Aug 31, 2010

Hayes' lawyer sounds off again- this time tries to inject race issue where none exists!

I actually hope that Thomas Ullmann continues along this vein throughout the rest of this trial because ultimately, he is only helping the prosecution.


 By vilifying himself -( and his client by association who needed no help in that dept) he is losing complete credibility with what seems an incessant stream of baseless verbal assaults made upon the lone surviving victim of a triple homicide that his client has admitted a heavy hand in.



Rule number one for any legal professional representing someone accused of violent crime, particularly capital crimes involving this level of brutality, do not, I repeat, do not go after the victim. And certainly do not "call out" the victim, as it were. It's not only morally repulsive but its bad lawyering to boot.


Now much as I hate to, lets address the crux of Ullman's latest whining to the court:


First of all it should be pointed out that the true intended audience for these ludicrous accusations involving the Petit case, Race, minoritys and the death penalty, is quite transparent:


This whole issue concerning the color of the Petit victim's skin and Dr Petit's income and profession, has reared its ugly head before. And you better believe that Thomas Ullmann is well aware of it: Soon after the crimes occurred in 2oo7, Governor Rell called for a special session of the Connecticut legislature. This session was called based upon the discovery that the two men caught fleeing the Petit murder scene were both on "early release parole "


In both cases, the decision to parole them was made without the benefit of either one's criminal history or case file -only a sheet of paper containing each mans last solitary arrest incident! This, when both men had managed to accrue over 30 felony charges in their lifetimes and over 20 felony convictions each. The disparity between arrest charges and convictions is c/o the plea deal model that Connecticut employs as its first line of adjuducating criminal cases. IE charges dropped within these "deals"


Ultimately, the Petit crimes served as a watershed for long overdue clean- up of some serious flaws in Connecticuts judicial system, particularity within the daily operations of The Connecticut Parole board, who it turns out had been putting the public at risk for years by making life and death Parole decisions, without the benefit of an inmates crimnal records never mind an actual eye to eye meeting with the inmate.



At that time" administrative parole" as it was called, was the norm in the state. This term meant that the inmate who was up for early Parole, did not even meet with the Parole Board members, so that they could have the benefit of asking the inmate key questions and take note things such as eye contact, body language and thus, their overall likelihood of re-offending.
*This method has thankfully changed due to some of the crime bills that evolved from the 2008 crime bill reform sessions.


At this special legislative session ie meeting, called by the Governor, who incidentally is Republican, there were a surprising amount of mutterings from the mostly democratic house members, who seemed to feel that the Petit case, although admittedly "awful and tragic" was getting special attention from the Governor-and The state because... get this : the victims were white, the surviving victim was a doctor, and the family lived in an upper middle class suburb.



I for one, could not believe my ears as I listened to the recently televised legislative session on the local Connecticut Government channel. The reason for this special session was called was specifically to address the overt failings in our judicial/parole system that had led to two men with over 26 felony convictions each, serving in one case merely a third of his sentence and the other case just under a half of his sentence. Sentences, which by the way, were already liberal to begin with, considering the amount, and the seriousness of the crimes that landed these men once again in front of a judge

.

Clearly having no other avenues to pursue insofar as an actual defense, Ullmann recently resorted to his signature pugnacious aggressiveness now aimed pre-trial no less at the survivor of the crimes committed by his client, mostly because Dr Petit refuses to be a good little victim and disappear or at least shut up. Mud-slinging at a man whose families been wiped out in the cruelest fashion is really not a good idea and mostly it attempts to distract from the real issues here.



Ullmann recently declared within the courtroom in front of the news cameras, that had the victims been black or Hispanic, they would already be serving life sentences and the state wouldn't be seeking the death penalty. This is about as irresponsible and despicable as one can get.
Stirring up muck and hatred and indeed encouraging divisiveness between people of different race and color merely for the sake of distracting from his clients guilt is unforgivable.


Did the state not pursue the death penalty against the accused killers of little B.J and Karen Clarke ten years ago ,Mr Ullmann? In case of point, the state sought the death penalty not only for the actual trigger man, but for the man they believed gave the order to kill the Clarke's, as well as the man who drove the getaway car. Both Karen Clarke and her son B.J were African Americans. The whole state grieved for them, most of us who knew the details of the case were furious that as key witnesses in a well known dangerous murder trial, the system didn't protect them well enough. In fact a new law was passed by the Connecticut legislature to ensure proper and complete protection of all private state witnesses, they entitled the legislation the Karen and BJ Clarke law.



