Natalee Holloway's mother consoles Flores family - CNN.com

Today I mourn Stephanie Ramirez Fiorez, a young women who was brutally beaten and stabbed to death in a hotel room in Peru. This is a murder that never should have never been allowed to happen.


Everytime I watch a video of this punk sociopath Von der sloot, I feel absolute and unadulterated rage: Yet another one of those situations where the authorities were given a major heads up regarding this perpetrators predatorial instincts, and they did nothing to protect the next victim . Indeed, criminal behavior-kidnapping, probable date-rape drugging and murder. Ther was no shortage of evidence. We all knew what happened. And yet like so many before him and since, the murderer of another human being, walked. He walked right out of that jail cell with daddy on his arm, mommy protectively showdowing them both and a smirk playing upon his face.

Worst of all, he went out feeling invincibile, and why no- he'd killed a girl practically in front of a nation and got away with it. He had the audacity within mere months of the crimes to seek out the United states media in a transparent attempt to throw suspicion off of himself and petulantly complain.
And soon enough, he killed again. And in a way, all of us let it happen.

This 21 year old woman, or girl really, likely suffered unimaginable terror and pain as her life energy was beaten out of her. Her skull was fractured, she bore severe bruising on her temples and face, and she was also stabbed. They say drug residue was found in a beverage she was drinking. This was the exact scenario many suspected in Natalee Holloways dissapearence when reports began coming out that she appeared uncharacteristiclly very drunk as she left the nightclub in aruba with Mr Von dersloot and friends.

Her family will of course never be the same, no murder victims family ever is. And many many many hearts are broken traversing multiple provinces and in this case once again- veritable countries mourn. As we here in the United States grieve for this crime it is made all the worse knowing that it could have been should have been stopped before it happened. But we are all too used to this.

A girl who was full of life love and promise is dead.
When are we as asociety and going to demand that violent predators who have been at least once intervened by the law, are dealt with responsibly, with the publics saftty as its primary concern. Swift justice the very first time that SOMEONE crosses the rules and laws of society regarding harming other human beings!


You know, It is difficult enough for police and authroties to accrue enough evidence to simply arrest, or in the case of lacodaisical misogynistic Aruban law-"detain" a person clearly involved in the murder or abduction of a woman or child. Few seem to understand that for every one of these predators that the police and courts manage to get thier hands on, never mind enough evidence to proceed to a prosecution, there are thousands upon thousands of predators committing violent crimes, that remain out there, untouched by the law, either shrewd enough to escape detection as was the BTK murderer Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy to name a few, or those simply thus far "lucky" and taking full advantage of overworked understaffed Police homicide and rape departments.

And then of course there are the rapists batterers child molesters abductors who waltz through our court systems having committed crimes perhaps one step short of murder but with all the indications for a propensity escalating violent crimes, and due to such ciited reasons as prison overcrowding which we here a lot about in Connecticut as reason for springing hundreds of such predators each year (we seem to have plenty of room in our prisons and jails however for thiose unfortunates arrested for little more than possession of small quantities of drugs thier only crime being addiction and the procurement of drugs to feed that usually physcial addiction. This seems especially the case for minorities who are unlucky enough to lack the solid middle class appearing families and relying on uninspired public defenders (and no not all Public defenders are uninspired nor bad lawyers-just some) these small time offenders that comprise a suprising percentage of our prison beds in Connecticut often have multiple similar non violent drug offenses on thier "records" These folks are locked up left and right every day in this and other states, while iour violent rapists, child molesters/ abductors and yes, even murderers , recieve plea bargains with reduced or zero priosn time and often suspended sentences with probation which equates to a get out of jail feree card for people who have shown the propensity for hurting other human beings. I say pluck them out of our societies the first time they committ a violent crime, if it is murder the sentence should be automaticlly a minimum of life with no parole this so that they may never again harm another human being. It really neednt be complicated It should be simple- a no brainer and yet, here in the states and clearly Aruba as well, the criminal authorities fail at it again and again and again.

I also feel strongly that Vond der sloots family is as guilty as he for both of these young women's murders. His now late father, Judge Von DER Sloot, was obviously complicit in his sons first crime, the murder of Natalee Holloway. It always seems to start at home with the same brand of parenting. Zero accountability thick thick denial and parents whose main concern is how things appear to the outside world re thier offspring, rather than being responsible parents and facing the behavioral issues that invariably show themselves early on in their criminal childs lives. Instead through often slick subterfuge they hide thier children be it adult children in thier forties or teens just begginning to show their criminal tendency stripes.

This syndrome harkens back to the 2007 Petit family HOME INVASION assaults and murders here in Cheshire Connecticut. The presumed ringleader and mastermind of these brutal rapes and murders, Joshua komisarjevsky and his reportedly "steeped in prominence family" (a quote taken from the New york times headlines shortly after the murders of Jennifer Hayley and Michaela Petit, had parents who apparently spent their sons entire criminal life bailing him out of his many many brushes with the law, propping him up, duisting him off and using thier family name to lend thier budding criminal son, credibility, which in turn allowed this clearly dangerous kid to escape culpability begginning with his very first crime- felony arson by the way, at the tender age of 14. He set an abandoned gasoline station on fire-for fun.

What should have been a major tip-off to the ridiculous Connecticut courts, arson at that age is one act of the "classic trilogy" behaviors of oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder, the childhood/teenage precursors/equivalent to full blown sociopathology This has also been referred to as a psychopath. In other words when your "a kid" you are not yet ready to be deemed a sociopath, at least not according to the diagnostic statistical manual ( DSM ) simply due to ones chronological age, not behaviors or qualities that they are exhibiting nor the clarity of the psychiatric profile.

Instead The psychiatric community will diagnose a child or teen with conduct disorder and/or oppositional defiant disorder but this almost always, always results in an adult sociopath,with the rare exception. Sociopaths are considered un treatable for all intents and purposes, in fact its well known that they will often use therapy, in its traditional forms either child teen or adult sociopaths, as yet another person and place to be manipulated with the aim being to either throw the therapist off the track or to say all the "right things" to Convey false contrition or to play up the notion of themselves as victims"

Cheshire Jury Selection Completed Prosecutors and defense attorneys in the Hayes case - Courant.com

The GE 5K Road Race

Lets all pitch in and make this the most succeassful GE 5K Raceday of all - July 2010 This will be the third such annual event since the home invasion that stole the lives of these three beautiful -people; Jennifer and her two daughters Hayley and 11 year old Michaela Petit.

All monies raised in the event day will go to the PETIT FAMILY FOUNDATION http://www.petitfamilyfoundation.org/ whose main missions include helping victims of violence.

It promises to be a great day with many activities for everyone; an aerobic walk accompanies the big race for those, like me, who either do not fancy themselves runners, or who might possess physical limitations that prohibit them from running a 5k course. There is a seperate race course for kids and lots and lots of food, refreshments activities, music and fun.

Natalee Holloway's Brother: Joran van der Sloot 'Just Trying to Get a Lighter Sentence'

Thomas Mortimer IV: Man Sought In Death of Family » Right Juris

American Thinker Blog: Support for Capital Punishment in the U.S. is Higher than Surveys Indicate

Family of Yale murder suspect in court - UPI.com

Avon Native Sought In Quadruple Murder Captured In Massachusetts - Courant.com

Book Could Be An Issue In Cheshire Case -

Hayes Jury Has Been Set

Trial Date Set For Steven Hayes

Jury for Hayes in Cheshire Murders Coming Together (Web First) - News - Litchfield County Times

Its about time.

Arrest In Connection With Newton Teen's Death

It just never ends.

Pay attention to Holloway, Flores murders

ThePrudence Crandall benifit for domestic violence victims

This is the Third year in a row that the Petit family foundation

www.petitfamilyfoundation.org was the presenting sponsor for this huge fund raising event at The Prudence Crandall Center www.prudencecrandallcenter.org in New Britain Connecticut.

A Heartfelt thanks to Bill Petit, friends and family for thery're strength committment and hard work on behalf of victims of violence.

Pay attention to Holloway, Flores murders

Below is an excerpt from this must read Op-ed piece about the latest Von der sooot murder and violence against women in general. I am disgusted that Aruba officials handled Natalee Holloways dissapearence so poorly and now another young woman has paid for it with her life-and another family must be tormeened with thoughts of thier daughhters last moments.

"Too often, violence against women is, if not condoned, accepted. I still recall -- with shame -- the days when as an editor I would consign the murder of a woman to a few short paragraphs deep inside the paper because it was “just a domestic.” Never mind that if you tally up all the women who have been victim of domestic abuse, you would have a near epidemic. Sadly, it is too late for Holloway and Flores, but that shows why it is never wrong to make a big deal out of every instance in which a woman is brutalized."

