The state and the defense on Tuesday rested their cases in  the penalty phase of the Joshua Komisarjevsky case. This document shows what the defense claims are the "mitigating factors" as they try to convince the jury to give the defendent life in prison rather than the death penalty.

Komisarjevsky_non Stat. Mitigating Factors

Dr. Leslie Lebowitz, who was hired by Komisarjevsky’s attorneys to do a psychological evaluation of him, said after about 60 hours of meetings with him, she believes his traumatic early memories or sexual abuse are true. These are documents submitted to the court during testimony in the penalty phase of the trial.

Komisarjevsky_nov7_Bd1275_11-7




Komisarjevsky_nov7_Ad1274_11-7

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.

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.

In testimony Thursday, state associate medical examiner Dr. Susan Williams said Jennifer Hawke-Petit’s body was “burned beyond recognition” and so she was identified through dental records.

Additionally, Williams, said portions of fabric were around Hawke-Petit's neck and ligatures were tied in knots around her ankles.

Photos of the blackened ligatures, shown here, and of Hawke-Petit’s damaged larynx during the autopsy, were shown on the courtroom screen.

Williams said she found fractures of Hawke-Petit’s thyroid cartilage on both sides. The diagram below also was used in court. Williams noted evidence of compression of the artery and jugular vein.

 Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Gary Nicholson asked how long it took Hawke-Petit to die.
“It depends on how much of a struggle there is,” Williams replied, “and whether there’s constant compression.”
She agreed with Nicholson’s description of Hawke-Petit as being “physically helpless.”

Williams also said that because there was no soot in her air passages or lungs and no carbon monoxide in her blood, Hawke-Petit died before the fire. The photo above shows the Petit's burned family room after the fire was out.
Editor's note: The text in this post is by Register Reporter Randall Beach

Some of the testimony in the Joshua Komisarjevsky trial Thursday focused on what the state fire marshal found at the Petit house following the home invasion and furious fire that took place there on July 23, 2007.



Testimony Thursday focused on the outside of the home; on Friday the official is expected to speak to damage inside the home

These photos, released during the trial of co-defendant Steven Hayes, show what the home looked like after the fire was out.

The Petit home was later razed and a memorial garden was installed at the site.

This photo shows fire damage as well as a tie that may have been used to tie Jennifer Hawke-Petit to her bed while Komisarjevsky and Hayes were in the home that day.

This photo at left shows the bedroom of Hayley Petit, 17, who also was tied to he bed, but escaped and made it as far as the hallway. Hayley died of smoke inhalation.

This photo shows the extensive smoke damage that occurred in the house. The fire was fueled by gasoline that had been spread around the house, according to prosecutors. Komisarjevsky has claimed Hayes bought the gas and spread it around the house. He also claims Hayes lit the match that set the fire.

This bottom photo shows the fire damage at the back of the home.The state fire official testified that severe heat broke windows to the home's sun room, letting in oxygen that intensified the fire.

In one of the evidence photos released during the trial of Joshua Komisarjevsky are many that show the inside of the Petit home after the crimes.

This photo is of the basement where Dr. William Petit Jr. was taken after he was beaten on July 23, 2007.

But among the items clearly stored there is a covered Christmas tree and other personal items. Children's games dot the shelves.

In the foreground there is what appears to be a tiny child's puppet play stage and two child-sized rocking chairs.

Some of the testimony and questions during the trial Tuesday focused on the trip co-defendant Steven Hayes made to the gas station on the day of the Cheshire home invasion.

The testimony in the trial is significant because Joshua Komisarjevsky alleged to police that it was Hayes who poured the gasoline around the Petit home and lit the match.

The jury convicted Hayes Oct. 5, 2010 on 16 counts in the July 23, 2007 siege, including six capital felony counts. Hayes, however, was found not guilty on the charge of first-degree arson. He is on Death Row.




Hayes spent $10 on the gasoline.

According to testimony during the Komisarjevsky trial, Hayes paid for the gas inside the station.

