petroleum product consistent with gasoline" was used to fuel the fire inside the Petit home. Authorities said it was poured on the girls' beds. A state police chemist testified that he found a "petroleum product consistent with gasoline" on Komisarjevsky's work boots, sweat shirt and pants, which police seized from Komisarjevsky shortly after his arrest.

His defense attorneys suggest the fuel could have been something Komisarjevsky used to clean tools he had used on previous construction work or a petroleum-based product he used on a roofing job just prior to the time of the killings.


http://www.courant.com/community/cheshire/cheshire-home-invasion/hc-komisarjevsky-closings-setup-1011-20111010,0,2007175.story

Komisarjevsky Jurors Hear Two Sharply Different Views In Closing Arguments
State: 'They Were Screaming For Their Lives'; Defense: He 'Did Not Intend' For Anyone To Die


By ALAINE GRIFFIN, agriffin@courant.com
The Hartford Courant
11:51 p.m. EDT, October 11, 2011

NEW HAVEN—
— At one point during closing arguments in his triple-murder trial Tuesday, Joshua Komisarjevsky slowly rose to his feet to face the jury that will decide whether he lives or dies.

He didn't speak and stood for a few seconds expressionless, dressed in a suit and tie, at the defense table. His mother, Jude, and sister, Naomi — their first time in court since the trial began — and his father, Ben, looked at him from their seats just a few feet away in the courtroom gallery.

Attorney Jeremiah Donovan turned to Komisarjevsky, and then to the jurors, reminding them of testimony in which Komisarjevsky confessed to acts committed during the home invasion, crimes that could put him in prison for the rest of his life. He reminded jurors they were told early on by the defense that what they heard at the trial "may shake your confidence in humanity."

But Komisarjevsky, Donovan said, never intended for Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two daughters, Hayley and Michaela Petit, to die.

New Haven State's Attorney Michael Dearington was quick to discount the dramatic defense move. He portrayed Komisarjevsky as cold and calculating, a liar and the one in charge of leading the deadly July 23, 2007, home invasion.

He described Komisarjevsky, 31, a serial burglar on parole at the time of the killings, as a "gifted manipulator" whose own defense psychology tests showed that he was persuasive and had "superior" verbal ability.

"As he stood before you today, who was he trying to manipulate at that point?" Dearington asked the jurors.

Dearington and prosecutor Gary W. Nicholson said that it was Komisarjevsky who led the break-in at the Petit family's Cheshire home, beat Dr. William Petit Jr. with a bat and tied up the family.

Hawke-Petit, Petit's wife, was forced to go to a bank to withdraw money. Their home was later doused with gasoline and set on fire. Komisarjevsky's co-defendant, Steven Hayes, has admitted raping and strangling Hawke-Petit. State medical examiners testified that the girls died from smoke inhalation.

Dearington called Hayes a "puppet" and Komisarjevsky, he said, was "pulling the strings."

Nicholson reminded jurors that it was Komisarjevsky who spotted Hawke-Petit and 11-year-old Michaela at the supermarket hours before the home invasion. Nicholson said that Komisarjevsky stalked the family and took Hayes to the house.

Komisarjevsky "saw a beautiful young girl, attractive mother, a nice car and he wanted to know more ... he wanted what they had," Nicholson said. "Make no mistake, this intrusion was Mr. Komisarjevsky's idea."

Dearington focused much of his argument on the youngest Petit family member and her final hours alive. Komisarjevsky told police that he masturbated on Michaela and performed oral sex on her as she was tied to her bed. Prosecutors say that Michaela was sexually assaulted and cite testimony from a medical examiner that said a rectal sample taken from Michaela's body contained sperm.

Dearington referred to Komisarjevsky's audiotaped statement to police in which he says he "locked eyes" with Michaela and talked to her in her bedroom about music, "school and summer plans," and called her by her family nickname, KK.

Komisarjevsky told police that he thought she was between the ages of 14 and 16, but Dearington said if they had, indeed, talked about school, he would have known that she was a young girl who had just finished the fifth grade.

Dearington shook his head as if in disgust at Komisarjevsky's portrayal of his relationship with the girl as "casual friends" and "school chums."

"You know Michaela must have been absolutely, absolutely terrified," Dearington said, his voice trailing off.

Nicholson also focused on the final moments of the girls' lives, asking jurors to imagine what was going through the minds of Hayley and Michaela, who lay tied to their beds as gasoline was poured on them.

"Ask yourselves, what terror they felt ... they knew the end was near," Nicholson said. "Hayley and Michaela knew they were going to die a horrible death. They were screaming for their lives. They were screaming for mercy, any help they could get."

Nicholson reminded jurors that Komisarjevsky didn't untie them. "What did the defendant say he did? He closed the door. … Was he in a situation where he didn't want to hear their screams?"

Nicholson stood at a lectern in front of the jury and Petit family members and friends. The hushed courtroom was packed.

Nicholson noted that Komisarjevsky was certified as an emergency medical technician in two states. He reminded jurors that a psychologist who had testified for the defense about Komisarjevsky's cognitive function said he had trouble handling stress.

But, Nicholson said, EMT work is very stressful and if Komisarjevsky was certified as an EMT, he certainly could have handled the stress of that day.

"The truth is, with that EMT training, he could have saved their lives," Nicholson said. "He just had no interest in doing that."

Nicholson said that Komisarjevsky wanted what the Petits had and considered the home invasion his "big score."

At one point when Nicholson talked about 17-year-old Hayley's attempt to escape, her father, seated in the courtroom gallery with family and friends, lowered his head and closed his eyes.

Nicholson said that Komisarjevsky was playing the "blame game" when it comes to the fire and the killings, pointing the finger at Hayes. Last year Hayes was convicted of murder in the case and sentenced to death.