Jury in place for triple-slaying trial of Hayes Trial scheduledto begin Sept 15th

Finally.
The beginning of the "judicial process" for the first of these two reprobates.
Two years and 10 months later A jury of 12 jurors and 6 alternates is finally picked for merely the first of the two defendants, both caught fleeing in the Victims family car the massacre sight where mother and two daughters had been kidnapped sexually assaulted tortured and their lives extinguished in the cruelest of fashions: tied to their beds alive and set afire after being doused with gasoline.

The terror that they must have felt is something that I think about every day. And Every time that I shop at my neighborhood stop and stop, I can not help but think of Jennifer and Michaela Petit, shopping themsleves on a disappearing summer evening, not unlike the warm summer evenings of late. And again, in a Connecticut suburb, not dissimilar from the one that I call home.

The difference is that I now no longer mindlessly wander these aisles with my old innate sense of security, ease nor even comfort anymore--lest I let my guard down and miss that one potential predator looking for a Good Victims looking person the would be predator, someone like Joshua Komisarjevsky the 28 year old man, a longtime cheshire resident, himself , who did not resemble the Bogeyman, but rather presented what I am sure was an unassuming but friendly enough countenence to most people passing him by in the store or parking lot. It was in the parking lot that he admittedly fixed upon Mrs Petit and more importantly as a veritable pedophile, (albeit unofficial by Connecticut criminal records standards) The attractive womens blonde eleven year old daughter Michaela a girl who had just experienced a summer growth spurt bringing her up to her moms shoulders.

I hazard a guess that many people in Connecticutt shop differently since these crimes happened.

Auction at CCSU to benefit Prudence Crandall Center - The Bristol Press: Bristol, Conn., and surrounding areas (BristolPress.com)

Five Years later Ross executed, but issue continues to stir debate

This article brings up a very timely issue; The Ross Death Penalty case is a perfect example of Connecticut's judicial system's utter failure to do its job.
Michael Ross was a serial killer of women and children. He was also the most recent criminal to be executed by lethal injection in Connecticut.He wound up having to sue the state in order to be given his well-deserved sentence.

The answer lies not in getting rid of the death penalty, but rather to reform it; From The current built- in limitless appeals system renders it impotent to the
absurd time period between actual sentencing and the carrying out of that sentence, which currently has no bounderies in the state of Connecticut.

From a practical standpoint, this means that any murder case where the death penalty has been sentenced by Judge or Jury (and a sentence of death for aggravated murder is quite rarely pursued here in thefirst place ) often drags on for decades upon decades, as the sentenced inmate or lawyer, file what has become obligatory appeal after appeal, on the governments dime, simply "buying thier client time, pushing any actual execution to some far away future date,which for all intents and purposes does not exist-not in Connecticut.

While the largely democratic judiciary committee would use theseexamplesofour broken system as a reason to simply get rid of the entire system I, (myself a registered democratic) say nonsense-fix it. Iam appalled that our "lawmakers" first thought is to throw it out with yesterdays garbage because they are seduced by the notion that it will save the state lots of money- and/or because these samelegislators fancy themselves proggresive minded heroes of some sort because they subscribe to the armchair philosophy that the death penalty is archaic and morally wrong .

Lets face it; The cold hard facts are that a percentage of Connecticuts legislators who are ultimately responsible for the immense decision of whether to keep or abolish the death penalty in this state, have personally never encountered the unabashed evil of sociopathology (IE anti-social personality disorder AS READ IN THE DSM) and the destruction of lives left in its wake. Formerly refferredto as "psychopaths" this personality disorder has a high incidence in our prison systems and our violent criminals (albeit diagnosed or undiagnosed) There are also a good number of sociopaths who are of the higher functioning ilk meaning they may in fact commit crimes, including horribly brutal violent crimes, yet they are rarely caught and if caught rarely properly prosecuted, as 'manipulative natures and often above articulkate self educated intelligence combine to fool those in the system who lack the experience or insight to recognize what theyre dealing with.
This disorder does not mean crazy; They know right from wrong, they simply have no conscience, and believe they're victims deserve theyre fate for allowing themselves to be victimized.

But as in the case of joshua komisarjevsky co-defendent in the Petit family murders, many sociopaths may feign consciences as they realize it is expected of them. Read his sentencing transcript from his last string of bome break ins prior to the Petit Family assaults and murders. In front of the judge and prosecutor, he offered up to the court tremendous remorse for his 28 break ins and robberies-which were almost all perpetrated at night while the homeowners were in bed sleeping, by his own admission.Weve since learned that komisarjevsky boasted of these exploits reffering to those home invasions as a form of "extreme sport" exciting him only if someone was in the home at the time, otherwise he was too "bored" by the robbery the robberies in my opinion incidental to the act of subterfuge and invasion of anothers privacy and space.

Thus as our lawmakers would like to fancy themselves too "evolved" to support the notion of a state sponsered death penalty, even when reserved for only the absolute worst most brutal and aggravated of our states murder cases (Connecticut is reknown for its history of judiciuos use of pursuing its death penalty, with an extremely rare percentage of these cases compared to its overall murder cases) And thus our lawmakers lack of familiarity and awareness and education concerning the brand of criminal that would kill for thrill lust or simple greed without batting an eye, is really what is at the crux of the problem here. This Exremely important issue calls for the kind of awareness that transcends armchair philosophying and "bottomlines".

Michael Ross was apparently ready to accept accountability for the many kidnappings, rapes and murders that he'dcommitted over the ourse of his life (he alluded to only being caught and charged for a fraction of of the actual number of murders he was responsible for).
Connecticuts criminal-friendly justice system actually refused to allow this guy to plead guilty when wanted to, with the presiding judge citing whatever insane judicial rule that prohibits a guilty plea at that particular juncture. A situation not unlike the recent Petit murder case, where the first murder defendent being tried also wished to change his plea to guilty recently, as jury selection was just begginning - The New haven Superior court where the case is being tried, would not allow it-in fact they cite that technically they could not accept a guilty plea from a defendent in a Death penalty case.

As such the judge refused it and the plea stayed not guilty, as his lawyers had him plead originally. After much hullabaloo from those defense attorneys, who scrambled to tie thierclients hands once he admitted his guilt, they tried to have him declared incompetent among other things, in the end he was found competent to stand trial and assist in his own defense. although hayes was soon cajoled by his notorious anti-death penalty crusading public attorney to resort back to a sensible" Not Guilty Plea, at his next court appearence when the judge asked do you wish to keep your plea not guilty, there was a rather long pregnant pause from steven hayes before he finally said "no your honor'

Although every life is precious the murder of a child is doubly evil and tragic, and
yet... a good number of our Conn Legislators voted this past year to abolish the one thing that could serve as a deterrent to those that would prey upon children and others in defenseless situations. Had Governor Rell not vetoed the narrowly passed bill, the death penalty would be abolished in this state as we speak and replaced with a capital punishment that consists of life in prison with no parole.

With saving money the main reason cited by members of the Conn Judiciary committee for introducing the notion of abolishment-(ie due tothe costliness of its currently run amock appeals process among other things) This makes the actual longer term results of abolishment most ironic: With no threat of A possible death sentence looming over a murderers head-and remember only the worst of the worst murder cases are even considered for the death penalty here--defense attorneys left and right will encourage thier clients charged with capital crimes to go to trial rather than plead to lowered charges, for they will then have "nothing to lose" by trying the case. ie the worst case would still be life with no parole vs the possibility that they "rollthe dice" so to speak and possibly get life sentence with the possibility of parole via a trial.

This influx of trials and the preparations involved on cases that have been traditionally plea bargained for years, will cost the state millions upon millions of dollars, thereby defeating the original rationale for abolishment not to mention putting the lives of innocent citizens at risk as would be murderers child predators, rapists have significantly less to be afraid of if they are caught for thier crimes

Capitol Watch Blog - Connecticut Politics, Political News and Legislation

Hmmm...

"Silent No More Auction" Coming June 3 Prudence Crandall Center

The Prudence Crandall Center ( see link above) is one of the Main organizations supported by The Petit http://www.petitfamilyfoundation.org/ familyfoundation
who have contributed significantly towards Victims of Domestic violence via this center and other avenues, since PFF's early inception in 2007 following the murders of Jennifer, Hayley and Michaela Petit during a home invasion.