Hayes was seen outside, caught on video, gassing up the Petit's Chrysler Pacifica, according to testimony.   The video does not show Hayes filling up the plastic containers that allegedly were used to pour the gas around the Petit house.

The manager of the Mercury Fuel Services convenience store testified that she did not recall Hayes.

Jurors in the trial of Joshua Komisarjevsky saw a number of evidence photos of items taken from the home of the Petits.

The purple backback shown belonged to Hayley Petit, according to testimony.

There also were photos shown of evidence allegedly found in vehicles the suspect's used, according to testimony.

The red truck was one used by co-defendant Steven Hayes, who was convicted last year on 16 counts in the July 23, 2007 home invasion.

This evidence photo shows the inside of the Petit's minivan. The bag on the seat contains electronics.

Editor's note: These photos were released during the Hayes trial.

Authorities say that Joshua Komisarjevsky first spotted Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughter Michaela, 11, at the Stop & Shop store in Cheshire on the evening of July 22, 2007.

These photos, released to the media during the Komisarjevsky trial at Superior Court in New Haven, show mother and daughter in the store together.

Only hours later, authorities say, Komisarjevsky and co-defendant Steven Hayes invaded the Petit's home.

The mother, and her daughters, Michaela and Hayley, 17, died during the home invasion.

Authorities say Komisarjevsky also was in the Stop & Shop that night, because he was obtaining money from a contractor for whom he had worked. In the photo at bottom, Komisarjevsky can be seen standing near an ATM machine at the bank inside the grocery store.

Authorities allege, and Komisarjevsky says in the confession he gave to police, that he followed Hawke-Petit and Michaela home from the store.

In his blog today, found on the New Haven Register Community Media Lab, attorney Norm Pattis addresses the question: Komisarjevsky: Confession To Cops Good For The Soul?

Pattis contends: "No matter how good confession may be for the soul, it wreaks havoc on your bodily prospects."

Jurors in the case heard the taped confession  Wednesday; one of the female jurors became distraught, prompting Superior Court Judge Jon C. Blue to stop the recording and send the panel home early for the day..

The jury in the Joshua Komisarjesvky trial on Wednesday was shown graphic photos of the bodies of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters, Hayley, 17 and Michaela, 11.

While the Connecticut Judicial Department during the trial of co-defendant Steven Hayes, released numerous copies of photos that are evidence in this case, the photos of the deceased Petit family members have never been released.

The photos here, however, depict some of the massive damage that occurred during the fire in the Petit home. 

These photos were initially released during the Hayes trial.

The photo at top shows the Petit's family room after the intense and fast moving fire.

The other photos were taken in bedrooms. Both girls were tied to their beds.  In Michaela's room, according to testimony during the Hayes trial. investigators found the soot-covered Louisville Slugger baseball bat, shown, that was allegedly used to beat Dr. William Petit Jr., the sole survivor of the home invasion.

The girls died of smoke inhalation; Hawke-Petit was strangled.

Among the evidence photos released during the trial of Steven Hayes were images of items police said they found in the Petit home and car that day. They included the contents of wallets, the money Jennifer Hawke-Petit was forced to take out of the bank, and other personal items.

Some of these photos also have been introduced during the Komisarjevsky trial.

This is the contents of Dr. Petit's wallet.

This the the money police say Mrs. Petit withdrew from the bank.

During testimony Tuesday, a police officer spoke of the suspects allegedly fleeing the Petit house on the morning of July 23, 2007.
The Petit's stolen mini van crashed into a police car before the suspects, Joshua Komisarjevsky and Steven Hayes, were taken into custody, according to testimony.

The top evidence photo shows a police officer standing at the side of the Petit's vehicle, a Chrysler Pacifica, with Komisarjevsky on the ground.




This photo in the middle shows a wall the suspects hit as they fled the Petit's home.

A defense attorney grilled Cheshire Police Capt. Robert Vignola about the time line of the department's response to a call about the home invasion at the Petit home, department policies and orders given that day, including not to initially approach the house.