Donovan brought up that punishment toward the end of his argument by displaying a mug shot of Hayes on a movie screen in the courtroom. Donovan said it was Hayes who killed Hawke-Petit, lit the fire in the home and ignored Komisarjevsky when he told Hayes — according to the audiotaped statement that Donovan replayed in court Tuesday — "No one is dying by my hand today."

Donovan said it was natural for people to say that anybody involved in this crime should be found guilty. But he urged jurors to consider each of the 17 charges against Komisarjevsky and his intent in each of the crimes.

Komisarjevsky's confession, Donovan said, was full of rich details that police would not have known unless Komisarjevsky had told them.

A self-serving confession would not have had Komisarjevsky admitting that he followed Hawke-Petit from the supermarket, beat Petit, tied up the family and sexually assaulted Michaela. Donovan said that Komisarjevsky's confession was corroborated by other evidence in the case.

In one awkward moment, Donovan walked toward Petit and members of his family and friends seated in the courtroom gallery who have attended every day of the trial.

"You know what they want," Donovan said to the jury, referring to the death penalty. "You should take no account of that."

Donovan called Petit's testimony unreliable, saying that he had the opportunity to listen to others testify in this trial and in Hayes' trial last year.

Donovan brought up Hayes, saying that he was a bully, was desperate for money and had a fetish for women's sneakers and pornography. Donovan said that Hayes called Komisarjevsky several times before the home invasion and was eager to get it started.

Donovan described Komisarjevsky as a "damaged lad," who as a boy was sexually abused and burned by cigarettes by a foster child the family took in. Donovan urged jurors to read a report done by a neuropsychologist who evaluated Komisarjevsky, which detailed Komisarjevsky's use of illegal drugs and multiple concussions he suffered.

The pillows that Komisarjevsky brought to Petit when he was tied to a pole in the basement show that Komisarjevsky did not intend to kill, Donovan said. Donovan replayed portions of Komisarjevsky's audiotaped statement to police in which he says killing the family was not an option to him.

Donovan also said prosecutors' suggestion that Petit heard Komisarjevsky say, "put a bullet in his head," was a "big leap." Prosecutors had argued that because police found a pellet gun in Hayes' possession, he had the gun during the home invasion, so it was Komksarjevsky who uttered those words.

Donovan told jurors to question the testimony of Cheshire police, saying their guilt over how they responded to the crime colored their testimony.

He said the case was loaded with "what-ifs" stemming largely from the police response to the crime.

Donovan said Komisajevsky closed the doors of the girls' bedrooms "in the hope that" it would take some time for the fire to reach them.

Outside the courthouse, Petit's sisterm Johanna Petit Chapman, said she was upset with the defense's attack on their family's decision to support her brother and be "the voices" of her sister-in-law and nieces. The defense does an on-the-record daily count of Petit Family Foundation pins worn by people attending the trial.

Petit Chapman said going to court every day was not something her family chose to do.

"It's very painful for us to be here every day," she said.

Asked about Donovan's argument that Petit's testimony was not reliable, Petit responded: "I told the truth to the best of my ability." He added that the crux of the case does not hinge on his testimony because he could not identify who broke into his home.

Petit said Donovan's "what-if" scenarios were "nauseating" and he was "perturbed" when Donovan suggested that Petit's escape from the basement precipitated the fire and that his daughter, Hayley, could have escaped from a window instead of running from her room and collapsing at the top of the stairs.

Six of the 17 counts against Komisarjevsky are capital felonies. If convicted of one or more of those counts, Komisarjevsky will face a death penalty hearing in which jurors will decide whether he lives or dies. The method of execution currently used for capital punishment in Connecticut is lethal injection.

Steven Hayes' Letters

Earlier Tuesday, the defense unsuccessfully pushed for a continuance to review what it said was new evidence that could affect the case — three letters written by Hayes.

Superior Court Judge Jon C. Blue denied the motion for a continuance. He said he did not know how the information in Hayes' letters was exculpatory in Komisarjevsky's case. He said the letters could be admissible in the penalty phase.

According to the motion, Hayes writes in the letters about how he would select victims and how he would plan their deaths. The defense motion claims that Hayes said he raped and strangled the women.

According to the motion, Hayes wrote, "I have 17 kills throughout the northeast United States ... and also dozens of drug rape victims."

The letters — more than 100 pages of material — were written by Hayes to a person in North Carolina and came to the attention of Komisarjevsky's defense attorneys on Friday as part of the discovery process, the defense motion says.

In one letter, Hayes calls the Cheshire invasion "a dry run in the partnership between Josh and myself. I do now realize had we gotten away, I would have killed Josh. He was not even worthy of my partnership."

The defense said Tuesday it had not had a chance to discuss the letters with Komisarjevsky and examine what effect they have on his defense. The Courant has not seen the letters, which the defense says include Hayes' admission of killing the women and taking their sneakers.

http://www.courant.com/community/cheshire/cheshire-home-invasion/hc-komisarjevsky-closing-arguments-1012-20111011,0,2178042,full.story

It's up to the jury now - I PRAY they reach the proper verdict


NEW HAVEN—

The jury has begun deliberating whether Joshua Komisarjevsky is guilty of murdering Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters Hayley and Michaela, burning their home and beating Dr. William Petit Jr. with a bat in a 2007 home invasion in Cheshire.

The jury left the courtroom around 11:15 a.m., shortly after defense attorneys for Komisarjevsky told a Superior Court judge that they wanted to put co-defendant Steven Hayes on the witness stand.

But Superior Judge Jon C. Blue denied the defense request to reopen evidence, which would have allowed them to put Hayes, already convicted of murder in the 2007 Cheshire triple slayings, on the stand.