The case, in which the two defendants were caught fleeing the murder scene in the Petit family car, is just now in the mid stages of voire dire (Jury selection) for the first defendant, Steven Hayes. The other 'defendent" who initially targeted and followed Mrs Petit and her daughter from a neighborhood Stop and shop to their home in Cheshire, is twenty nine year old Joshua Komisarjevsk,y also from Cheshire. He will not be tried until Hayes's trial is completed, which will be quite some time.
In both cases the state is seeking the death penalty for multiple capital crimes including multiple aggravated sexual assault,assault in the first degree of Dr Petit and threecounts of murder one, including the murder of a child

Both men were on early release parole when these crimes occurred despite having been convicted of well over 25 felonies within their respective life times. Indeed, the two men met each other at a Hartford hallway house which serves as intermediary re-entry housing for prisonerssoon due for release. YTheearly release program was the brainchild of Mike lawlor and Co. Dem east haven and vice chair of Connecticuts judiciary commitee

The Connecticut Parole board made the decisions to release each man after less than half of their sentences were served, these decisions were made with both men in absentia and little to no paperwork re their criminal files which in Komisarjevskys case certainly would have given them much needed insight to decline early Parole, due to among other things, his dangerous habit of breaking into homes admittedly only when the homeowners were home for the thrill, using night vision goggles to stalk his victims before his break ins and often taking mementos of women who were living in those homes in which he was illegally breaking and entering into.

Anyone possessing even a cursory knowledge of criminal psychology knows that these habits are red flags - indicative of a budding (or fully engaged) sexual predator,: As this information was made available to Police and the Connecticut Courts involved with his former criminal cases, there was no excuse why this man was released with such a small portion of his actual sentence served thus sharply deviating from the last Judges final admonishment in sentencing hearing. He concluded aloud that despite komisarjevsky, his parents and his lawyers attempts to portray him as a troubled young man from a good religous middle class family gone astray, ( his family had even toted komisarjevskys 17 yr old girlfriend and newborn baby to court for sentencing day, no doubt hoping for whatever leniency being a new fathger might buy him, Komisarjevsky was a dangerous predator

In a recent book based on clandestine-and illegal ( a gag order was placedon the case very early on) jailhouse interviews with Komisarjevky at 27 years of age- he had admitted to committing hundreds of such break--ins "as a kind of extreme sport"and was only caught or prosecuted for only 30 or so by police in several Connecticut jurisdictions- including Cheshire and the surrounding environs. A fair number of those charges were dropped in subsequent plea bargains, the last of which was supposed to have kept komisarjevsky in prison for 9 plus years and special parole for another 5. The presiding judge in that case seemed well aware of the seriousness of komisarjevskys criminal habits and potential for violence, and he said so when declaring his sentencing decision. The Connecticut Parole Board never even saw komisarjevskys criminal history, let alone the court transcripts from his last sentencing hearing in which the judge proclaimed the reasons he considered him so dangerous.

It was later exposed that this lack of paperwork was not an unusual nor singular inclident but had been the norm for years due prosecutors offices refusing to pay for copying costs for parolees criminal files with the parole board basically giving in and continuing to make life and death parole descisions with next to no paperwork on the prisoners in question nor the prisoner even being present for questioning-this the state of Connecticut called "administrative parole" and was The manner of parole for many many years in Connecticut until the Petit murders and several others all committed by new parolees occurring within a one year period, finally exposed these dangerous and irresponsible practices to both the people of the state and even many legislators who were also unaware of the day to day

In response to the public outrage over these crimes and most significantly the fact that they should have been avoided with responsible follow through of the Conn criminal Judicial system, attempts was made by the Connecticut legislature to toughen Parole standards and votes were made to infuse more money into our criminal justice system. It remains to be seen if there has been any viable application of those funds, with the recent economical budgetary problems being cited as one prohibitive cause of this. In the year following this and several other violent crimes committed by career criminals recently released, Some Ct laws were amended and attempts to toughen so called home invasion laws were made among other things.

Bi-partisan disagreement within the mostly democratic legislature, with republican assemblymen and senators largely supporting tougher measures voted down by some but not all democratic leaders,made actual changes in our laws very difficult if not impossible.

And seemingly, to add insult to injury, while many people in the state were still traumatized and grieving over the Petit family rapes and murders, as well another rape murder home invasion involving two women in their 60's which occurred in Connecticut that same year, the Ct Judiciary committee, spear headed by Mike Lawlor andsenator McDonald, voted seemingly out of nowhere to abolish the death penalty. The proposal was reportedly brought up as an idea to " save money"for the statedueto the unwieldy Ct unlimited appeals process in Death penalty cases.
Needlessto say the descision and the furtive manner in which it was handled ie withheld from the local media and thus the citizens, caused an uproar particukarly as a recent quinnipiac poll proved that well over 68 percent of the people of the state were against abolishment.

The house and Senate proceeded to rather swiftly vote on the volatile issue with a very narrow margin result to abolish and with clear-cut divisiveness between republicans and democratic lawmakers, although in fairness some democrats voted against abolishment despite their parties obvious preference. Thus, the mostly democratic legislature narrowly "won" : Fortunately and thankfully, as she had implied, Governor Rell used a rare veto on the bill, citing the will of the people in this state was clearly against aboloishment and was she.

In the meantime those dedicated to helping victims of violent crime, carry on the good fight.
One of our states greatest warriors inthisfight has been Drwilliam Petit lone curvivor of the Petit crimes. The upcoming "Silent No More" Auction supported by the Prudence Crandall Center and the Petit Family foundation is animportant part of that fight. It is a major fund raiser for assisting victims of domestic/partner violence escape from dangerous environments and as importantly, getting new starts for battered women and thier children so that they may begin living a violent- free life with the help that is so greatly needed.

As we read in the papers and seeon the news each week many of these women die every year when they are unable to break out of the cycle of violence and abuse.. The Prudence Crandall Center's mission statement encompasses the concept of 'parallel Justice" for victims of violence in Connecticut and elsewhere through their strong example.

Please help by donating volunteering or getting involved in whatever way that you can
Every person supporting this noble cause is helping to quote" be the Change that you wish to see in the world" A quote of Muhamtma Gandhi that 11 year old Michaela Petit chose to put on her facebook page prior to her untimely death from violent crime

Hayes Denied Request To No Longer Attend Jury Selection

Note; Older article/News Re The Petit family Case new Op-Ed Post;

Its good to see a presiding judge in this case finally show some judicial integrity and sound judgement,let's hope this is the beginning of a trend towards actual justice-with accountability being the watchword. Because as anyone following this case knows this has thus far glaringlynot been the case insofar as the courts oversight of these brutal crimes.

The seeming ever revolving-door succession of judges "presiding over the Petit case has certainly not helped matters from a practical legal and judicial standpoint,never mind how this lack of constancy has ill served the Petit and Hawke families as well the negative impact on the lone surviving victim Dr William Petit who was beaten so badly within the commission of these crimes that he still suffers daily from the Traumatic Brain injury inflicted by one of the two "defendants" caught fleeing the triple murder scene.

I have personally counted at least three judges hearing, and making major decisions regarding this case so far- and the case is for all intents and purposes, in its infancy; This, almost three years after the actual assaults and murders of Jennifer, Hayely and 11 year old Michaela Petit.

The New Haven court where this Cheshire murder case is being heard is less than halfway through the voire dire jury selection process for just the first of the two "defendants"- Steven Hayes. Knowing Connecticut's unwieldy and time consumptive voire dire process,the remaining jury selection could easily drag on for months upon months. The least that the court can do, in the name of what is right and just, and victim considerate, is ensure that Mr Hayes attend each and every step of his own State paid lawyers purposeful (and wasteful) procrastination of the onset of whatever is passing for "Justice" in Connecticut these days.

Wolcott Husband Arrested On Mothers Day On Murder Of His Wife - Courant.com

It just never stops.

George Huguely: University of Virginia Murder Suspect Once Threatened Female Cop - ABC News

The truth about the past history and the true nature of men like this always takes a bit longer to comeout but invariably\ its always there with the smallest amount of investigation...

Suspect in lax killing once deemed 'unflappable'

I cannot abide by these media articles that help perpetuate the notion that a female victim of intimate violence somehow caused an otherwise "reasonable"( in other words- non- violent type) to commit A brutal crime against said victim. (Note; the term intimate violence here is used very broad, meaning only that the Victim knew her attacker-not necessarily that there existed a sexual relationship between assailant and victim -

Most unfortunate for victim and families of that victim, a good deal of these cases will wind up inappropriately swept into the domestic violence realm,..EITHER within the actual court dockets (in more and more Ct larger city courts there are such specialized units' subsidized largely by grant monies federal and state, and thusly in the general mindset of the court that leans to wards a definite leniency in how these cases are handled and adjudicated.