And what makes all of this especially ironic is that Attorney Ullmann himself is "an upper middle class white man " who would likely be considered a" prominent member of the community" if God Forbid his family and/or he, were victimized in a similar fashion !
.
I cannot help but wonder if this situation were to present itself, how Mr Ullmann would react if a lawyer that represented the man that raped and killed his wife and children, was employing these same kinds of disgusting tactics?


I think its a fair bet to assume that Ulmann, notoriously combative and napoleonic would show none of the restraint nor class that William Petit has shown  throughout this arduous and cruel ordeal, this is for certain,


In my opinion, how Ullmann has been carrying himself in this case makes him more evil than the killers and rapists that he defends for a living. That said, I highly doubt that Mr Ullmann gives such things a moments thought. Instead he puts his energies into "winning" at any cost: victim baiting, slandering and constant whining would lead one to believe that he was the wronged party, the victim as it were.

In the end it is about crude maneuvers designed to distract from the cetner stage issue- his clients glaring guilt. And within this latest race accusation, he is trying to grab up any support from wherever he can. albeit in a willy-nilly fashion that reeks of desperation.


First its the anti death penalty activists, then minority legislators that feel the death penalty is disproportionately given to minority offenders. While these are valid issues, it would be nice if any of them had a thing to do with this criminal trial. Ullmann is using racially based hate rhetoric that he knows is parallell issue within the Connecticut legislature, as an opportunistic ploy, hoping to sling enough mud in enough directions to a) lessen the public's support of Bill Petit and thereby lessen his power as an extremely sympathetic survivor, victim and activist


 B) draw as much attention away from the fact that his client is responsible for raping and strangling a mother of two,while her children lay tied to their beds within earshot as did Bill Petit crumpled and semi--conscious, bleeding from head wounds tied to a pole in his basement awakened by his wifes moaning..

Does it get any worse Mr Ullmann?


To any decent human being, the mere horror of what Dr Petit lived through,and the subsequent loss of his entire family, children that he nurtured from the time they were born, should warrant at least a modicum of respect -no matter which "side" of the case they are on..


We've seen none of this basic human decency with Thomas Ullmann,.
Bill Petit was a talented endocrinologist before these crimes were committed against him and his family. within the commissions of the crimes, he suffered traumatic brain injury severe blood loss and damage to the delicate inner ear system, causing daily vertigo.


Most of the injuries were due to repeated severe blows to his skull with a baseball bat by one or both of the defendants as they sought to disable the biggest threat in the house. They took a real chance that they could kill him via those blows to the head.


Many people have died from one single punch to the head. \He was beaten as he lay sleeping, so that Mr Hayes and his side kick couod more easily pursue the real prize, the main motivation for breaking into this particular home on this particular night. To restrain, terrorize and sexually assault Jennifer Petit and her 11 year old daughter, Michaela, who were both singled out, stalked and followed home from a trip to the supermarket earlier that same evening.

I have personally watched with great respect and a growing admiration how Bill Petit conducts himself, both with the press ,who are now perpetually staked out in front of the New haven courthouse, beginning with the pre-trials and later- the jury selection, which lasted well over a month.. Something that many people forget is that Bill Petit is a victim himself ,and this is likely because he never speaks of his own injuries which are substantial and long lasting, nor his own personal pain and trauma.



The same crimes that ultimately stole his family, his home and his life also left him with permanent physical injury as well as what must be a severe case of Post traumatic stress disorder. This kind of trauma is something that never truly leaves a person. It becomes part and parcel of every fiber of ones being. Yet despite having every reason to be hateful, cynical and indeed, filled with rage ; rage at the men that committed these cruel and evil crimes, rage against the Connecticut court system and parole board that negligently set these repeat offenders loose upon an unsuspecting public, despite voluminous criminal records that defied the imagination.



Rage against many members of the Judiciary committee and legislature, who rather clandestinely pushed through a bill to abolish the death penalty in the midst of the Petit family case.
Rage against one of the men that instigatedthe killings, for meeting surreptitiously with a writer for the purposes of helping co-author a book about the crimes including graphic description of the brutal assault on the sleeping Dr Petit and the sexual assault of eleven year Michaela Petit.

Rage against the author of this book for seeking to profit from a set of crimes that have not even been tried nor resolved in a court of law. Rage against the Cheshire local library for choosing to put this horrible book upon their shelves, despite a huge outcry and petitioning from all over the state and beyond.

