Thank God that this Jury was intelligent enough to sift through the detritus thrown out there by the defense attorneys, and wisely and carefully traverse Mr Komisarjevsksky's accountability, charge by charge, weighing the evidence and in the end voting what their instinct and common sense told them.
I personally felt that Dr. Petit and his sister, Mrs. Chapman, were being extremely generous and gracious while addressing the media regarding Komisarjevsky's defense attorneys and thier horrible tactics both in and outside of court: In watching the video above, one can hear both of them saying something to the effect that the Komisarjevsky attorneys were much more "aggressive" and... "tough on them " than accomplice Steven Hayes attorney's Thomas Ullmann and Andrew Culligan.
Mr Ullman has been quoted as saying that Komisarjevsky lawyers would be fools to pursue the same tact that they did within the Hayes trial, as it clearly "failed."
I distinctly remember being disgusted at Attorney Ullmanns use of the word "tact" as if his somewhat understated approach to the Hayes trial was a decision that the defense "team" made, rather than a situation borne of sheer necessity. The fact of the matter is that Hayes was a horse of an entirely different color than mastermind and leader Komisarjevsky.
It was apparent to anyone paying attention that Steven Hayes was deteriorating emotionally and physically in prison, In the end, he decided that he wanted to plead guilty for his part in the crimes, which he indeed tried to do, seemingly with no advance notice to his lawyers at a pre-trial hearing. Needless to say his attorneys led by Thomas Ullmann leapt into crisis control, threatening to do whatever it took" including a shocking promise that he and the other attorneys would break the cardinal rule of attorney/ client privilege, meaning he would betray confidences between Hayes, he and any and any other professionals involved in the case, if necessary in order to hinder Hayes from " committing state assisted suicide"
Over the years, this over-used lawyer's lament and the hypocrisy that fuels it has become more and more impotent and tiresome; All of the intended melodrama behind those words and moreover the concept, has seeped out, thanks in part to the typically left leaning residents of Connecticut becoming more right leaning insofar as the issues surrounding crime, justice and public safety.
Thanks to the high profile nature of the Petit family crimes and several other similar crimes that occurred over the same one year period, folks have become more aware of violent crime and moreover how our court systems enable it to continue with what has become a revolving door system designed to infuse money into a crippled and oft times corrupt- criminal justice system. Bottom line: citizens of the state are fed up.
Interestingly this same statement regarding state assisted suicide was thrown out repeatedly by anti-death
penalty propagandists for serial killer Michael Ross; His surprisingly many legal and legislative proponents,
men and women, who, despite Ross's own wish to be given his just punishment for raping torturing and murdering dozens of women and young girls all over Connecticut insisted that their personal philosophy was more important than state law, not to mention the convicted murderers repeated request to be given his legally rendered punishment for the many crimes which he had admitted to and been convicted of.
Ross was not surprisingly the very last person to be executed in the state of Connecticut by the state's approved mode of execution the extremely humane, lethal injection; In other words, the convicted man or woman is put to sleep, something far more humane than it's capital punishment predecessor, death via the electric chair.
In any event, Steven Hayes desire to take responsibility and thus, accountability for the crimes he committed seems to be something that our state's system inherently will not permit via a variety of built in judicial roadblocks and over zealous public defenders who behave as if culpability is a passe notion with no place in today's criminal justice system, no matter how much pain and torture a convict has admitted to perpetuating against innocent h8uman beings.
His lawyers managed to talk him out of pleading guilty. However, I personally think that there was an uneasy compromise that was struck between defendant and his lawyers, and as such, the attorneys including usually pugnacious and sometimes quasi rabid Ullmann was forced to tread lightly within Steven Hayes trial arena. Naturally there were the usual armchair pundits watching the proceedings, or reading the soundbites in real time on twitter saying things like " Where is the Thomas Ullman we know....Why isn't he attacking someone, anyone more vociferously?"
Besides the fact that he was dealing with a recalcitrant defendant/client, it is many attorneys opinion that with such brutal and tragic crimes as the Petit family murders, particularly when they involve the rape and murder of a child... attacking the surviving victim and the grieving family, as not only ethically repugnant, but also a bad legal tactic which usually backfires further vilifying the defendant in the Jury's eyes by association.
The bottom line is that Steven Hayes seemed experience some regret for his part in the crimes, even if a good part of that regret was regret over where the crimes had landed him, and the dismal proposition of a future in a solitary cell in prison for 20-40 years. While it's true that Hayes spent much of his life in prison, it had always been for non violent crimes and as such he'd always been afforded the privilege of mixing in with the general population; work detail and exersize socialization, classes and opportunities to obtain GED's and changes in his daily activities.