This leniency and tolerance towards violence against women who knew their attackers oft times includes. amazingly enough the prosecutors who are indeed paid to be the voice for the victim, they the presumed purveyors of justice for that victim who are in fact the embodiment of those crimes. And in too many cases, like this tragic one, the victim herself has been permanently silenced.

Of course there are also judges juries and victims advocates involved in the periphery of most violent crime processing- as its truthfully become in Connecticut. But truth be told these folks rarely have much influence over how violent crime cases most involving multiple charges, are reconciled ie the sentence that the assailant winds up: 97 percent of all criminal cases in Connecticut are plea bargained this means that they do not result in a trial, instead

deals are made behind closed doors between the assigned prosecutor and the attorneys for the defendant. These"deals" have become the bane of our judicial system and in my opinion, the biggest perpetrator of violent crime in this state,
towards the end of

Dr. William Petit On Face The State -- Part 1 - Video - WFSB Hartford

Great Job Dr Petit...!

Three strikes now coalition

How Can I Help?

TheDartmouth.com | In Connecticut, Petit trial links to election

2010 Legislative Session Roundup: Connecticut | Progressive States ...

This is a good start but we still have along road ahead of us...

Lawyers: Hayes wants out of jury selection

Hayes Must Attend Jury Selection | NBC Connecticut

11th Juror Picked In Hayes Murder Trial

Family of beaten Deerfield Beach Middle School teen releases hospital photos - Sun Sentinel

This story appalls.

There are actually a fair amount of ignoramuses claiming that this young 15 yr old girl who was brutally stomped and beaten almost to death last month in Deerfeild beach Fla, while at her middle school, a male non-studentt sent to the young teen who very nearly killed after knocking her down and kicking her defenseless body with steel tipped boots as she lay on the ground in a semi conscious defenseless state.

The majority of the kicks were to her head face chest, any one of which could have killed her via brain injury-internal bleeding and never mind plain old blood loss. The number one area of the body that is injured during so called " intimate/domestic violence"(both dangerously broad definitions used to categorize certain types of violence against women and often misused by law enforcement the courts in the process. always to the detriment of the victim...( but that I'll address later) is the head and face region, often leaving women and girl victims with Traumatic brain injuries, AKA TBI'S which formerly were called concussions, if there was no fracture or inner bleed such as a hematoma--of which there are several kinds-depending on where the bleed is in relation to the brain ie subdural or epidural if you ll recall actress Natasha
died completely unexpectedly from just such an injury last year; consider that the insult to her brain was one single comparatively mild head impact when she fell in the snow during a begginner ski lesson(which meant it was taking place on a very gradual ski slope aka "bunny slope"

Some of you might recall that Natasha was speaking and walking normally just after she fell, even refusing the medical help that the instructor offerred which was protocal for that ski resort for any and all falls no matter how seemingly minor or the status of the client. as she felt "fine" in the minutes following the minor tumble. This is what emergency medical personell and Doctors call talking and they are most dangerous as the patient often seems perfectly lucid and verbally responsive - even chatty right after what can be a relatively innocuous seeming head bump or even a mere shaking of the head. (one does not have to have sustained a direct blow to head to receive life threatening brain damage-similar to shaken baby syndrome or in domestic violence shaken women another common practice anmong abuser,s if a person has there head merely shaken violently-as when a man grabs a woman and shakes her by the shoulders roughly causing her head to snap back and forth, this can cause serious damage and or death, The brain is like a ball of harderened jello and it is encased in our hard skull in order to proect it because itisdso vital to our survival

When someone is shaken or thier head struck into something hard like a wall or floor or like Rhianna a dashboard and windshield the brain literally bounces around inside the skull where there are bony prominances unfortunately that point inward as if very thick thorns almost; this causes several types of damage; one is the regular coup-contracoup injury, which means brain strikes the opposite side of skull that it has been struck into ie wall the floor or fist as it first strikes theone side it gets bruised called a contusion and then it bounces back and then hits the opposite side of the skull as ifin a bouce. Now the victim has two major areas of their brain that are vulnerable to at the very least damage and at the worst bleeding, the laTTER of which can quickly or slowly build up pressuere in the cranial cavity and cause death, coma and or brain damage. The last two are the lucky ones if you can fathom that.

The brain and the head are one of the most common areas of the body struck and damaged in attacks on women and girls both from men they know have dated are dating or sexual predators;As Ive ponited out many of these injuries result in death, coma, brain damage and at the very least, life changing symptoms such as: severe vertigo,(SENSATION of you or your world spinning or moving, when you/it is not) hearing loss, tinnitus, post traumatic headaches that resemble severe migraines (vascular originated) Memory problems aphasia-ie problems speaking or recalling words, tremors,

Then there are the conditions that may result immediately or take years to develop from the time of the attack or the last assault in a chronic domestic violence situation The list includes Parkinson's disease, a severe movement disorder, (think Mohammad ali the boxer and all of the many many blows to the head/face that he sustained over the years. seizures, hydrocephalus- a serious condition where-fluid builds and stays in the ventricles of the brain causing a myriad of symptoms such as severe balance problems, a shuffling gait severe memory impairment to the point where women as young as 28 have to be in nursing type homes for the remainder of their lives-The fortunate ones are able to have either temporary or usually permanent shunts installed outside the ventricles in the brain that continuouslu drain the fluid from that area down to a tube that leads to the outside of the stomach in order to lesson the symptoms which can also include severe issues with memory, learning disabilities, drastic personality changes and one of the scariest tome--dementia,

In fact there is a type of dementia that has been discovered to result years after assaults to the head or repeated years of abuse to face and head area; its actually similar to Alzheimer's disease though it can afflict young persons who have sustained head injury esp multipleones, justas easily -It is called dementia pugilistica ie (as in boxers) and it can occur from either multiple blows to the head and/or choking within an attack or years or simply months-of abuse involving the head and neck.

Choking causes anoxia- loss of blood flow to the brain and can then cause brain cells to die thereby causes similiar symptoms diseases and damage as direct blows to the head and or face. There is something called coup contracoup injury to the brain wgich sadly is also very coimmon in dimnestic violence victims as it results from the head being struck into a hard objectie like a wall a headboard windshield of car-think of Rhianna)

Core Energetics Support for Returning Veterans

A great assist to Vets with PTSD and even those who managed to escape this common response to exposure to violence and life threatening situations.

One step closer (maybe) to finding Billy Smolinski

Two articles that are a must read for everyone living in the state concerning new laws and procedures for missing persons largely affecting the crucial first days of the disappearances of any adult person.

Please familiarize yourself with the changes to these important laws, it could someday affect you or someone you care about.

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20100330/NEWS01/3300325

Ninth Juror Chosen In Hayes Trial - Hartford Courant

DON PESCI: Hayes’ guilty plea first on, then off -

Good commentery by Don Pesci regarding the recent reversal of co-"defendent" Steven Hayes' surprising- and subsequently- fleeting Guilty plea to the sexual assault and murder charges for Jennifer Hawke Petit and her daughters 17 year old Hayley and 11 year old Michaela.

Appropriately, the piece really speaks more to the absurdity of our Connecticut Judicial system rather than the issue of Mr Hayes's almost predictable recent flip flop of his plea back to his original NOT GUILTY - care of his state appointed attorney's near rabid opposition to criminal accountability especially when it originates from the client/defendent, no matter the hienous brutality of the crimes that he admits to committing. In fact Ive read about twenty articles in the paper and online citing hayes attorneys refferring to his change to a guilty plea last week as a "state assisted suicide" which they would do evry thing in thier powet to stop. And so they did-they obviously wore down hayes until he withdrew his admission of guilt.
When did telling the truth and taking acccountability become "crazy" and bad?
when did the right to a fair defense become THIS?

Another Twist in a Connecticut Triple-Murder Case - NYTimes.com

Cheshire Home Invasion Suspect Hayes Changes Mind Again; Jury Selection To Resume - Courant.com

I suppose we should have seen this coming; Hayes lawyers obviously wore him down until he changed his plea back to not guilty.