The request came following revelations that Hayes had written letters about how he would select victims and plan their deaths. The defense motion claims that Hayes said he raped and strangled 17 women.

Blue denied the motion for a continuance based on the three letters Tuesday, saying he did not know how the information in Hayes' letters was exculpatory in Komisarjevsky's case. He said the letters could be admissible in the penalty phase.

According to the motion, Hayes wrote, "I have 17 kills throughout the northeast United States ... and also dozens of drug rape victims."

The letters — more than 100 pages of material — were written by Hayes to a person in North Carolina and came to the attention of Komisarjevsky's defense attorneys on Friday as part of the discovery process, the defense motion says.

In one letter, Hayes calls the Cheshire invasion "a dry run in the partnership between Josh and myself. I do now realize had we gotten away, I would have killed Josh. He was not even worthy of my partnership."

The defense said Tuesday it had not had a chance to discuss the letters with Komisarjevsky and examine what effect they could have on his defense. The Courant has not seen the letters, which the defense says include Hayes' admission of killing the women and taking their sneakers.

On Wednesday, defense attorney Walter C. Bansley III said the defense team needed time to read through the letters and discern how Hayes' testimony would be used. He said the letters offer an M.O. that shows the Cheshire home invasion may have been a way for Hayes to further his "agenda" of "depraved" behavior.

He said the writings show a "sadistic side" of Hayes, outlining how he said he killed each of the women. He said it was "fundamentally unfair" that they were not made aware of these letters by the state until just recently.

Blue appeared to question the veracity of the letters on Wednesday and said reading them was "not a pleasant" experience.

"If you take them at face value," Blue said.

Blue said putting Hayes on the stand "could be a mixed blessing" for Komisarjevsky.

If Hayes is truthful, Blue said, he is "one of the great serial killers" in history who also says extremely damning things about Komisarjevsky that Blue said he found "hard to imagine" the defense "would want to put on."

Blue said Hayes wrote that Komisarjevsky raped Michaela Petit, poured gasoline and that the men "went into this enterprise with the joint plan of killing everybody."

Blue said by reopening evidence, he feared evidence pointing the finger at Komisarjevsky could be a "miscarriage of justice." Blue said using these letters as evidence "would be the seal of Mr. Komisarjevsky's doom."

In the letters Hayes does not offer dates and other details that would help lawyers corroborate his information. Blue also said Hayes would likely invoke the Fifth Amendment and refuse to testify. Prosecutors said the Hayes letters are hearsay and unreliable.

Earlier Wednesday, Blue also denied a defense motion for mistrial.
http://www.courant.com/community/cheshire/cheshire-home-invasion/hc-komisarjevsky-1013-20111012,0,4975543.story

Komisarjevsky Jurors Head Into Second Day Of Deliberations
Deliberated Four Hours Wednesday On 17 Counts

By ALAINE GRIFFIN, agriffin@courant.com
The Hartford Courant
9:47 p.m. EDT, October 12, 2011

NEW HAVEN — —
Last year, when the door to the jury deliberating room finally closed on Paula Calzetta and the 11 other jurors chosen to weigh the evidence against defendant Steven Hayes in the Cheshire triple-murder case, she felt a huge sense of relief.

"For me, that was a big moment. I finally didn't have to hold it all in," Calzetta said late Wednesday. "You knew you were now free to talk and you felt like the gate opened."

Jurors in the trial of Hayes' co-defendant, Joshua Komisarjevsky, who began their own deliberations Wednesday after hearing from about three dozen witnesses during 12 days of sometimes gruesome testimony, faced a similar task — and perhaps feelings similar to Calzetta's.

"I know today there was probably an exhale in that room and an attempt by them to make some sense of where they're going," said Calzetta, 56, of Guilford. The jury she served on deliberated for 4 1/2 hours over two days before finding Hayes guilty on 16 of 17 counts.

The jurors in the Komisarjevsky trial now must decide whether Komisarjevsky is guilty of killing Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters, Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11; setting fire to their home; and beating Dr. William Petit Jr. with a bat in a 2007 home invasion in Cheshire.

Their decision will determine whether Komisarjevsky, 31, of Cheshire, faces life in prison or is sent to a penalty phase in which the jurors would decide whether he lives or dies by lethal injection.

The jury of five men and seven women spent four hours deliberating Wednesday, beginning its work about 11:30 a.m. sorting through the 17 counts that Komisarjevsky faces. The jurors also elected their foreperson, a 30-year-old woman from Branford.

The jurors knocked on the door three times during their first day of deliberations. They asked for additional copies of the jury charge instructions and whether they could leave their notebooks and blackboard notes in the room after they left for the day.

They also asked a question about the charges. It read: "When giving the verdict, do we need to specify if we have found him guilty as a principal or an accessory?"

Superior Court Judge Jon C. Blue told jurors they do not need to specify and added that they do not need to be unanimous on whether they believe that Komisarjevsky was a principal or an accessory in a crime.

During deliberations, judicial marshals let spectators sit in the courtroom gallery. The wait appeared to wear on Petit who, at one point, rested his elbows on his thighs and buried his face in his hands.

The jurors wrapped up their work about 4:40 p.m. Wednesday and will return Thursday morning at 10. Before the jurors left Wednesday, Blue reminded them that they were prohibited from talking about the case with anyone other than fellow jurors in the deliberation room, and from exposing themselves to the widespread publicity that the case has garnered.

Defense Seeks To Question Hayes

Before deliberations began Wednesday, defense attorneys seemed to surprise the court when they told the judge that they wanted to reopen evidence in the case and put co-defendant Hayes — who now sits on death row after being convicted of the Petit slayings last year — on the witness stand.