No, despite the crimes and all of these wrongs and other moral insults Bill Petit does not speak with hate, nor rage, though many of us would understand and forgive him if he did. He remains a soft spoken decent man, a man who chooses his words carefully with seeming thoughtfulness, consideration and decency. He does not sensationalize, he does seek pity, he does not hem and haw and he most certainly does not whine - a characteristic that I personally find especially repulsive in Attorney Ullmann.


Which brings me to another of Ullman's nonsense accusations; Bill Petit does not "hold press conferences outside of the courthouse at every break " This was Ulmann most recent strategic lie to the presiding judge-and the Connecticut public at large, because as Ulmann knows that members of the media in the courtroom, record every word spoken at every hearing.


So despite the gag order Ulmann has been using the court as a platform for whatever latest BS he is trying to foist upon the Connecticut public at large- and thus his Jury.


Ullmnn has also tried to demand that the judge remove the gag order from the case, citing his desire to basically have it out and "respond in kind "to victim William Petit's courthouse step interviews. Interviews which are in reality very low key, respectful and cursory at best, a far cry from the perpetually mouthy Ullmann.


Despite the very palpable pain that covers every inch of Bill Petit's countenance these days, he not only refrains from bad-mouthing the attorneys for the men that stand accused of strangling and raping his wife and assaulting and murdering his daughters, he consistently carries himself with a quiet dignity each and every time that the press approach him, including the many inopportune moments when I'm sure he and his family would much rather be left alone to deal with the draining emotions created by days spent in a courtroom just feet away from the very man who raped and murdered his loved ones and burned his home up in the process.


What is likely on Bill Petit's mind these days is an unwavering commitment to a obtain justice for Jennifer Hayley and Michaela and TO continue to carry on their Collective sense of values; idealism, kindness and good works through assisting other victims of violence, mostly within the framework of the non profit foundation named after his murdered family .www.petitfamilyfoundation.org/


Note The Petit family foundation is a three year old charity started shortly after the crimes It has quietly helped hundreds of victims of violence, through projects such as the recent subsidizing of a desperately needed domestic violence shelter within the hartford area. PFF also raises considerable monies for other groups of people who are suffering and in need, many of whom fall between the cracks of more mainstream charities.

Aug 30, 2010

Lawyer Criticizes lone survivor of home invasionDr. William Petit -

Thomas Ulman's at it again with his usual pathetic attempts to muck up the waters with comments that are obviously designed to be nothing but inflammatory and anything but professional.
'If the victims were black or latino we wouldnt even be having a hearing today" -- "They ( presumably the murdering child rapists, one of whom happens to be his client) would already be serving life sentences without parole"instead of the state seeking the death penalty against them.The inference here is so dishonest and ugly not to mention transparent in design,that I am more than a bit reluctant to even dignify any of this nonsense with a response, but as this is the
not the first time Mr Ulmann has tried to use hate, victim bashing and racial divide as defense methodology--I am thus compelled no oliged to respond in kind.

At the core of this "case" that Thomas Ulmann is so rabidly engaing himself in is the murder of three human beings,two of whom were veritable children when they were assaulted
then murdered in one of the cruelest ways imaginable.
The names of these victims were :
Jennifer hawke-Petit Hayley Petit and Michaela Rose Petit.
Bill Petit is also a victim of these crimes- he was viciously assaulted WITH a bat from his own
garage and very nearly killed himself within the commission of these crimes.
Thomas Ulmanns client Steven Hayes has as much as admitted full culpanility via his own attorneys offers to plea guilty to the rapes and murders in exchange for a life sentence which would spare his client the prospect of a posssible death sentence.

Not that any of us needed this bit of information to determine Mr Hayes's guilt; He was caught at the murder scene fleeing the Petits then burning home riding in in one of the Petit family cars with Hayely Petits school hat perched atop his head for good measure. He reeked of gasoline "reportedely" Hayes also reportedly confessed to detectives at the Cheshire Police his participation in the crimes including the rape and murder of Jennifer Petit -a confession that Mr Ulmann recently unsuccessfully fought
to make inadmissable at the impending trial for Mr Hayes.
While this kind of thing although unseemly to those of us with morals and conscience still falls within the bounds of what one might
expect from an attorney whose got very few options as it were.
however inventing issues of racial discrimination where none exist simply to fan the flames of some other convienent fire-this is beyond bad behavior beyond