I heard today on the news that after Hayes surprise change to a guilty plea in the Petit murders of 07 at last weeks hearing, his staeappomied satomedsslawyers vowed to do " anything and everything in their power to quote "stop Mr "Hayes from committing suicide"-- this, their notion of what pleading guilty to aggravated rape, robbery triple murde, arson and assault , crimes Mr Hayes is clearly guilty of, thereby acccountability for his actions, his crimes and save the surviving victim and thee families family further grief suffering not to mention the state of Connecticut a lot of money in a unappealed guilty plea/ probable eventual death penalty, albeit years and years after so,meomemhawayfromscuslly Yes in this state even when you don't want to appeal a much deserved death sentenc, it seems our system inflicts its very own auto-appeal process onto even its worst violent criminals, costing the family of the victims and any surviving victims unneccesary prolomged heartxhe and angst and the state millions of dollars in the process.

Hayes changes plea back to not guilty

Experts Say Hayes' Lawyers May Lose Fight To Keep Him Off Death Row - Courant.com

Dr. Petit Calls Hayes Guilty Plea a "Moment of Honesty" | NBC Connecticut

This is Steven Hayes finally showing that he wants to do the right thing and it also explains why the competency hearing etc was probably ordered in the first place; he likely told his attorneys he wanted to admit what he'd done and get it over with and they immediately went into typical predictable auto pilot moral less criminal attorney mode and scrambled to have him proved incompetent before he got his chance to change his plea-which is his right as a defendant in a murder rape trial.

Now watch these lawyers do their absolute best to cost the system money and just like the Joseph Duncan case-Dylan Shasta Greene- immediately pounce on pursuing this ludicrous incompetency angle. When did getting a fair defense by the state when one cannot afford their own private attorney, turn into an excuse to throw accountability and human decency and justice out with the morning garbage?

The hijacking of our system by what is by now rote, cost consuming maneuverings, in the relatively rare cases where a defendant wants to actually take responsibility for harming killing raping and and or maiming another human being(s), has got to stop. All of us must become involved if we ever hope to change this complicated mess that has become our justice system.

This starts with availing ourselves with knowledge and awareness of our own states criminal justice system, how it really works, who makes the decisions that fuel it IE the influential state legislators, the influence, or lack thereof of the state judiciary committee, local power attorneys state appointed and otherwise judges prosecutors and thier records and reputations and much more.
I get that its unpleasent to talk or even think about but At the core of all of this lies the need to allow ourselves to truly ponder what the victims of these crimes experience-and put ouraselves and our loved ones in thier place, despite the obvious discomfiture this brings us.
To consider deeply the huge reaching effects of just one murder, rape, one assault one child abduction, molestation, home invasion kidnapping and any and all crimes with violence at the core. The victims must once again become the focal point and then justice, true justice may some day become a reality in our courts--- or at least the norm not the rare exception that it has become.

Hayes’ competency to be evaluated- The Register Citizen News - Northwest Connecticut's Daily Newspaper

Dont get me started with this; it is such a predictable ploy that these guys have become caricatures of themselves.

Dr Petit makes good sense outside courthouse

Looks like I'm not the only one to pick up on the irony of this whole ludicrous...well, I would normally say "process"-- but as there is very little resembling judicial processs or any process for that matter between within the fits and starts, the furtive delays, and advanatgeous side shows- care of... the DEFENSE counsel both DEFENDENTS and yes sometimes aided and abbetted by the state itself. This is not to say that every member of the state including judges prosecutors and the DOC are part of the preoblem but there is a bigger picture here that involves yup- corruption, the by now usual legal blackmail that pretty much runs the judges any straggl\ler well meaning prosecutors and and a whole hoswt of things like ineptitude, politics many of us might never be aware of the full scope of ns then of course complicated further by things like grassroots and larger state organizations such as the anti-death penalty groups and prisoner protective services whose zealotry often far outweighs thier ability to grasp the big picture, much like a battered woman who will excuse her batterers blows slaps and kicks, when he later cries to her over his own abusive childhood-be it real or not depednding on his particular status of personality disorder iie if he has one which one narcicistic full blown sociopath etc.

I draw this seemingly off the path analogy because from where I sit and what I have seen heard experienced I know that thses prsioner/human rights protection groups believe in thier cause and often cannot grasp the concept of true evil and the manipulation that accompanies it. while I do not suggest we torture our prisoners, though mny express just such a desire mostly out of an understandable anger over the obvious guilt of these defendents and what theyve admitted to doing to with aforethought and sans the numbing effects of drugs even our frustration is capped only byt the wish to see justice done and yes relatively swiftly. at least someone with legal power should be abe to advocate loudly for these slain girls and thier mother thier badly beaten
fther whose daily life is still affected by his head injury, tho he never ever speaks of this not wishing to detract from the kidapping sexual assaults and murders of his young blossoming
daughters and kind anc caring wife.

The defense attorneys for hayes and komisarjevsky would like us to forget all that or certainly focus on anything else, but we ahall be tenacious, intelligent and hold bill Petit and the Petit Hawke families aloft during these very challenging times; times. God is with us.

Judge In Hayes Trial Hopes Jury Selection Can Resume On March 15 - Hartford Courant

Talk about irony; Never mind the incessant and transparent stunts of the defense tems and the 'defendents" thmeselves, no novice to the Ct Judicial system themselves.)
recently the main goal woulf seem to be buying more and more "time" for their murdering clients to as they say face the piper. always always at the centerpiece of exch request, complaint and and often ludicrous motion
The worst of all of this moral turpitude is the victim baiting/bashing that has become a constant for both "accused" murderers and their state paid mouthpieces since the beggnning of the "process" we call justice system here in Connecticut very first days following the kidnappings rapes assaults and murders of Jemmifer Hawke Petit hayely and Michaela Pwtit only eleven years old at the time.
Once again the ultimately favorable outcome- in effect reward- in this case extended in the form of improved living arrangements which even other prisoners with perfect behavioral records do not receive, given to Mr Steven Hayeys are a direct result of yet more rule breaking and manipulation of a system that they have had nothing but a clear disdain and loathing for,(just look at hayes' latest mug shot and one can easily see the hatred bitterness which has done nothing but grow since his intiial incarceration.photo taken right after he was taken into custody caught fleeing the Petits burning home and dying famiy.J

ust as both killers shared an obvious contempt for any and all constraints put upon them by society the law, by the prisons they repeatedly found themselves within the walls of- ALWAYS their own volition and choices. Then threes the the Ct court and parole system, never mind basic rules of society at large and Thur own local communities who time and time again gave them new starts and chances to begin again that were never earned.

I havnt the room nor the enrgy to delve now into the morals or the rights of other human beings-and were not talking about one or two minor strays off the path we are looking at two life long patterns of men that have used and abused a liberal court system to scoff at and ultimately use manipulated and navigate aided and abetted along their entire criminal careers by alternately apathetic inept and just plain lazy and corrupt Connecticut justice system(AND THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE OUR POLICE DEPTS who usually work hard and put their lives on the line daily despite the frustration of knowing most of their effort and hard work is near futile as they watch the courts release these dangerous criminals via dropped charges nolles plea bargains and a seemingly staunch resolution to turn these courts into little more than administrative processing mills where trials have been rendered so rare that any lawyer with any navigational know how of this system need barely make an effort even for some of the serious violent crimes like rape, severe assault, murder and yes child abuse molestation with perhaps an offer of favor and yes in some cases where the charges serious enough and attorneys familiar enough with the prosecutor-monetary incentives may even cause a charge or two and a sentence otherwise a sure thing, to disappear. Again, were not talking about every court nor every prosecutor in this state, but it happens and lest we are not clear here, corruption need not always involve money; favors, promised or implied, cronyism between lawyers and prosecutors who work" together (ie officially as adversary's but in reality lunch together share political aspirations and more than a golf game or two) make for a violent crime docket that has become irrevocably compromised-and it is the victims of these life changing violent crimes that pay for this corruption. And that is exactly what the aforementioned is, lest it not be clear enough to those who care enough to understand what has happened to our Justice system here in Connecticut.

My original point here was that either and both of these two men including Steven Hayes have well earned repeatedly the daily lifestyle they found themselves in- and not by their obvious guilt over the taking of three lives, for in this country despite how obvious a persons guilt may be we Must temporarily withhold judgement before a trial for teem is inducted
by law. And yet as we adhere with committed tenacity to this tenet and extend far beyond BASIC human right to these prisoners they continue their outright refusal to adhere to the rules regulations such as j k overt breaking a court ordered gag order on the case and co writes a book which in turn his ex partner and lawyers immediately latch onto as a perfect means to an end as a great excuse to yet again put off the beginning of jury selection for Mr Hayes trial -citing unfair disadvantage to their client now due to this illegally procured and written book.
A book that sits in the Cheshire local library where it may be read by children friends of then 11 year old Michaela Petit whose sexual assault and murder, along with her mothers, is described in detail. months long meetings and rallies ensued by concerned town residents who, despite paying taxes for this very library's existance were told it was "the right thing to do for them to buy this book co authored by one of the killers, stock several copies on their shelves despite the fact that its very existance is illegal ie cited gag order never mind the fact that trial for either man no matter the illegality of the books origination which has never been in dispute.