Blue denied the defense request.

The request came following revelations that Hayes had written letters about how he would select victims and plan their deaths. The defense motion claims that Hayes said he raped and strangled 17 women.

After listening to the defense arguments, Blue said he did not know how the information in Hayes' letters was exculpatory in Komisarjevsky's case. He said the letters could be admissible in the penalty phase, which would follow if there is a guilty verdict on one or more of the six capital felony charges that Komisarjevsky faces.

According to the motion, Hayes wrote, "I have 17 kills throughout the northeast United States ... and also dozens of drug rape victims."

The letters — more than 100 pages of material — were written by Hayes to a person in North Carolina and came to the attention of Komisarjevsky's defense attorneys on Friday as part of the discovery process, the defense motion says.

In one letter, Hayes calls the Cheshire invasion "a dry run in the partnership between Josh and myself. I do now realize had we gotten away, I would have killed Josh. He was not even worthy of my partnership."

The defense said Tuesday that it had not had a chance to discuss the letters with Komisarjevsky and examine what effect they could have on his defense. The Courant has not seen the letters, which the defense says include Hayes' admission of killing the women and taking their sneakers.

On Wednesday, defense attorney Walter C. Bansley III said the defense team needed time to read through the letters and discern how Hayes' testimony would be used. He said the letters offer an "M.O.," or modus operandi, that shows the Cheshire killings might have been a way for Hayes to further his "agenda" of "depraved" behavior.

"If you take them at face value," Blue said, immediately calling into question the veracity of the letters. Blue added that reading them was "not a pleasant experience."

Bansley said the writings show a "sadistic side" of Hayes, outlining how he said he killed each of the women. He said it was "fundamentally unfair" that they were not made aware of these letters by the state until just recently. Prosecutor Michael Dearington said that correction officials intercepted the letters and forwarded them to prosecutors.

Blue said that putting Hayes on the stand and using the writings as defense evidence "could be a mixed blessing" for Komisarjevsky.

If Hayes is truthful, Blue said, he is "one of the great serial killers" in history who also says extremely damning things about Komisarjevsky that Blue said he found "hard to imagine" the defense "would want to put on."

Blue said Hayes wrote that Komisarjevsky raped Michaela Petit, that he poured gasoline in the house and that the men "went into this enterprise with the joint plan of killing everybody."

Blue said that by reopening evidence, he feared that it could be a "miscarriage of justice" for Komisarjevsky and "would be the seal of Mr. Komisarjevsky's doom."

In the letters, Blue said that Hayes does not offer dates and other details that would help lawyers corroborate his information. Blue also said that Hayes would probably invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and refuse to testify. Prosecutors said the Hayes letters were hearsay and unreliable.

Prosecutors say it was Komisarjevsky who led the break-in at the Petit family's Cheshire home on July 23, 2007, beat Petit with a bat and tied up the family.

Hawke-Petit, Petit's wife, was forced to go to a bank to withdraw money. Their home was later doused with gasoline and set on fire. State medical examiners testified that the girls died from smoke inhalation.

Hayes was convicted of raping and strangling Hawke-Petit and killing her daughters.

Facial Expressions

Also on Wednesday, Blue denied a series of motions for mistrial filed by Komisarjevsky's attorneys, including one objecting to comments that prosecutors made during their closing arguments Tuesday.

Another motion was filed based on word from a spectator who reported seeing an audiovisual expert for the prosecution, who was sitting near the jury, "roll her eyes in a public display of disbelief" seven times during defense closing arguments, defense attorney Jeremiah Donovan said.

Although he denied the motion, Blue brought jurors into the courtroom and told them to "disregard" any facial expressions by spectators.

http://www.courant.com/community/cheshire/cheshire-home-invasion/hc-komisarjevsky-1013-20111012,0,4975543.story

Komisarjevsky Verdict, Count-By-Count

4:47 p.m. EDT, October 13, 2011

NEW HAVEN—
The jury has found Joshua Komisarjevsky guilty in all 17 charges he faced in the Cheshire home invasion case. Six of the counts are capital felony charges that carry the possibility of a death sentence.

The case will now move to a penalty phase, because Komisarjevsky has been convicted on the capital counts.

Here is the breakdown of the charges, with verdicts:


1. Murder: Aided Steven Hayes in the murder of Jennifer Hawke-Petit: GUILTY

2. Murder of Hayley Petit: GUILTY

3. Murder of Michaela Petit: GUILTY

4. Capital felony: Intentionally caused the deaths of two or more people: GUILTY

5. Capital felony: Intentionally caused the death of a person under the age of 16: GUILTY

6. First-degree kidnapping (William Petit): GUILTY

7. First-degree kidnapping (Jennifer Hawke-Petit): GUILTY

8. First-degree kidnapping (Hayley Petit): GUILTY

9. First-degree kidnapping (Michaela Petit): GUILTY

10. Capital felony: Intentionally caused the death of Jennifer Hawke-Petit in the course of a kidnapping: GUILTY

11. Capital felony: Intentionally caused the death of Hayley Petit in the course of a kidnapping: GUILTY

12. Capital felony: Intentionally caused the death of Michaela Petit in the course of a kidnapping: GUILTY

13. First-degree sexual assault: GUILTY

14. Capital felony: Intentionally caused the death of Michaela Petit in the course of first-degree sexual assault: GUILTY

15. Second-degree burglary: GUILTY

16. First-degree arson: GUILTY

17. Second-degree assault: GUILTY

http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-komisarjevsky-verdict-17counts-10xx-20111012,0,3896271.story

Psychologist Says Komisarjevsky Was Sexually Abused 'A Lot'
Raped by older foster brother, he believed he was condemned to hell, trauma expert testifies

By ALAINE GRIFFIN, agriffin@courant.com
The Hartford Courant
7:12 p.m. EST, November 7, 2011

NEW HAVEN —
Raped as a boy by his foster brother and later told during his strict religious upbringing that sex — particularly homosexual sex — is sinful, young Joshua Komisarjevsky believed he was condemned to hell, a clinical psychologist testified Monday.