DNA samples urged in NY misdemeanor plea bargains

This is a very intelligent idea that we would do well to follow suit here in Connecticut.
When you think about how many felony crimes are committed in this state every day-serious crimes like aggravated assault, kidnapping, sexual assault, criminal restraint, stalking and others, that wind up being dropped from the felonies that were committed - to misdemeanors- within plea deals/"bargains", a process basically used to save the state and the courts-time, money and to avoid trials )

Thats right 98 percent of criminal cases are routinely plea bargained each year; these deals by their very nature are auto pilot compromises" between the prosecutor and the lawyer for the criminal-ie thus the criminalBottom line; that there are thousands of felony offenders walking around this state-(and traveling over state lines)- who though have committed often multiple dangerous violent felonies, with misleading "official "misdemeanor criminal records that lets face it show an entirely more innocuous picture of the actual danger that this person poses to the general public, all thanks to the current plea bargain method of processing even the most serious crimes here in Connecticut. Clearly other states share this quandary, but now New york appears to be now at least trying to fill the holes that are left by thier plea deal system that doesn't appear to be going away anytime soon.
.

Since it looks like plea bargains arn't going anywhere in the near future-more and more dangerous offenders will be let out on the streets with nary a prison term-but worse yet and by far more dangerous-criminal records that do not reflect the actual crimes that they have committed but rather a watered down plea bargain version which always includes certain charges dropped entirely while other charges will be dropped down from felony status to misdemeanor status, thus making the offender automatically ineligible for most repeat offender laws such as California's three strikes law, not to mention aide stepping most states mandatory DNA sample databases, which for the states that even have them, require samples from offenders convicted of felonies only - and certain felonies at that. This leaves a hige hole in our preventative criminal justice system-and an unnesary one at that.

The proposed legislation in New York acknowledges the problems inherent within their courts plea bargain adjudication model- and while they seem to be at once accepting that plea deals arent likely to change in the near future, they are rather shrewly trying to work within the confines of a broken system all in an effort to better protects its citizens Kudos.

Of course the George Orwellian references and decries of Big Brother will soon follow even the mere proposition of this DNA database for misdemeanor convictions albeit those arising from plea bargains with more serious original charges. But as usual the the core issue is at risk of becoming lost in the quagmire; Our judicial systems are broken and innocent human beings, including children- are being raped maimed tortured kidnapped and murdered every single day and in many many instances as a direct result of THE PLEA DEAL.

Aug 22, 2010

Two Triple-Murder Trials Intersect, Six Years Later

This is an article about the Petit family murder trial and the lead prosecutor, Michael Dearington and public defender Thomas Ulmann the latter representing co-defendant Steven Hayes both having squared off once before on another triple murder death penalty case in Connecticut;

Ulmann it turns out is a notoriously high profile anti-death penalty activist - which in my opinion is a major conflict in this case and should have required him to recuse himself or be recused, based on the fact that he is inherently against the very sentencing that is being sought by the state for his client's alleged participation in the Petit family sexual assault kidnapping, assault larceny arsdon and murder case. It's like saying I am against incarceration for anyone no matter what law they have broken yet then preparing what is supposed to be an impartial defense for a man accused of crimes that will lead to incarceration if he is found guilty. How can we believe this attorney's objectivity concerning his clients guilt or innocence when we know that he is on the record as being agsisnst prison sentences, It is imposssible for this man to have a clear head concerning the guilt of his client and as such every legla motion he makes will therfore be suspect as it is likely going to be mere manipulation of the court ie jury/judge in whatever fashion he deems neccesary to 'save this mans life" Like I said conflict of interest and impossible impartiality.

Ulmann's anti death penalty agenda has already been injected into the pre-trial proceedings where the issues should center around his defendents plea which incidenbtly Mr Hayes attempted to change to guilty only to be undone by his own attorneys who tried first to have thier client declared incompetent for trying to plead guilty and accept accountability--- and when that didnt work ie a court shrink claimed hayes was competent) They set about the task of earnestly wearing Mr Hayes down until he acquiesed to thier insistance that he say he wasnt guilty, just so they could" save his life" at the cost of millions of dollars to the state and a heaping of grief and pain onto the loved ones of the victims-jennifer hayley and michaela Petit.
who after all Mr hayes was accused of kidnapping raping and murdering-despite the full cooperation of Mrs Petit who valiently tried to save her daughters lives throughout the ordeal even providing hayes with 15000,00 dollars in cash when hed only asked for 10,000 in exchange for her familys life. A promise hed had no intention of keeping as he turned on Jennifer Petit literally the moment they returned from the bank together-first raping then strangling her. Then with the help of the co-defendent hjosh komisaraerejevky they poured gasoline on the Mrs Hawke Petits body and then the girls who were still alive and terrified tied to thier beds as they were drenched with gasoline in preparation to be burned alive in hopes of destroying witnesses and dna evidence.

