And by "off", I mean life in prison, rather than the death sentence that Joshua Komisarjevsky so richly deserves. From a criminal - judicial standpoint, there are plenty of aggravating factors, more than are required by State law for a Jury to award the death penalty to this man.
To call in the child of this convicted child rapist and murderer all in an transparent bid for a reflexive emotional reaction from the Jury ( IE " he's a father, so putting him to death is wrong or will negatively effect his child") while not a shocker to those of us who've been watching this trial, is by far the lowest maneuver yet from Komisarjevsky's defense attorneys. And there have been many many morally and ethically - vacant maneuvers throughout this trial, as well as the entire pre-trial phase.
Remember, this is the child he referred to as "the kid", as in "hold your horses dude, I'm putting the kid to bed" the ever so loving sounding text message that Komisarjevsky sent to his accomplice Steven Hayes, just hours before the pair were to meet up for the express purpose of breaking into the Petit family home so that Komisarjevsky could sexually assault 11 year old Michaela Petit, which he has thus been rightly convicted of.
Forensics proved that Komisarjevsky sodomized Michaela before dousing her in Gasoline and setting her and her sister on fire while tied to their beds.
Komisarjevsky had lied to Police, undoubtedly hoping the fire had destroyed all DNA evidence of the sodomy, which was in fact the fires primary purpose, as KLomisarjevsky claimed to police that he"only" performed oral sex on the girl, after cutting off her clothing with scissors, clothing that he made her change into from her pajamas, with another version citing that he " only" ejaculated upon her naked body, after taking off her pajamas in order to take nude photos of the chjild in order " to later blackmail Dr Petit with".
Being utterly "surprised" by Michaele's developed body, he opportunistically decided to ejaculate upon her naked stomach and then "allowed her" to take a shower, so that she could rid herself of him" ie meaning his semen.
In the taped statement to Cheshire Police Komisarjevsky would change that key portion of testimony, stating that he in fact ' asked her to take a shower" When the detective asked him if he allowed Michaela to take her pillowcase off her head whilse she showered, he actually had the audacity to laugh stumbling over the question nonetheless, saying no the pillowcase was off. The policeman asked did you have your mask on then...and JK hesitantly said yes in a most unconvincing manner. It was clear from his answers at this point that the pretense of pillowcases and masks had long since been abandoned as both men knew they were going to kill both girls and thier mother, especially once Jennifer Petit drove Steven Hayes to the bank.
These versions Komisarjevsky related to Cheshire police and various other sources, including a writer named Brain MacDonald whom he tried to spoon feed a bogus version of his part in the crimes, downplaying his role and of course pointing the finger at his own hand picked accomplice Steven Hayes, as the man who was responsible for all of the murders. MacDonald unfortunately published his book before the Hayes trial began and subsequently forensic testimony within that trial showed that Komisarjevsky lied to everyone (no big surprise there) and had in fact fully sexually assaulted the child in the worst way imaginable.
After the Hayes testimony and evidence made clear what Komisrajevsky had really done, MacDonald admitted that Komisarjevsky was extremely manipulative and had basically duped him, using his articulate nature and regaling him with stories of abuse etc, and outright lying about the facts of the Petit crimes in such a way that he had really believed him. Such is the way of the successfully deceitful sociopath. Add to this, Komisarjevskys relative youth and appearance and many people want to believe him when he turns on the innocent act, which this man can do at a moments notice. Those jurors not familiar with the sociopath and the textbook manipulation and often shrewd intelligence that acompanys them, might find themselves at a distinct disadvantage here.
Komisarjevsky had spotted Michaela with her mother earlier the day of the murders shopping at an area supermarket. Hayley Petit, 17 was in the car waiting for her mom and sister to finish shopping. Komisarjevsky followed Mrs Petit and her two pretty daughters back to their raised ranch home ( seen above after Komisrajevsky, the arsonist rapist/ murderer visited with his handiwork)
Attached is the official motion for a hearing to decide whether Komisrajevsky's now long estranged daughter will be forced to testify for no other reason than his and his lawyers selfishness and cowardice, in attempting to avoid a death sentence for the murders and sexual assault. Of course we can expect Komisarjevsky attorneys to be their typically mendacious selves and come up with something a bit more reasonable sounding than were trying to use a child who doesn't even know her father (the child is now with a maternal aunt since a threatening letter was sent to the child through Komisarjevsky's parentswho had custody for a time after the murders) to pull on the heartstrings of the jury. They will shape their bid or already have, into something sounding as close to legitimate as possible.
Children have been known to testify within the guilt phase of various murder trials over the years but it is completely unheard of in a penalty phase such as this to use a child in such an obvious attempt to gain some kind of credit pity or mercy simply based upon the fact that the convicted person is a parent.
Knowing Jeremiah Donovan and Co. they will undoubtedly drag in the fact that this sociopath Komisarjevsky was so clever that despite 48 burglaries he managed to fight for and win custody of his then 5 year old daughter - they have already injected this information, framed rather differently of course, into this trial at least a dozen times thus far, now they're going for the full out gamut - the child's appearance on video feed talking about what losing her dad who is a killer of a young girl not much older than she) would mean to her, as well they'd likely try to prompt any of her positive memories of dad etc.
Fortunately, even with Judge Blue's recent bizarre defense - favoring courtroom antics, I don't believe that he or any of the other powers that reign over this decision, ( D.C.Y.F etc ) are going to force this child to testify, in her fathers penalty phase due to the potential harm to the child's emotional welfare.
Let's hope and pray that the morally responsible decison is made. There is more than one innocent child's life to be considered within this decision; Michaela Petit was just two years older than Komisarjevsky's now 9 year old little girl when Joshua Komisarjevsky acting alone targeted Michaela for a home invasion revolving around the notion of sexually assaulting this child whilst the entire house full of people were under his control.
Note; For Court documents concerning this Post and other Joshua Komisrajevsky Trial evidence, visit my Scribd account online here: http://www.scribd.com/laurelo
Click on the appropriate links and gain further insight into this trial; The brutality, loss of life, the grief and the trauma that sole surivor Bill Petit lives with each day. The entire State of Connecticut has been deeply traumatized by these assaults and murders. For that matter many people far beyond Connecticut state borders have also shared this same sense of pain grief and anguish that we have all felt since first learning of these crimes.
Rest in Peace Jennifer Hayley and Michaela Petit.
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