Because of the nature of the Petit crimes, involving rape and murder of children, and given the fact that the crimes resulted in stricter rules for Statewide Parole and early release programs, both Hayes and Komisarjevsky were placed in solitary status for thier own protection, from the very first day they were in prison. While a loner like Joshua Komisarjevsky doesnt care much one way or anotherm Komi
Komisarjevsky, as expected, showed a full blown sociopath's 's lack of conscience straight through the reading of the guilty verdicts. He did not betray one bit of emotion when the guilty verdicts on all 17 charges were read aloud - in fact he even yawned as he stretched his legs, preparing himself to leave the courtroom.
This is exactly what I would expect from a sociopath and a narcissist of his ilk; a staunch refusal to betray any emotion, particularly fear or disappointment, especially in front of Dr Petit and the Petit family.
It has become abundantly clear via the convicts prison writings as well as his own attorneys tactics that Komisarjevsky has delusion ally come to view Dr Petit as his Nemesis; He actually has the audacity to harbor hatefulness toward Dr Petit as well as calling out the sole surviving victim of his carnage on several occasions now; My opinion is that Komisrjevsky hates Dr Petit for surviving the crimes in the first place, and becoming in effect the sole witness against him; also Dr Petit's refusal to be conned, manipulated or strong armed by Komisarjevsky, his attorneys, or "Restorative justice firms" just one of several disingenuous soft pedal approaches used by the defense early in the pre-trial process.
Remember, Komisarjevsky has used manipulation throughout his entire life,( including throughout the aftermath of these horrible crimes. with surprising degrees of success. When he cannot manipulate or deceive, he is akin to a petulant child.
In the end, I believe that it is Dr. Petit's strength and determination to carry on, to not give up despite how tempting that has been, to bring forward the charity and the kindness of his wife and daughters, this, has in effect reduced Komisarjevsky and the banality of his "evil"to nothing.
The evil that fueled these tragic crimes has not lasted; the pain is still lingering, naturally but the good that has sprung forward is immeasurable, thanks largely in part to Dr Petit and his insistence that Jennifer, Hayley and Michaela's best qualities live on and on, as they continue to help those who need it the most.
My guess is that this guy's attorneys prepared him for the strong likelihood of a guilty verdict, on most, if not all, of the charges - this, despite their shameless attempts to degrade and slander the surviving victim and his family, in a fashion that was reminiscent of the techniques once widely used against rape victims up until the 1970's;
Komisarjevsky's lawyers surely knew that he would likely be convicted due to the excessive evidence against him; His own detailed but contradictory statements to Cheshire detectives, a veritable electronic record of his crimes, from stalking Michaela and her family at the Cheshire Stop and Shop, right through his sexual assault of the little girl, which he tried to freeze in time on his cellphone as a permanent sick trophy. And worst of all the damning testimony of Komisarjevsky yelling down to Dr Petit don't worry... " it will all be over soon" right after the sexual assault and murder of Mrs Petit, using what Dr. Petit described as a very sinister tone. In fact that tone is what convinced Dr Petit that the man who had been using fake reassuring tones prior to that point in time, was getting ready to slaughter he and his family.
This alone proved intent, as well as completely disproving the notion that the defense did their best to muster up, that Komisarjevsky was" in a panic and frozen when his accomplice Hayes raped and murdered Jennifer Petit, this after Joshua Komisarjevsky had just helped him to tie Mrs Petit up, including tying a rope around her neck!
His words and that taunting telling evil tone belies any and all claims of being in a "shock like state unable to stop anything or even help the girls by untying them. "
IE Joshua Komisarjevsky told police that it "didn't occur to him" to untie either of the Petit girls when he was asked this simple question by the interviewing detective; That one utterly incriminating statement, along with his sinister taunting to the then gravely injured Dr Petit, who lay crumpled tied to a pole in the cellar, bleeding profusely having just heard terrible thumping and moaning sounds that he feared was his wife, completely nullifies the defense's assertions that their client was some kind of hapless, helpless follower, unable to stop the real killer Steven Hayes --is just insulting to our collective intelligence.
The defense has asserted over and over, that "Joshua "merely wishes to live out the rest of his life in prison,and cites, that he still has much to offer the world; This will likely to be their mantra during the upcoming sentencing portion of trial. Attorney Donovan indicated today that their intention of continuing to pursue this same concept of blaming the other guy will continue well into the penalty phase of the trial;
Again the subject of a clutch of letters that Steven Hayes supposedly tried to send an unidentified woman in prison purportedly claiming to be responsible for 16 "kills" date rapes, is evidence that the lawyers intend once again to Mr Hayes probable role as the heavy within the crimes during the sentencing.
As Judge Blue stated when denying a motion from the defense stop closing arguments and to resume the defense, the letters, are unable to be substantiated; multiple state police and FBI cannot find any murders or cold cases that fit the claims, and most of all, the letters Judge Blue claimed are highly prejudicial to Mr Komisarjevsky, as they blame him for the entire escalation of the Petit home invasion, citing that the letters if introduced would seal Komisarjevskys fate.
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