Now while It is clear that Mr Ulmann seems to fancy himself some kind of modern day crusader for our states very worst murderers and rapists right to live, this life long crusade is in direct conflict with his responsibilities as head public defender for the state of Connecticut.

It has been made clear that both Ullmann and Jeremiah Donovan , the other Petit crime public defender for co defendent number two, both plan on using anti death penalty sentiment as the main focus of thier defense; they have little else; both of their clients were caught red handed as it were, fleeing the murder scene in the victims family car, not to mention both men confessed in varying degrees of detail to The Cheshire Police, shortly after thier arrests.

Oddly enough, the two murder cases discusssed in the linked article happened over a decade apart and yet they are the only two cases that prosecutor Michael Dearington saw fit to pursue the death penalty for, throughout his 20 year career as a Connecticut lead prosecutor. This only proves to me that Dearington is a steady and fair minded prosecutor who obviously pursues capital punishment sparingly and with great aforethought and consideration as well it should be-this is a grave matter.
He clearly felt that the Petit family crimes pre medidated kidnapping and sexual assaults including that of an 11 yr old child, aggravated assault with a baseball bat, extortion, larceny and multiple murder-- had enough aggravating circumstances to warrant our states rare pursuit of a death peanlty sentence.

Appeals panel considers van der Sloot's confession

Aug 18, 2010

Judge allows statements to stand in murder trial of Steven Hayes

As predicted, Judge Blue made as sound ruling once again.

Hayes Wants Cheshire Murder Statements Kept From Jury | NBC Connecticut

The argument over whether to allow the jury to hear Steven Hayes' confession to police following his arrest at the Petit family murder scene will be heard tommorow at a hearing in New Haven Superior court.

Its amazing how voraciously this guys state financed attorny's are fighting for him. Thomas Ulmann in particular has behaved so badly, both as a human being and an attorney from the moment he volunteered to represent this man. He has crossed the line multiple times seemingly taking hayes's defense utterly personally and waging all out attacks on the surviving victim, Dr William Petit in the process. He does so under the guise of anti-death penalty propaganda, posturing as if his defendent is the oppressed and abused here. Thank goodness the presiding judge-Judge Blue seems a very level headed sort who is not likely to be swayed by Ulmanns cheap and purosely-time consumptive theatrics.

Aug 15, 2010

Aruba suspect a poker 'punk' to Glouco man who played poker with him

Yet more evidence of this guys generally repulsive personality.
While many sociopaths often have a charming and articulate side, something they commonly will use to manipulate and ensnare victims, I never saw a hint of this with Van Der Sloot, beginning way back when he was the prime "suspect" in Natalee Holloway's disappearance (and suspected sexual assault and murder.)

To me, this kid seemed a typical misogynistic punk, who if anything, relied on his obnoxious' I dont give a sh-t' attitude to attract susceptible girls either drawn to the disaffected bad boy type-- usually due to self esteem problems that stem from father or stepfather issues.

Or the young girl that surmises that 'although this guys is kind of a jerk to most people, he really cares about me and thus I can change him, help him, heal him etc.
You see this sick phenomonon a lot within the endless procession of women who write to pursue and even marry serial rapists and killers after they are imprisoned for horrific brutal crimes against women. Despite glaring evidence that the man is very dangerous and would likely +just as soon kill her if he had one tangible thing to gain as a result, these gals either suffer a severe case of the broken wing syndrome or worse yet the attraction is actually based upon the notion that this man is dangerous, hence the "bad boy phenomonon" rearing its head once again and as before the women in question often believes that the accused killer would never hurt them but a smaller faction appear to be masochists of a particular sort and they are actually tittalated that this man has killed and are somehow excited by the knowledge.

Case in point and maddening to me as both a woman and a victims advocate, Van der sloot has been heard bragging about the- -hundreds ---of letters he recieves daily from women wanting to marry him have sex with him and/or have his child.
Womens attraction to killers is hardly a new phenomonon; Charles Manson, Tex watson, Ted Bundy, Richard Ramirez and dozens of other serial killers were franticlly pursued by women who otherwise had led normal and law abiding lives.