Those traumatic experiences, Massachusetts-based psychologist Leslie Lebowitz said, led to a troubled life for Komisarjevsky that resulted in a life of crime, culminating in his facing the death penalty for the kidnapping, rape and killing of a Cheshire girl and kidnapping and murders of her mother and older sister.

"He felt the church was speaking directly to him and he was going to hell," Lebowitz testified Monday in Superior Court during the penalty phase of Komisarjevsky's trial.

Jurors heard similar sexual abuse claims by Komisarjevsky during testimony from a psychologist at the evidence phase of Komisarjevsky's trial. Prosecutors discounted those claims, saying Komisarjevsky himself was the only source of the allegations, and that they only surfaced years later when he faced prison time for a series of nighttime residential burglaries.

On Monday, defense attorneys fighting to keep Komisarjevsky off death row used Lebowitz' testimony to bolster Komisarjevsky's claims of abuse, though, her primary source for that information was also Komisarjevsky.

Komisarjevsky told Lebowitz in more than a dozen interviews that his older foster brother raped him, burned his chest with cigarettes and posed him in sexual positions with his younger sister, Lebowitz testified, testimony that prompted several jurors to write in their court-issued notepads.

Lebowitz said she concluded Komisarjevsky was sexually abused "not every day, but a lot" in a household where "church was in their home."

Lebowitz said in one meeting she had with Komisarjevsky, he recalled a screaming match, a "scary encounter," she called it, that took place between the foster teen and Komisarjevsky's father, Ben, in which a very young Komisarjevsky was shoved and "trapped" between the two of them.

She said Komisarjevsky told her that after the fight, he went to the hay loft, where his foster brother, who was 11 years older, often went to smoke. Komisarjevsky wanted to offer his brother support, but instead the older boy lashed out at him, holding him down and burning his chest with cigarettes.

Komisarjevsky told Lebowitz his foster brother sometimes used a magic marker to penetrate him during sexual assaults, Lebowitz testified.

In one instance, she said Komisarjevsky recalled being raped while an album of '50s rock music spun on a record player.

"He can't stand that kind of music," Lebowitz said. "He remembers the music...he remembers the pain...he remembers the expression on [his brother's] face."

She testified Komisarjevsky recalled that one night his younger sister came to find them in the bedroom the boys shared, dressed in her pink "footsie pajamas." Komisarjevsky told her the foster teen posed them together in sexual positions as he watched them urinate.

She said Komisarjevsky felt guilt because he didn't know whether to defend his young sister and risk getting his foster brother in trouble. And Komisarjevsky was confused, she said. One moment, the family was enjoying a Sunday afternoon together riding bikes, but that night, Komisarjevsky would be sexually assaulted, he claimed.

The foster brother would make fun of Komisarjevsky for crying, Lebowitz said. Komisarjevsky, who was between 4 and 6 at the time, was confused, she testified, wondering if that was what older brothers teach their younger siblings. She said the abuse affected his relationship with his family and how he felt about himself. He did not think adults could protect him, she said.

And all along, Komisarjevsky, who like most children that age was "egocentric," Lebowitz said, was "trying to figure out what he did to deserve this punishment."

Lebowitz also testified that during one argument between Komisarjevsky's mother, Jude, and his foster brother, Komisarjevsky said he attempted to stick up for his mother.

Lebowitz said the foster brother screamed at Komisarjevsky: "Why are you sticking up for her? You're just a bastard just like me. You're not her real kid."

Komisarjevsky was adopted when he was 2 weeks old.

Lebowitz said the family did not get psychological counseling or medication for Komisarjevsky.

"Jude said they didn't want to work with anyone outside of their faith," Lebowitz said.

Lebowitz said she interviewed the foster teen, who is now in his 40s, Komisarjevsky's parents, other family members and church members for her evaluation.

She said defense attorneys who had asked her to conduct the evaluation on Komisarjevsky guaranteed her that they would not attempt to "shape" her findings in any way. She said she was asked to "ascertain whether Komisajevsky had a history of trauma" and not to provide an excuse or explanation for the sexual assault and killing of 11-year-old Michaela Petit and the murders of her mother, Jennifer Hawke-Petit, and sister, Hayley, 17, during a July 2007 home invasion at their Cheshire home.

"There is nothing I could say that would ever excuse that kind of behavior," Lebowitz said.


Lebowitz has testified in other high-profile trials including earlier this year for the plaintiffs suing Girls Gone Wild owner Joe Francis.

Lebowitz testified in April on behalf of four women suing Francis in federal court in Florida. In that case, Lebowitz testified that suicide attempts, drug abuse, eating disorders and other troubles the women experienced were attributed to the release of the explicit films made of the girls when they were underage.

Lebowitz will resume her testimony Tuesday morning.

Before testimony began Monday, Judge Jon C. Blue said he received an unsolicited letter Friday from a member of the public regarding motions discussed last week about whether Komisarjevsky's daughter, 9, will be called to testify.

Blue said while he does not encourage such letters from the public, judges often do get such correspondence. Blue said he gave copies of the letter to attorneys and sealed its contents because the letter involved a minor child.

Judge Blue told jurors he expected testimony in the penalty phase to extend beyond the Thanksgiving break. He said jurors could begin deliberations in early December.