AND NOW Mr HAYES SITS IN A SUNNY infirmary with windows where he had none before his "suicide attempt" drugs to quell his fear and anxiousness, (which he's been given since day one of his incarceration )

books to read and a considerably more comfortable daily lifestyle. And he got that stay his lawyers have been putting in for at every hearing thus far, delays for jury selection the trial itself and the hearings themselves. The reasons thus far have largely been your typical lawyer fare, clear attempts and putting off the inevitable-at the surviving victim and families paying the price emotionally and literally along with the rest of every tax paying good citizen of this state.

more info re the jury selection on the Petit case

"Jury selection in the Hayes case represents a perfect storm of what is wrong with jury selection in Connecticut. Alone among the states, we engage in individual, sequestered, voir dire, with lawyers free to engage in endless individual questioning of jurors outside the presence of all other jurors. In the Hayes case, one of the state's top public defenders, Thommas Ullman, who represents Hayes, is known in routine cases to question each potential juror for an hour or so. In this case, where jurors must be "death-qualified," Ullman will be lucky to get through three potential panel members a day. What's more, the case will be presided over by Judge John Blue, a quirky jurist aching for recognition who has elevated distinctions without difference into an art form. Not since Gilligan's Island has the prospect of pointless dithering been so ominous"

The above was taken from a recent Norm Pattis editorial-see link above-not a big fan of pattis in general- his lack of compassion and ability to empathize with the victims of crime clearly overshadows the value of his legal experience. But he makes a few good points albeit one must Wade through his usual dispassionate stance and oft times outright disrespectful cruel and biased comments regarding the tragic victims of violent crime.

State psychiatrist’s vacation delays Petit homicide trial- The New Haven Register - Serving New Haven, Connecticut

Petit Bracing To Be The Face Of Slain Family - Hartford Courant

An older article but very apt and notable for its courage in speaking in real terms about a crime victims experience within Connecticut courts and just how much tenacity this family has, God bless them.

Journal Inquirer > Archives > Page One > Judge to review jail treatment of Cheshire suspect

Anything to delay this Man's trial would seem to be the defenses strategy; I hope that the current presiding judge -there have been three to my knowledge thus far, will have the necessary insight and indeed education re the manipulative tactics of criminals with personality disorders which both Mr Hayes and his cohort Komisarjevsky clearly possess. Regular folks just often cannot fathom the lengths that this type of criminal -or person-will go to-in order to get what they want, whatever it happens to be at that moment. And it is unfortunately that general goodness/compassion/forgiveness in most people that make them perfect targets for these men and in this case even their paid henchman several of whom have taken on thier defense obligation in a near rabid fashion.
These henchman -ie the state attorneys I speak of are ironically paid for by the state of Connecticut, as is the prosecutor.

The Petit hawke families, and many people within the community the state and even across the country have been deeply hurt and traumatized by these crimes -theyve already been lead around the block dozens of times by komisarjevsky and his bulldog-like lawyers, who have repeatedly misused our countries equitable fair defense for everyone even those whose guilt seems clear notwithstanding and within this propaganda and perverted manipulation of the law and the tenets our forefathers sought to protect and have unabashedly been utilizing the morally repugnant ambulance chaser tactic of going after the victim and his family no matter the cost as long as they save their client" As if how they do their job matters not a whit nor what victims and family friends gets hurt and ultimately re victimized and in some cases re traumatized.

Most recently The Petits hawkes and all caring and connected members of our states community been put through the mill by their client Mr komisarjevsky's graphic and manipulative so- called tell all paperback book re the murders- A book that one of the murderers co wrote in effect via an unauthorized writer who visited him numerous times in prison while a gag order was in effect for everyone connected to the case. They and we were still reeling from that books release prior to trial the least of the issues, and sure enough next were hit with the defense for Hayes the other co defendant that another delay is necessary because of this book and that was just the beginning.

As I know that there is A God I derive some comfort in knowing that all of the people involved with aiding and abetting the evil done and continuing to be done, they too will answer for it.

Cumbersome Jury Process Wastes Time And Money - Hartford Courant

well at least someone is finally writing about this/and having the courage to stand up and say the true...

Petit family murder case as it relates to Annie Le Murder?

Murder Victim Annie Le

Jennifer Hawke-Petit, her husband, William Petit, and their two teenage daughters, Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11, were sleeping in their Cheshire, Conn., home early in the morning of July 23, 2007, when two men crept into the house. Within two hours, Hawke-Petit and Hayley were raped and the home was set on fire.

By the time the alleged perpetrators were caught, Hawke-Petit had been strangled to death and the two daughters had died from smoke inhalation. Fifty-year-old Petit, though beaten with a baseball bat, managed to escape.

Almost three years later, the two men charged in the notorious triple homicide, Steven Hayes and Joshua Komisarjevsky, have yet to be tried. And Monday in New Haven Superior Court, Judge Jon Blue delayed jury selection for Hayes’s trial for at least another week. (Komisarjevsky will be tried after Hayes’ trial has concluded .)

Exactly two weeks after Raymond Clark III, the man charged in the slaying of Yale graduate student Annie Le GRD ’13, pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and felony murder, the Hayes trial suggests a lengthy judicial process lies ahead for Clark as well.

NOTORIETY

National news organizations have extensively covered both cases, making the selection of impartial jurors a challenge, three legal experts said. One of the public defenders representing Clark, Beth Merkin, said “it’s common sense that in a high profile case, you want to minimize any impact of media exposure on the jury pool.”

In cases as well-known as these, lawyers hope to fill juries with people who at least demonstrate an ability to be impartial despite prior exposure, said New Haven-based criminal defense attorney Paul Carty. Jurors need to be able to “empty the cup of all that they’ve read or heard and let it be filled with information from the trial,” he said.

Given widespread publicity about these cases, it will be a challenge to find jurors who will not feel pressured by how their friends, family or colleagues might react to a surprising verdict, said former federal prosecutor Jeffrey Meyer ’85 LAW ’89, now a law professor at Quinnipiac University.

The state prosecutor handling the case, Michael Dearington, and Hayes’ public defender, Thomas Ullmann, both declined to comment because the judge has ordered them not to discuss the case with the media. The order is intended to limit pre-trial publicity to ensure an unbiased jury, they said.

Meyer said high-profile cases draw attention to the jury selection strategies of the defense and prosecution. The prosecution in Hayes’s case wants jurors who believe in an “eye for an eye,” whereas the defense, he said, is looking for jurors who are open-minded and have a diversity of experience.

As in the Hayes case, the judge in the Clark case, Roland Fasano, has needed to strike a balance between releasing information to the public and not biasing the jury pool, Merkin said.

“But I can’t predict whether it’s even going to go to trial,” she added, because the police investigation is ongoing.

Steven Duke LAW ’61, an expert on criminal law and professor at Yale Law School, said he would not be surprised if the Clark case takes a year to come to trial.

But notoriety aside, Meyer said the most troubling parallel between the two cases is the lack of an established motive.

“Neither case involved infidelity or refusal to hand over money or any other typical motive,” Meyer said. “There are real question marks.”

The state prosecutor for the Clark case, John Waddock, declined to comment Monday.

LONG ROAD AHEAD

Jury selection for Hayes’ trial was halted last week after Hayes, of Winsted, Conn., was found unconscious in his cell at the MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in Suffield, the maximum security facility where Clark is also being held. Hayes had overdosed on medication he had been pretending to take for several days. While his condition has since stabilized, Judge Blue postponed jury selection until at least Feb. 16.

Since jury selection began on Jan. 19, four jurors have been selected for the panel, which will include 12 regular jurors and up to eight alternates. The trial is scheduled to begin in September.

But selecting the rest of the jurors to try Hayes may take several more months, Meyer said.

Jury selection in Connecticut’s capital cases can proceed exceedingly slowly, he added, because state law allows lawyers to question each prospective juror one-on-one.

“We need to ask at what point justice delayed becomes justice denied,” he said.

Duke said individual questioning of jurors is an uncommon, but not unheard of practice outside Connecticut. Though jurors are usually questioned in groups to save time, jury selection for murder trials can take weeks or even months, he said.

Though progress on the case has been made, the long road to trial has taken a toll on those involved.