There is a well known case in the mid-west where a female public defender assigned to defend a notorious serial killer of young college age women, lost her job as a successful up and comer attorney for the state, because she was discovered to be emotionally and sexually involved with the man she was supposed to be representing.
And it didnt end there. Married to another successful attorney at the time, after losing her job as a public defender, undaunted she set up shop as a local legal consultant and proceeded to leave her husband as well as her children in order to pursue a marriage with an imprisoned man who had been tried and convicted of brutally raping and murdering five young women.
While this is an extreme case it is a perfect illustration of the curious psychodynamics involved with women's attraction to the sociopathic male. But we cannot overlook all of the assistance that family and freinds give to the developing young sociopath:

While his folks would had him masquerading as a clean cut upper middle class high school honor student, drinking and gambling WERE already a favorite past time of Jorm Van Der Sloot by the age of 17, activities that he reportedly shared with his overly indulgent father who seemed to want to be more of a pal than a father prior to the Holloway murder. A Dutch National and an area Judge in Aruba at the time of Natalee Holloway's dissapearence Van Der Sloot died a few years after the frenzy surrounding his and his sons "detainment" by Aruban officials for suspicion in her disappearance.- Jorans dad was suspected of complicity in covering up his sons crime,.after the fact.

Dead from a premature heart attack at age 50 that occurred during a tennis match of all things he was a very active/fit man who happened to be living with the knowledge that his only son has killed a young girl with the whole world watching.

Worse yet was Jorans habit of landing in the headlines for opening his big mouth to various people about Natalee's murder, once even being caught on tape confessing to the crimes to an undercover investigator hired to befriend him and dig for information about Natalee's disappearance.

The world listened to Joran describe in despicable fashion how "the bitch" "started "shaking " while he was sexually assailing her while she was apparently in an unconscious state. the shaking if true was likely convulsing or seizing either from a head injury which is my guess and/or the drug that Joran slipped into one ofNatalees drinks.

A date rape type of drug was found in a drink given to Florez prior to her murder so this would seem a signature move of this thug.

In any event throughout the secretly taped conversation which took place in a car Jo ran appeared not a bit sorry nor guilty but rather disdainful of Natalee Holloway for causing him all this trouble"

My guess is that after his father was gone, Joran Van der Sloot began a spiral into full blown decadence and anti-social personality disorder. He was blooming into this when he killed Natalee Holloway, with the either conscious or unwitting assistance of his father.

The Word is that Joran worshipped" his indulgent father-and why wouldn't he they drink together gamble together and his dad covers up murders for him) but from what I've garnered, there seemed a certain distance between his mother and he, which probably increased ten-fold after the Natalee Holloway crimes.

Although oddly mom still states that she believes Joran was innocent of that first murder, though she admits he probably killed Flores. In fact she has stated to the media that it was being falsely accused of this crime that pushed her son over the edge. Denial can be even worse in upper middle class families where ones own parenting comes into question via their child's criminal or immoral actions.

Reportedly, according to his sometime girlfriend and others, he had been compulsively lying about anything and everything and remember he was in the midst of trying to extort money from Beth Twitty Natalee's mom, in exchange for giving her information re where Natalee's body was. This is likely what led his mother and family to arrange for him to be "committed" to a psychiatric facility" just prior to his taking off to Peru.

An interesting observation I have made is that both victims of Van der Sloot- Natalee and Flores had bold facial features, not unlike his mother.

Van der Sloot showing 'psychopathic tendencies'

Geez...ya think?

Aug 12, 2010

A Guide to the Aug. 10, 2010 Connecticut Primaries - Governor, Republican Candidates -


Vote for Mr Malloy for Governor-do not vote for Businessman Ned Lamont-Malloy he supports the death penalty and states that he would veto any legislative bill/ successful vote to abolish it.
Ned Lamont only when pinned down by the media, finally admitted that he would not veto any bill to abolish the DP that the kegisature passed last year. It then managed to miraculously pass in the Senate, much to the Shock and anger of the Connecticut public. Check out the rest of the the primary election results to see where we stand as far as who has moved forward to run.

Conviction for Cheshire suspect can still lead to execution The Republican-American

Two Triple-Murder Trials Intersect, Six Years Later

Aug 7, 2010

VOTE TUESDAY: Our guide to the Aug. 10 Connecticut primary

Please read the post below and if you havn't already - Please register to vote Monday for Tuesdays Connecticut primary!

Death Penalty Divides Candidates in Connecticut

Connecticut residents: Please be sure to vote for the candidate that supports the Death Penalty within your local primary on August 10th. If you are unsure of the candidates position on this key issue, go to their official web-sites and/ or call the candidates office base and ask the office directly "Does ____________(the candidate) support the death penalty? Does he or she support abolishment?