"Again, that's not a guarantee, but it seems like a reasonable possibility," Blue said.


http://www.courant.com/community/cheshire/cheshire-home-invasion/hc-komisarjevsky-penalty9-1108-20111107,0,3664352.story?page=1

Petit Family Murders – Komisarjevsky’s Daughter’s Video Shown

11/25/2011 donchais
In what I consider to be terribly cruel and unnecessary, a video of little
‘J.N.’ was played for the jury in the defense’s attempt to convince them to spare Komisarjevsky’s life.

Komisarjevsky hasn’t seen his daughter since his arrest on July 23, 2007. He was in prison when she was born in 2002 and after his release in 2006, he engaged the child’s mother in a custody battle and won in May 2007, two months before the Petit family murders.

Caroline Burry, a social worker and child development instructor hired by Komisarjevsky’s defense, interviewed the 9-year-old girl at the offices of her legal guardian.

J.N. lives with a maternal aunt. Her schoolmates and others don’t know she is the daughter of one of the most notorious convicted killers in the U.S. She lives under an assumed name and has been sheltered from the events of the murders. Burry said that she barely remembers him.

Burry showed her some pictures of Komisarjevsky and asked if she knew who he is. She replied she remembers him as Grandpa’s son Josh. “I remember playing with Josh,” she said.

Burry described ‘J.N.’ as bright, engaging, and sparkly. When she was asked whether she remembered ever living with “Josh” she said she did not remember anything.

Burry testified her overprotective family will not be able to shelter her much longer and it’s only a matter of time before the case’s notoriety catches up to her.

“She would have to live on a daily basis with being labeled and quite possibly stigmatized with the fact her father is on death row and there is an execution coming up.”

With all the controversy surrounding orcing ‘J.N.’ to provide testimony, probably the biggest controversies occurred when Komisarjevsky defied attorney Jeremiah Donovan when he
addressed the judge, out of the presence of the jury, asking that the video not be shown.

He told Judge Jon Blue, “Among many other considerations, I have carefully come to the overwhelming opinion that I am not at all comfortable putting my daughter in a position wherein she may feel that she has to explain or justify herself to anyone who perceives her statements to somehow help one of the most hated people in America. She’s 9 years old. Had this interview been her decision to make, and she was old enough to understand that decision, that would be one thing. However, that is not the case in this situation. The decision has been made for her.”

So, hat did Donovan accomplish? The child didn’t plead for Komisarjevsky’s life. She has little to no recollection of him and doesn’t even refer to him as daddy!

What did Burry accomplish when she testified it was only a matter of time before the case’s notoriety catches up to her? She lives under a new identity so how will people make the connection?

While it is interesting that Komisarjevsky asked that the video not be shown, I had not forgotten just how manipulative Komisarjevsky is. No doubt, his statement was more self-serving then anything else!

For the sake of the Petit, Hawke, and Penn families, I am hoping the penalty se testimony is wrapping-up and the jury will finally get to complete their job!

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – A jury condemned a Connecticut man to death Friday for killing a woman and her two daughters during a night of terror inside their suburban home, rejecting defense attorneys' request to spare his life in light of the abuse he suffered as a boy.

The jury deliberated over the span of five days before returning the verdict against Joshua Komisarjevsky, who will join his accomplice Steven Hayes on Connecticut's death row. Komisarjevsky had no visible reaction.

The two paroled burglars tormented a family of four in the New Haven suburb of Cheshire before killing Jennifer Hawke-Petit and leaving her daughters, 17-year-old Hayley and 11-year-old Michaela, to die in a fire.

The only survivor, Dr. William Petit, was beaten with a baseball bat and tied up but managed to escape. He appeared calm as the verdict was pronounced, his eyes blinking rapidly and his hand clenched in a fist on the seat in front of him. He later bowed his head and closed his eyes.

The sentencing verdict concluded two lengthy trials that subjected jurors to grim evidence including charred beds, rope used to tie up the family and autopsy photos. The crime in the affluent New Haven suburb of Cheshire in 2007 drew comparisons to the one described in Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood," led to the defeat of a bill to abolish the death penalty in Connecticut and sparked tougher state laws for repeat offenders and home invasions.

In closing arguments, a prosecutor said the two men created "the ultimate house of horrors" by inflicting extreme psychological and physical pain on the victims that amounted to torture.
"It was shockingly brutal. It was evil. It was vicious," prosecutor Gary Nicholson said.

Before the verdict was announced, defense attorney Walter Bansley said his client was prepared for a death sentence."He's very accepting," Bansley said. "He's been realistic from the beginning and he understood that public sentiment is very much against him."

Komisarjevsky will join 10 other men on Connecticut's death row. The state has executed only one man since 1960, and the 31-year-old Komisarjevsky will likely spend years, if not decades, in prison.

The same jury that convicted Komisarjevsky heard 20 days of testimony from defense witnesses including psychologists, his parents and his sister. In arguing for a life sentence, his lawyers said his ultra-religious family never got Komisarjevsky proper psychological help after he was repeatedly sexually abused as a child by his foster brother.

"The only option he ever had was to go through life damaged," Bansley said in his closing argument.

Hayes was convicted last year of raping and strangling Hawke-Petit and killing the girls. The girls died of smoke inhalation after they were tied to their beds and doused in gasoline before the house was set ablaze. Komisarjevsky was convicted Oct. 13 of the killings and of sexually assaulting Michaela.

Komisarjevsky admitted in an audiotaped confession played for the jury that he spotted Hawke-Petit and 11-year-old Michaela at a supermarket and followed them home. After putting his daughter to bed, he and Hayes returned to the Petit house in the middle of the night to rob it.
In the morning, Hayes brought Hawke-Petit to a bank to withdraw money, promising her no one would be hurt if she complied. Komisarjevsky took cellphone pictures of Michaela while she and Hayes were out.