Petit, once a prominent endocrinologist, gave up his medical career after the attack to advocate for tougher sentencing laws for repeat violent offenders. Both Hayes and Komisarjevsky were on parole when they allegedly committed the crimes. At an October 2008 gathering in Woodbury, Conn., Petit said he felt abused by years of waiting for the trial to begin, the Hartford Courant reported.

“Somebody murders your family in 2007, and they tell you they’re going to go to trial in 2010 — what a great system we have,” he said.

Both Hayes and Komisarjevsky, whose trial will take place after Hayes’, could face the death penalty if convicted.

Danny Serna and Esther Zuckerman contributed reporting.

http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2010/02/09/cheshire-case-a-clue-for-clark/

Evidentiary hearing set for Hayes in triple homicide- The Register Citizen News - Northwest Connecticut's Daily Newspaper

Just when you think this dace could not become more of a farce...

Judicial Marshal Investigated Over Comment At Cheshire Murder Trial | Law Advice

Cheshire Slaying Trial Now Turns On Treatment Of Steven Hayes In Prison - Courant.com

Dr. William Petit Angry Over Trial Delay | NBC Connecticut

Keep up the good fight Bill Petit, you have perhaps unwittingly become the voice for all victims of violent crime and our perverse Ct Judicial system.

Cheshire slaying suspect in court Monday

Paperwork snafu delays trial for triple murder suspect-

Medical error may have played role in Cheshire suspect’s OD- The New Haven Register - Serving New Haven, Connecticut

This really looks like one or all of the following:
a) a stalling maneuver by Hayes
b) An attempt to appear more human to the potential jury pool ie "ee Ive got a conscience unlike that sociopath komisarjevsky who was the real ringleader, and I just got dragged alomg for what I thought was+9
When exactly did these drugs become a staple of Mr hayes daily life? Was he supposedly on these meds prior to coming in to prison OR as the case MORE likely was, di he successfully manipulate some hapless prison doctor/psychiatrist who perhaps young and thus too well meaning opted to be;ieve Mr Hayes's complaints were genuine-and having taken that hypocratc -to forget for a fre minutes the absolute heinous group of crimes that he was literally caught fleeing the scene of be were these drugs an opportunistic tool designed with multi-fold manipulations behind thier use?
For example Hayes defense could have been considering the option of setuing up an insanity defense from the get go-after hayes a long time loser with especially when the relativelyrare use of anti-pschotics-altho even these are becoming easierr to hrt aaaanywherdid these "meds" beginanti-psychotic and anti-anxiety ( Benzodiazepine group-think valium zanax clonipin ) all began after an evalution with prsison staff psychiatrist. Then there was the CLONIPIN AN ANXIETY DRUG OF THE BENZODIAZIPINE CLASS IE THINK ZANAX VALIUM but longer lasting in the system) he has been given this as well close to the time of his initial incarceration for these murders-

All this adds up to is he knew what it would take to kill himself-he is a drug user from way back. He likely knew that this little maneuver would both buy him time-easy time in the infirmary after the intiial hospital stomach pump and possibly garner public sympatathy from fol;ks who might percieve the attempt at suicide as a sign of remorse for the rapes murders and assualuts of the petit family members.

For a man that supposedly wanted to die hayes has refused to leave his cell even accompanied by mulitple guards and sharp shotters for fear of being attacked by other innmates-who historically dont like rapists and least of all children killers-Not to mention because of he and his co defendent being paroled early and abusing the privledge despicably ie slaughtering a family and a 11 year old child whom he tried to burn to death after raping strangling her mother within earshot of her adespite the fact that the doomed mrs petit had just returned from the bank with Mr Hayes having withdrawn 15000 dollars 5 thousand dollars more than they demanded in exchange for her familys life!

. All I can think about is that moment when they returned to the petits home where komisarjevsky admits he was sexually assaulting 11 yr old michalea and taking photos of her nude body as well as her in the bath where hed ordered her to scrub herself (ie dna of his) he turned on jen petit and began tying her down to a table to rape and choke her to death as she tried to scream for her life and her daughters lives tied to thier beds upstairs.
remember too those poor sweet girls heard thier mom being assaulted and murdered while they lay helpless tied up and about to be doused in gasoline that both men poured liberally upon thier bodies and beds and carpeting leading up from thier moms now lifeless body. I mention these details because this is what happened to these women the victims and it should never ever ever be forgotten. We owe them this, no matter how unpleasent nor disturbing-it is that very tendency of some people to distance themselves from the reality of what the victims were put through in thier last hours-or minutes or sometimes even days and weeeks as weve seen recently in the story of rescued twenty eight year old kidnapped at age eleven. The point is these details are the truth the truth is the center of everything. We must be thier voice, no matter how painful it is.

I also couldt help but recall that hayes attorneys had been madly trying to delay the jury selection process which was finally alated to begin in jan two and half years after the murders and rapes.Thankfully the most recent judge saw thru thie attorneys latests subterfuge stall tactics and said NO WE WILL PROCEED. Only a week or so into that very ardous process which conn is famous for retaining such an arcahaic and defendent oriented voire dire system, this meant that Steven hayes co defendent in these murders was about to begin the provess of facing his accountability and exact involvment in this grotesque crimes

Thus the "suicide" attempt would most importantly ultimately serve as a big delay in the long overdue inniated jury selection process for his trial-hayes is to be tried first, and his cohort komisarjevsky who many including myself consider the master mind will be thus tried when hayes's trial is finally adjudicated.

This guy hayes will do anything it takes to stall his trial from becoming underway-a process that in Ct begins with an already famously arduous voire dire potential jury process, by which both sides. the defense and the prosecutors, get to question propspective jurors ad nauseum often willy nilly with the defense almost always employing an expensive jury selection expert company who do nothing but study how to choose just the right kind of ignorant or pliable folks as jurors for thier clients trial.

This process is rare in most states not voire dire itself but the ultra liberal time consuming and seeningly without common sense nor requirement for either side to cite thier endless supply of strikes- a legal term that basically means we doont like this giu or gal for a juror and we dont have to give any reason at all. Again Connecticut is reknown for straying off the common sense beaten path and allowed its liberal legislators who have little to nothing to do with the actual say to day machinations of choosing juries for multiple rape murders kidnappings home inasions arson torture and dhild rape as are the basic tenets in this particular case. A case that I might add has has far reaching effects on not only a formerly trusting safe community but also on a larger scale an entire state that has been post traunatized by the heniousness of the crimes and then again cruelly by a recently illegally begotten cheap paperback novel written laregely from the perpective of one of the co defendets caught fleeing the burning murder scene.

In this illegally obtained and written book such details wer profferred by one of the killers who almost gleefully describes his sexual assault on a tied up 11 year old terrified michaela Petit whose mom was at the bank with mr hayes the other defendent murderer promising her that no harm woulkd come to her children as long as he got the 10000.000 hed asked for while komisarjevsky waited at home aspparently breakibng his part of his promise to Mrs Petit by raping her 11 yr old a d then forcing her to shower to get rid of any bits of semen he might have left on her. As a woman a fomer surivor of viorlent crime I couldnt help obsessing over that little girls fear and pain and terror as well as her older sister hayley who we have no proof was not also sexually assaulted at some point in the evening morning or even when hayes returned from the bank with Mrs Petit and the promised money in tow-again I cannot help but imagine what jen petit felt and thought as her captor whom she gave evrthung and more to protect the lives of her daughters and Mr Hayes and perhaps mr komsarjevsky also turned upon her immedietally tying her arms legs and noose abiout the neck as he raped a d strangled her while her husband unconscious and nearly dead from blood loss was awakened by the screams and begging by his wife on the living room floor above him in the basement where the intruders had left him beaten bloodly lilely dead tied to a pole with zipties hands and feet.