The information can also be found on the web with a little research- In the case of the Govornors seat, a key question is will the candidate for Governor veto a death penalty abolishment bill if the Ct legislature were to pass it again? Ned Lamont running for the Governor for example, has stated that he would not veto an abolishment if it were once again passed by the legsilature.

For those of you who have bot been following this issue closely, please recall that a Death Penalty abolishment bill very quietly originated in the Connecticut Judiciary Committee last year and was pushed through to the Connecticut General Assembly from there.

With little fanfare or advanced media coverage, the controversial bill was seemingly slipped by the somewhat stunned Connecticut citizenry and voted on by The Connecticut General Assembly, where it surprisingly pass muster, garnering enough yes votes to proceed to the floor of the Connecticut Senate.

Although both the Connecticut House of Representatives and the Senate are largely Democratic, few people , myself included, ever expected a death Penalty abolishment Bill to pass in the Senate - thoughtfulness commonsense and intelligence has historically been in much more abundance here than within the General Assembly.

But in the end count far too many members of The Connecticut Senate would ultimately surprise and greatly disappoint the Connecticut public, casting a yes vote to abolish the death penalty in the state of Connecticut.

The surreptitiousness surrounding the introduction of the bill was not a surprise; the timing of a bill to abolish the death penalty seemed nothing short of obscene. There had been a protracted climate of tougher on crime attitude prevailing within the state which had begun after a series of seemingly avoidable multiple murders that all started with the Petit family home invasion in July 2007:

Jennifer hawker Petit 48 and daughters Hayley and Michaela were kidnapped assaulted and murdered in their own home by two recently paroled felons both with long criminal records that defied the very notion of early parole.
Only the girls father, Dr William Petit escaped and survived severely beaten in the head with a baseball bat and left tied up in the basement while the men terrorized and sexually assaulted Mrs Petit and at least one of her daughters.

Police apprehended the men as they fled the home which they had just set on fire in order to kill the two girls who they had tied to their beds and Mrs Petits body who had been sexually assaulted and then strangled.

Neither man in retrospect should have ever been granted early release parole-yet the Connecticut parole board had done just that paroling each man 4 months apart, without either one physically present- as was the standard parole custom at the time. Most reprehensible to Connecticut residents was the fact that the decision to parole the men has been made without the bulk of either mans criminal history to guide them in their decision.

The Connecticut public was to discover that this was not an anomaly; reportedly, conflicts over who would pay copying costs for the inmates criminal records between states attorneys offices and the Parole board had resulted in the board making life and death decisions over paroling offenders, without the benefit of most or in some cases- any- of their criminal records/files.

In the case of Joshua Komsiarjevsky, the man who targeted Mrs Petit and her 11 yr old daughter for the crimes, the board paroled him with little more than his last arrest sheet. Komsiarjevsky had been arrested for over 40 house break ins (though only 27 felony convictions officially resulted on his record thanks to the states plea bargain model of crime resolution) The break- ins almost all occurred at night when the home owners were in the home. Komsiarjevsky would later brag that he considered breaking in when noone was home "too boring" and referred to his house robbery/home invasions a form of "extreme sport"

He was paroled after considerably less than half of the sentence that the presiding judge had carefully constructed at his last suntanning hearing. If one didnt count his time at a half way house which is hardly prison, it was less than a third.

After reviewing the multitude and seriousness of komisrajevskys break ins, the judge gave very specific instructions re his sentence which was to include a 9 year prison term and six years of special condition parole. He was in a halfway house after 2 and a half years in prison- (which he spent isolated from the general population due to reported threats from other inmates")

The unusually conscientious judge elaborated about the serious nature of the crimes that this man had committed and the unique potenmtial for violence that he posed to the Connecticut public" He had intended Komisarjevsky to quote "finish with the department of corrections by the time you are 35 years old" "if" he added "you use this as an opportunity to start your life over"
None of the sentencing report containing these admonishments and directives were in the parole boards possession at any time.

He was 27 years old the weekend his dept of corrections tracking ankle bracelet was removed after 3 months. That very evening he was breaking in to homes in his hometown of cheshire, this time with a pal he had met at a hartford halfway house steven hayes. Two days later, Mrs Petit and her children were dead and Dr. William Petit lay in an area hospital having lost his family, his home and all of his belongings. A gifted endocrinologist he has not practiced medicine since the crimes.