The men, who blamed each other for escalating the crime, were caught fleeing in the family's car.
Komisarjevsky did not testify during his trial but objected unsuccessfully to an effort by his attorneys to play a videotaped interview of his 9-year-old daughter. Speaking outside the presence of the jury, he said he didn't want his daughter to feel compelled to help "one of the most hated people in America."

The defense focused heavily on the family's evangelical Christian religion and on Komisarjevsky's mental health. The family's church believed that the end of the world was near and that outsiders were potential agents of the devil, according to testimony.

Komisarjevsky told a defense psychologist that he was repeatedly sexually abused by his foster brother from ages 4 to 6 and burned with a cigarette. He also said he was raped as a teenager by someone he trusted.

Prosecutors said those claims emerged years later when he faced prison time for 19 nighttime residential burglaries committed a decade ago.

Komisarjevsky was hospitalized when he was 15 after setting a vacant gas station on fire. He was having homicidal thoughts about his father and had upside-down crosses on his arms and a marking declaring Jesus is dead, according to a hospital evaluation. The hospital wanted to put him on Prozac and other treatment, but his parents were uncomfortable with medication and sent him to a religion-based treatment program in Vermont, where he claimed to hear voices telling him to kill himself.

Komisarjevsky also claimed as a teenager to have seen a demon with glowing eyes in his room. His mother called church leaders to intervene and pray to remove the demon.
Komisarjevsky's sister testified that he sexually abused her for years.

He suffered from a mood disorder since he was about 9 that included bouts of profound depression, according to a defense psychiatrist.

Prosecutors emphasized that Komisarjevsky's parents provided him a good home, mentors, vacations, values and mechanical skills he would later use in the construction trade. They said Komisarjevsky's rape claims emerged years later when he faced prison time for 19 nighttime residential burglaries he committed a decade ago.

Jurors were flooded with photos of Komisarjevsky as a baby, young boy and with his daughter. Prosecutors objected and at one point Judge Jon Blue suggested it was "overkill."

The defense tried to show that Komisarjevsky has redeeming qualities, noting he won custody of his daughter when he was briefly out of prison, did well at a construction job and was known to volunteer to help others as a teen who toured with a Christian singing group.

His family and other witnesses described him as remorseful and in shock over his role in the crime. Prosecutors tried to raise doubts about his remorse, noting he blamed Petit, the only survivor, for not doing more to help his family even though Komisarjevsky had beaten him with a bat and tied him up


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/12/09/jury-reaches-verdict-in-connecticut-home-invasion-trial/#ixzz1g4raB4QD

Why in the world did it take the jury 5 days to sentence this cold blooded murderer to death? It would have taken me 1 second. What a waste of time. Now he'll sit in jail for probably 10 years wasting taxpayers money and never feel bad about the mother and girls he killed. I can't imagine how the father lives through each day as he probably relives it in his mind. Such a tragedy.

Judge Sentences Komisarjevsky To Death
Moments Earlier, Killer Tells Court He Has To Learn To Forgive Himself

Dr. William Petit Jr. arrives at New Haven Superior Court for the sentencing of Joshua Komisarjevsky for the killing of Petit's wife, Jennifer Hawke-Petit and his two daughters, Hayley and Michaela in July 2007 in the Cheshire home invasion. (CLOE POISSON | cpoisson@courant.com / January 27, 2012)

By ALAINE GRIFFIN, agriffin@courant.com

The Hartford Courant

11:51 a.m. EST, January 27, 2012
NEW HAVEN —
Joshua Komisarjevsky today was formally sentenced to death for the home invasion attack that left Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters, Hayley and Micahela, dead in their Cheshire home in the summer of 2007.

"May God have mercy on your soul," Superior Court Judge Jon C. Blue told Komisarjevsky. An execution date was set for July 20, but an appeal is automatic and mandatory.

Moments before the sentence was pronounced, and with Dr. William Petit Jr. — the lone survivor — out of the courtroom, Komisarjevsky told the court that he has to learn how to forgive his worst enemy: himself.

Komisarjevsky, wearing an orange prison jumpsuit, spoke mostly about himself in his statement but again insisted — as he did at trial — that he never intended to kill.

"They were never supposed to lose their lives," Komisarjevsky said.

He said he "did not rape." He said he did not strangle Hawke Petit or set the house on fire.

"The ripple effect of my actions has had an effect on people I never intended to hurt," he said. "It's a surreal experience to be condemned to death."

He talked about the shame, hurt and disappointment he caused and he spoke of family members that do not want him to die.

Earlier, as photos of his family were displayed on a movie screen, Dr. William Petit Jr. recalled the wife and two daughters he lost in the July, 23, 2007 deadly home invasion at his Cheshire home.

Reading a statement before Superior Court Judge Jon C. Blue, Petit talked of missing late-night talks with his wife of 26 years, Jennifer Hawke-Petit, and listed the many good deeds she did for others.

He recalled his elder daughter, Hayley, 17, a hard-working scholar athlete who was planning to attend his alma mater, Dartmouth College.

"She was a good, kind gentle soul," he said.

And he remembered Michaela, 11, whose nickname was "KK," as "a happy girl who managed to get along with everyone. She loved to cook, care for animals, play music, plant flowers and sing.

"I will never again see the twinkle in KK's eyes when she makes me breakfast for my birthday," Petit said.

He called the day when all three perished his personal Holocaust

Family members ofthe Cheshire home invasion victims, afterwatching in silence for months as defense lawyers fought for Komisarjevsky's life, finally had their say in Superior Court this morning as a judge prepared to sentence the convicted killer to death.