These were the details we already knew from some of the warrents published by the bristol press shortly after the crime. I like many many others soent a lot og time and angst wondering what else we didnt knoe=w and how these victims lived out the last few hours of thier lives.
The murders were no sudden panic happenchance as Mr Komsarjevsky originally tried to bamboozle the police with in his version of his confession" as later in the very book he dictated thru lettere and personal eetings with the author brian macdonald, who made his way thru subterfuge into the correctional center visiting list for lomisarjevsky by posing as an attorney sertainly not offerring the infomrmation that he was indeed a writer as the conn dept of corrections were well aware that there was a court ordered gag order on anyone related to the case including defebdebts lawyers prosecutors police judges and even victims adn thier family members. Oops another so called slip up. But the worst was yet to come when not only was this book given a good deal of pre trial publicity in the courant and the authors website itself but indeed hyped to the point of tittilating the public and misleading them once into claims of 'shocking never before seen photos-lies- and a comparison of the book-written for the most part with little to no research just letters from this kid whod snuffed out a family raping a child and leaving her tied to her bed to burn to death in what was a pre meditated plan to burn the victims and all the dna evidence of the rapes and thier prescence in the house. Ludicrous really considering komisarjevaky had the arrogence to use his cellphone to call his own job to call in sick using his own infant daughter being sick" as the excuse. He also forced Jen petit to call her husbands medical office saying he was sick and wouldnt bwe in. None of this behavioer lends itself to a panic stricken mode and a spur of the moment descsion to burn up the whole house with all the girls and thier mom and dr petit in it by dousing the tied up women two still very much aliove- Mrs Petit dead strangled and raped left thrown with her clothing ripped where she lay after being violently raped by hayes and possibly komisarjevsky-we dont know yet until all dna is presented and testimoney-but either way these are men who planned to torch this home and the children and thier mother and father with it. They procured the gasoliine at 6 am recipts and cameras show as does komisarjevskys redacted confessuin initially made to cheshire police right after he was caught fleeing the burning home with hayes in one of the petit family cars no less. Fopr men who supposedly were going to such lengths to hide thier part in these crimes they ceretainly sere putting themselves all over the crime via stealing the petit car and jewelry as well as stealing many personal items of the kids including cell phomes-which can be traced easily enough and of course the ever famous by now hat of hayley petit that hayes presumably ran out of the burning petit jouse wearing atop his head.

In the recent paperback book by brian mcdonald co authored by komsarejevaky he actually admitted to planning to kill hayes his partner in these crimes as soon as they got away from the petit house he cites his reasoning supposedly for hayes leaving his fingerprints in the hiouse after removing his gloves for a short time while rifling thru the drawers looking for sellable ite,s. Again I do not believe this was the reasom for the planned offing of hayes at ll jk tried to make it sound almost gallant as if to say because of his screw ups we had to ascalate the crimes. which i aslo more mendacity-sociopaths are reknown for lying and manipulation and it is quite clear that JK is in fact a classic textbook sociopath and it was hje who made these murders happen.


As I have \mentioned in the past posts both hayes and komsarjevskys snake oil salesma. attorneys have both behaved in despicable fashion assailing the surviving victim Bill Petit aloud in court thomas culligan even went so far as to slaim that the fact that the court was even sonsidering the petit families request for 2 simultaneous trial for hayes and komisarjevsky ridiculous on its face and was only being considered becasue rill petit was once a doctor and therefore somewhat affluent he went on to tell the judge and the televised courtroom that it made him sick: bc if this victim were black or poor this request qoulve never even been considered. In the end DrPetit and his attorny prosecutor decided to withdraw the request which theyd nade in genuine hopes of sparing the extended hawke petit family from having to hear details re rapes and horrible details re crimes agasint an 11 yr old an d a 48 yr old mom with ME no less, from being repeated twice abd enotionally regugitated. Seemed valid and sensitive to anyone with moral decency which both sets of defense attorenys paid for by our state dollars ironically clearly sorely lack. making the entire legal proffession in Connecticut more of a a farce than it already was-which is really saying something. As the jury selection eventually resumes-and it will-I will be covering the ins and outs and the hidden nuances that the average onlooker isnt privy to. I will stae the truth-plain ans simple-something this entire circus has been lacking from the onset.

One thing is for certain, despite boith defendents attempts at dragging out the judicial and administrative process imvolved with finding and presenting thier actual culpasbility in the kidnappings rapes and torture murders of three members of the Petit family, with a fourth kidnapping and attempted murder on the lone survivor Bill Petit father of the two little girls and husband of Jen Hawke Petit

Cheshire library power grab hits snag- The New Haven Register - Serving New Haven, Connecticut

Jury Selection In Cheshire Case Off Till Next Week - Courant.com

Jury Selection Halted in Triple Murder Case in Cheshire - NYTimes.com

No Kidding.

Petit family murder suspect attempts suicide in prison cell

Petit Murder Suspect's in Medically Induced Coma

The word has been released that "attempted suicide" is in fact the medical emergency that caused the hospitalization of Steven Hayes, co- defendent in the Petit family assaults, murders, arson and a litany of other crimes, including the murders of two children.


Hayes apparently had been stockpiling his daily anti-anxiety, anti-depressant and anti-siezure drugs, whilst pretending to swallow them, and at some oppoortune date when he felt he had enough pills, he chose to make a dramatic scene and take them all at once - clearly not enough.


Interestingly, hayes the first of the two murderer's scheduled to be tried, pulled this stunt, wouldn't you know it, just as as his jury selection was under-way,( and the reality of the trial and the impending exposure of his part in the brutal murders of a mother and her two children, came to pass. His lawyers had already tried to delay the jury selection, and thus his trial, .based upon the nonsensical logic that a recently released trashy book, essentially co- written and spoon fed by his co defendant Joshua komisarjevsky to some fool writer looking to make a quick buck, , was prejudicial towards Hayes, in essence attempting to lay the bulk of the capital crimes at Hayes feet.

At any rate, if he was truly planning on ending his life, why not do one right thing, as a parting gesture to this world; confess his complete role in the crimes and share the details these crimes,  making it easier to convict his fellow defendant, and undoubtedly, the mastermind -Joshua Komisarjevsky'. 

You'll recall that Komisarjevsky had no problem whatsoever doing his best to foist all responsibility for the murders and rapes on Hayes, within both his statement to police and within material dictated to the author of the illegally procured "novel " a book supposedly about the 2007 crimes, largely based upon the dictation of sociopath Joshua komisarjevsky" via his letters" and interviews with writer Brian Mcdonald.

McDonald, a writer of less than mediocre talent, and even less scruples, apparently snuck into Komisarjevskys prison, posing as an visiting attorney. He knew, as did komisarjevsky, that they were prohibited by a court ordered Gag on the case, to discuss any details about the crimes.
 This Gag order had been put in place shortly after the begginnings of the criminal case by Judge Damiani and it applied to not only defendents, but their lawyers, including the prosecution. This is why there were very few details about the crimes in the mainstream media in the years following, the hartford courant actually brought the issue to court contesting the gag as an encroachment of free information act

 A clutch of detailed letters were exchanged between murderer and writer and several more face to face meetings transpired before the Connecticut dept of Corrections figured out that McDonald was indeed a writer-only after a bunch of money was found to appear in komisarjevskys prsison account fund after the meetings-something also illegl in Ct and most states since the dahmer case)

and was only then was he finally stricken from komisarjevskys visiting list with purportedly no explanation by the DOC to either writer macdonaldorjoshua komaarhekyman. I like many others, smelled a rat within the Connecticut Dept of Corrections. It is no secret in those inner chasms that only certain people trvaerse, that the Conn DOC is long notorious for their susceptibility to bribes- money sex etc from both inmates and even visitors; And this I do not state with un substantiated cynicism, it is spoken with absolute assurance having been made privy to a multitude of specific examples by many many former and current inmates housed within various Connecticut prisons, I'm sorry to say.

Only time will tell if this was a genuine desperate suicide attempt by a man who is inching closer and closer to FINALLY being held accountable by a jury of his peers for a Vicious rape and strangulation of a 48 yr old beloved member of the community and his part in the muliple murdersof her two young girls, one of whom was sexually assaulted and the other who was reportedly at least beaten supposedly whilst trying to escape- This coming from komisarjevszky must be taken with a grain of salt as he is clearly a sociopaath and will do or say anything to escape blameorconsequences for his own actions/
The other option here is that this so called suicide attempt by HYES is in fact subterfuge and/or another form of procrastination that he and his attorneys were seeking when his lawyers were recently turned down in their bid for a jury selection delay last month ( based upon the release of komisarjevskys book
Mr Hayes hadbut one or two jurors approved within connecticuts excrutiatung
slow iberalrimes themselvesand the publicddidmglwhereupon our state has needed a mjor overgaul by legisdlatorsgoverbirs victims advocates et al because of the fact that it has becimne so used abused andmisused by the defene teamuntil it has actually hijacked the very judicxil process by putting as much time between the crimes and rhe communities collective memory of them.

Of courseHayes co defeiar jevsky really thru a boomerranfginmto that plan with the releaseo OFHISNE;U RKehich he illegally co=wrote ignoring a gag orderthat even the victims were held to chompig at thebi themselvesImsuireto tell the worldthe awful things done to thier belovedfsmily me,bers despitemcooperating ib every way that with thr criminaks demancdd.