Monday, October 31, 2011

A mother's statement after a terrible crime

This is the statement the mother of Joshua Komisarjevsky gave to police the day after the Cheshire home invasion and triple killing. She also testified that when her son’s monitoring bracelet was allowed to be removed, four days before the home invasion, he began staying out late at night and “hanging out with a guy named Steve.”
This was Steven Hayes.
Jude Komisarjevsky Statement Police

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Komisarjevsky as artist


During testimony Oct. 31 in the penalty phase of the Joshua Komisarjevsky triple murder trial, defense attorneys submitted copies of drawings reportedly done by the defendant.




These are some of those drawings. There were released by the Connecticut Judicial Branch.

The top drawing was one Komisarjevsky did of his daughter, according to testimony. Numerous photos of Komisarjevsky as a child also have been released.
In other drawings Komisarjevsky drew buildings, according to testimony
 “I know Joshua is not a violent person by nature. He would not decide he is going to kill," Komisarjevsky's younger sister testified. The woman has testified that her brother sexually abused her when she was a child. Komisarjevsky, in addition to being convicted of killing three members of the Petit family, was found guilty of beating Dr. William Petit Jr. with a baseball bat.

 

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Thursday, October 27, 2011

A mother's words: A diary of Joshua Komisarjevsky as a baby

The Connecticut Judicial Branch released this document, which was submitted as evidence in the penalty phase of the Joshua Komisarjevsky trial. According to testimony, it is the journal of Komisarkevsky's mother, Jude.

Jude Komisarjevsky

A childhood in pictures: Defense shows Joshua Komisarjevsky in his early years

On Thursday, the state Judicial Department released numerous photos submitted during the penalty phase of the Joshua Komisarjevsky trial. The jury must decide on whether Komisarjevsky will be sentenced to death.

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Read the report prepared when Joshua Komisarjevsky was released from Elmcrest Hospital

Among the pieces of evidence released Thursday in the penalty phase of the Joshua Komisarjevsky trial was this hospital discharge file. Also released were numerous photographs of Komisarjevsky as a child.
Joshua Komisarjevsky’s father testified Thursday that he never saw a report from a psychiatric hospital that his son “enjoys violence” and “likes to fight.”

During cross-examination by State’s Attorney Michael Dearington, Benedict Komisarjevsky said, “I can’t recall a time when he loved violence.”

The elder Komisarjevsky also testified Wednesday as the defense team showed photos of the younger Komisarjevsky as a child.


Elmcrest Report

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See a slideshow of the Komisarjevsky childhood photos and documents

Read Joshua Komisarjevsky's letters to his father

As part of the evidence submitted during the penalty phase of the Joshua Komisarjevsky trial, the defense team presented letters the defendant wrote to his father. The defense is trying to convince the jury not to impose the death penalty.
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See Joshua Komisarjevsky as a child

The Connecticut Judicial Department has released photos submitted during the penalty phase of the Joshua Komisarjevsky trial.
According to court testimony, this photo - shown on the screen at court to jurors - is of Komisarjevsky, then about 4, decorating a cake with a 15-year-old foster child, Scott. The teenager, who allegedly sexually assaulted the Komisarjevsky, has his arm around the young boy.
The boy named Scott, who lived at the Komiarjevsky home, has not been fully idenitified.

See more photos of a young Komisarjevsky here.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Managing anger during the trial: Dr. William Petit

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Dr. Petit says Komisarjevsky is a predator

GUILTY: See what the world says about the verdict

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

The charge to the Komisarjevsky jury

Superior Court Judge Jon C. Blue on Wednesday sent the Cheshire triple slaying and home invasion case against Joshua Komisarjevsky to the jury. With them went what the court calls the charge  to the jury.  This charge is posted here as it was released by the Connecticut Judicial Branch.
Komisarjevsky Jury Charge

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Tuesday, October 4, 2011

A Familiar Refrain On The Face of Evil

A short day in court on Tuesday as Judge Jon Blue heard motions from Joshua Komisarjevsky's defense team and prosecutors. But little came out of Courtroom 6A in the way of new information or shocking revelations.

One thing the day's proceedings did yield, however, was yet another spectator with a familiar refrain. Someone who came to court for the afternoon because they wanted "to see the face of evil."

It's a phrase that has been heard countless times by anyone who has covered this trial and the one that preceded it, with Steven Hayes as the defendant. And while the subject matter of the trial is particularly morbid, there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the kind of curiosity on the part of the public.

But hearing "the face of evil" comment always begs a fundamental question: What exactly is evil supposed to look like?

As small children, we're taught the symbol of evil is a figure in red with horns. a pitchfork and bifurcated tail. Adolf Hitler and Charles Manson are historical figures who could probably be universally agreed upon by the masses as evil incarnate.

But my sense of why the public views Joshua Komisarjevsky as "what evil looks like" has as much to do with who he is as it does to the horrific things he is alleged to have done. Removed from the context of the events of that occurred inside the Petit's Sorghum Mill Drive home on July 23, 2007, there is nothing about Komisarjevsky's appearance that screams "evil"; he could easily be mistaken for somebody's next door neighbor under the right circumstances.

His appearance is so unremarkable that it prompted State's Attorney Michael Dearington to mistake Komisarjevsky for a member of the defense team during pre-trial proceedings earlier this year.

And it is that unremarkable appearance, that every man look, that makes Komisarjevsky so scary to all of us.

People want to think that those among us who we consider evil are easy to spot.

But if that were true, crimes like what happened to Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters Hayley and Michaela would never happen. We could just pick the evil looking folks out of a crowd and lock 'em up.

But real life is far more complicated than that. I defy anyone - without looking at an individual's criminal record - to pick "the evil ones" out of any crowd of 100 people.

So if you come around Courtroom 6A in New Haven Superior Court any time during the next two months for "a glimpse at evil," my guess is you'll come away disappointed. Because Joshua Komisarjevsky doesn't come with the visual menace of a stereotypical movie bad guy like Hannibal Lecter or Michael Myers.







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Gasoline as evidence

While Joshua Komisarjevsky maintains that co-defendant Steven Hayes was the one who poured gasoline around the Petit home and also was the one to light the match, the state has an expert witness who testified that Komisarjevsky had gasoline on his clothing when he was arrested near the scene of the Cheshire home invasion.

Hayes was convicted last year in the triple homicide, although he was acquitted of the arson charge. He is on death row.

Jack Hubball, a chemical analyst for the state forensics lab, testified his tests showed the boots, pants and sweatshirt Komisarjevsky was wearing.

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