Please use your votes intelligently. Find out where your candidates stand on this most crucial of issues and vote accordingly.














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Aug 6, 2010

8 killed in Connecticut workplace shooting

Omar Thornton ,a just fired employee at Hartford Brewing Co in Manchester Ct, decided to bring a gun to work today-Today was the day of a pre- scheduled meeting with Union officials and Company dept heads regarding Omars alleged workplace stealing-- He was shown surveillance tapes that clearly showed the theft and apparent re-selling of Beer. He was let go with no fanfare and no resistance or argument from him. Reportedly Omar even admired the quality of the surveillance tapes.

After the meeting, where union officials had accompanied him and according to inside sources, likely tried their best to save his job-Omar reportedly calmly asked for a glass of water outside the kitchenette, which he was given. This is where he had apparently stashed a gun sometime prior to the meeting. He began a shooting rampage that left eight Hartford Brewing employees dead including his union representative, and many more injured. Although some of the victims seemed specifically targeted, others appeared to simply be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

When police arrived Thornton was alive and had called 911 operators calmly discussing what he had just done and claiming company racism was the reason for it. He also claimed to be the only black employee, though HBC has at least four other African American employees.

When the shooting was over Thornton apparently turned the gun on himself killing himself immediately. He told police operators who tried to mediate " These cops are gonna kill me. - Don't worry I'm not gonna kill anyone else-I'm done."
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All of the Hartford Brewing Company is in a state of shock and grief. The company boasts a family like atmosphere with most employees of very long tenures. Most of the fatalities were men who were just about to reach full retirement with the company. There were many employees injured as well, and they were taken to area hospitals.

Aug 4, 2010

Cheshire Killings Defendant Challenges Death Penalty - NYTimes.com

I saw one this coming a mile down the road - They're really grasping; soory fella's the Supreme court already decided this one, as did our Governor and the people of the state. Not to mention when these crimes were committed the death peanlty was in effect for capital crimes period.
Both Culligan and holigan should no better than to argue the moral and ethical viability of the death penalty in this forum - Itisnt
isnt appropriate
and theyknow it-hence the grasping at straws remark



Aug 3, 2010

Case continued for man accused of killing UConn student

These "continuances" will last at least a year, unless the case goes to trial . For once I'd like to see an actual trial over any crime that stops short of multiple murders of a heinous nature -Only this type of case seem to be the rare exception to the plea deal model that Connecticut courts have adapted as their prefferred adjudication method.

And by default the victims of these violent crimes resolved via plea deal, they and public saftey at large- will pay the price for thathuge gap between crime and punishment that results simply by the very nature of these deals.
And to many Connecticut residents surprise lets- make- a- deal- style s often employed in cases involving the loss of someones life.

This young man killed violently at what was the prime of his life .Another man is responsible. That defendant's intent during the assault will become an integral factor in
whatever criminal charge that prosecutors office believes he/she can back up, Ifforced to trial.
Not that this will go to trial the plea deal that sometimes resembles poker as it also involves
bluff, risk and how difficult or cooperative the attiorneys client is-ie the criminal
murderer, assailent et al.
Sometimes it may become about which side can hold out the longest and roll the dice that a 12 member group of strangers will decide favorably for them what ultimate charges and sentence a man accused of killing another should recieve. Mind you this poker analogy implies at least a

modicum of professional adverserialism-between prosecutor and defense attorney,but I must point out that this is decidedly not the general rule in our Connecticut courthouses,which operate more like ineffectual , wasteful crime processing pits with cronyism galore which at
its least malignant includes a mood of cooperation between certain regulars(attorneys well known/liked by the [prosecutors ) and the states attorneys assigned to their cases.

n the end the victim and the victims family pays the price for the huge expanse between the crimes committed against their l;loved ones and the charges and concurrent sentences that are actually handed down within a compromise designed to save the courts time effort and money.

They ll be handed something that does not even vaguely resemble justice and spend the rest of their lives trying to come to grips with how and why society so devalued their child's life
and their emotional devastation and trauma.

Aug 2, 2010

Gunman Came Prepared to Connecticut Workplace Shooting

This is absolutely horrible, I cannot imagine this kind of violence occurred over a lost beer delivery job:

The Hartford Brewing company in Manchester Connecticut is in a state of utter shock and despair today; they lost nine employees - nine friends really, as by all acccounts this was a company with a very close knit familial-like workplace.
As more details emerge about Omar

I will be praying for the survivors, the victims and the victims families. Rest in Peace.