The father of Jennifer Hawke-Petit spoke to his daughter's killer via a videotape statement.

Wearing an orange prison jumpsuit, Komisarjevsky looked up at the screen as the Rev. Richard Hawke said the murders of his daughter and granddaughters were the "most difficult experience I have lived through." He asked Komisarjevsky, "Was it worth the price?"

Hawke said he resented Komisarjevsky's defense team questioning the motives of his family wearing Petit Family Foundation pins during the trial.

Hawke told Komisarjevsky he tainted his family's proud name.

"Now, you are a prison number listed in the book of death. You are now in God's hands."

Hawke said he and his wife did not attend the sentencing because they have suffered financial loss attending the 131 days of both trials. Hawke lives in Pennsylvania and Florida during the winter.

William Petit Sr., father of Dr. William Petit Jr., addressed the court in person. He recalled living through the fateful day of July 23, 2007.

Through tears, he recounted the chaotic scene at his son's home, where police and emergency officials were everywhere.

"My heart sank," he said, when he realized that something was horribly wrong there.

Family members seated in the gallery wept as Petit described in detail seeing his seriously wounded son in the hospital. His son asked how Hawke-Petit and his granddaughters were.

"We were all sobbing and could only shake our heads from side to side," Petit said. "We held hands and said the Lord's Prayer."

Johanna Petit Chapman, with her brother — the attack's lone survivor — sitting beside her, said her family's love and support and the help of friends have helped them through the ordeal.

Petit Chapman shook as she read a letter Hawke-Petit wrote to her before her death in which Hawke-Petit thanked her for being like a sister.

Petit Chapman spoke tough about defense attorneys' claims Komisarjevsky did not rape Michaela and how the defense took them to task each day for wearing the foundation pins.

"We are the victims," she said. "We did not choose to be in courtroom 6A."

She scoffed at Komisarjevsky's claims that Hayes escalated the crime. She said Komisarjevsky set the tone by brutally beating her brother with a baseball bat at the start of the hours-long home invasion.

"He'll be damned to hell and that's where he belongs," she said.

The court session began at 10 a.m. Like his accomplice in the deadly July 23, 2007, Cheshire home invasion, Komisarjevsky is expected to speak today before a Superior Court judge formally sentences him to death.

A jury on Dec. 9 decided Komisarjevsky, 31, should die for sexually assaulting and killing Hawke-Petit and her daughter Michaela, and killing Hayley during the break-in and arson at the family's home.

In December 2010, Komisarjevsky's partner in the crime, Steven Hayes, 47, read a statement at his formal sentencing, saying, "I destroyed innocent lives and took away a family, a family of very good people." He added that he was tormented by what he had done.

Judge Blue then sent Hayes to death row, the same place he is expected to send Komisarjevsky as mandated by the jury's verdict. There, both men will await death by lethal injection while attorneys appeal their convictions.

In Connecticut, the initial appeal to the state Supreme Court is automatic and mandatory.

It could easily be 20 years or longer before either man is given a lethal injection at Northern Correctional Institution in Somers. Two of the 10 inmates currently on Connecticut's death row — convicted killers Robert Breton and Sedrick "Ricky" Cobb — were sentenced to death in 1989 and 1991, respectively, and have yet to exhaust their appeals and federal habeas motions.

Serial killer Michael Ross spent 18 years on death row before he was executed at his own insistence in 2005.

Jurors in the Komisarjevsky trial rejected weeks of defense evidence that portrayed him as a man damaged by childhood sexual abuse, a strict religious upbringing and longtime mental health issues.

Komisarjevsky was eligible for execution on six capital counts: killing Hawke-Petit and Michaela and Hayley in the course of a single action; killing a child under the age of 16; killing Hawke-Petit in the course of a kidnapping; killing Hayley in the course of a kidnapping; killing Michaela in the course of a kidnapping; and killing Michaela in the course of a sexual assault.

During nearly six weeks of penalty phase testimony, Komisarjevsky's attorneys argued that a series of mitigating factors — including Komisarjevsky's "significantly impaired" mental capacity and the minor role they say he played in the crime — warranted a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Defense attorneys presented evidence from mental health experts, friends and family that they said showed that Komisarjevsky suffered from a serious longtime mood disorder, which worsened after Komisarjevsky suffered a series of concussions, took drugs and grew up in an ultra-religious household with parents unwilling to seek psychiatric care for him following sexual abuse and periods of depression.

But the jury found those mitigating circumstances did not outweigh the aggravating factors: that Komisarjevsky committed the murders of Hawke-Petit and her daughters in "an especially heinous, cruel or depraved manner" and "knowingly created a grave risk of death to another person."

Komisarjevsky did not testify during the trial and did not give an unsworn statement to the jury. He did speak to the judge without the jury present while voicing his objections to having a video of his 9-year-old daughter played for jurors during the penalty phase. In the 52-minute video, about two minutes was spent talking about Komisarjevsky, whom the girl referred to as "Josh," not as her dad or father.

Komisarjevsky was convicted in October of breaking into the Petit home, beating William Petit, tying up and torturing the family as he and Hayes ransacked the home for cash and valuables, before leaving them to die in the fire.

Testimony during both trials showed that at one point in the break-in, Hayes forced Hawke-Petit to go to the bank to withdraw money. During that time, according to his own confession, Komisarjevsky sexually assaulted Michaela.

When Hawke-Petit and Hayes returned from the bank, Hayes raped and strangled Hawke-Petit. The house and the girls' bodies were doused with gasoline and the home was set on fire as the intruders fled, testimony showed. Hayley and Michaela died of smoke inhalation.

http://www.courant.com/community/cheshire/cheshire-home-invasion/hc-komisarjevsky-sentenced-0128-20120127,0,1199254.story