The photo at bottom also is a police evidence image, which was released to the media during the trial of Steven Hayes.

The main prosecutor in the case against Joshua Komisarjevsky is New Haven State's Attorney Michael Dearington, at right.

He is joined by Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Gary Nicholson.

"Dearington is the “dean” of Connecticut’s State’s Attorneys, now in his 24th year in the position. He was first appointed State’s Attorney for the Judicial District of Ansonia/Milford effective October 1, 1985, and since November 1987 has served as the State’s Attorney for the Judicial District of New Haven," according to the state Criminal Justice Commission website.

The Komisarjevsky defense team is made up of  Walter Bansley III, Jeremiah Donovan and Todd Bussert.

Bansley has been cited as the inspiration for the military lawyer played by Tom Cruise in the movie “A Few Good Men,” but that designation has been challenged by others. Bansley had a 20-year careers in the U.S. Marine Corps before he entered private practice, his website says.

In the bottom photo, Komisarjevsky's attorneys (left to right) Donovan, Bussert, and Bansley III walk out of Superior Court in New Haven during lunch recess on Feb. 15, 2011

Photo by Arnold Gold

In the top photo, Dearington arrives at court. Photo by Mara Lavitt

Over the objections of the defense attorneys over some of the images, photos of the injuries suffered by Dr. William Petit Jr. on the day of the Cheshire home invasion were shown in court Tuesday. The photos shown here were released during the trial of Steven Hayes.
Petit spend five days at the hospital as a result of the injuries.
He testified Tuesday that he believes he lost 5-7 pints of blood after being beaten with a baseball bat.
Petit was released from the hospital in order to attend the funeral of his family.

During testimony under cross-examination Tuesday, defense attorney Jeremiah Donovan compared what Petit told police in interviews after the crime with what he has said more recently.

Day One of the Joshua Komisarjevsky trial yielded a broad look at what is likely to be his defense team's strategy for the entire case.

Team Komisarjevsky is out to play the blame game. And so far, the two targets are his partner in crime, Steven Hayes, and the Cheshire Police Department.

The fact that Hayes is being portrayed as by Komisarjevsky's lawyers should come as no surprise. It's the same strategy that Hayes' defense team used in his trial last year, blaming Komisarjevsky for the murder and mayhem that took place inside the home of Dr. William Petit and his family in July 2007.l

But blaming the Cheshire Police is a bit of gamble for Komisarjevsky's lawyers. What they are essentially asking the jury to believe is that if officers had arrived on the scene more quickly or stormed the house, they could have saved the two career criminals from their more base impulses.

Ever since the botched home invasion and murders four years ago, the Cheshire Police have been frequent targets for second guessing. And now that second guessing will likely be played out once again on a high profile stage as Komisarjevksy's lawyers target the cop who oversaw the department's response to the home on Sorghum Mill Drive that morning, Capt. Robert Vignola.

During cross examination of Cheshire Police Officer Thomas Wright, Defense Attorney Walter Bansley III repeatedly led Wright back to questions about Vignola's command that officers remain outside, rather than storm the house just minutes before it went up in flames, killing Petit's daughters. Hayley and Michaela as well as burning his wife Jennifer's already dead body.

Expect to see Vignola take the witness stand in the coming days, as Komisarjevsky's defenders grasp at every opportunity to keep their client from dying by lethal injection.

But it's hard to imagine even the most fair-minded jury having any sympathy for that kind of strategy.

In opening statements before the jury on Monday, Bansley had Komisarjevsky telling Hayes, "No one will die by my hand here today." I'm hoping that the attorney was taking a little poetic license with that statement; I don't think that too many career criminals use that kind of flowery language during the commission of a crime.

But even if you believe Komisarjevsky's version of the day's events as portrayed by the defense, what Bansley's opening statement before the jury was missing was exactly what Komisarjevsky did - or could have done - to stop the home invasion from escalating into something deadly.

In this real life drama, the cops caught the bad guys, even if they weren't able to say the lives of the Petit women. Law enforcement may have made some mistakes on this particular day, but the people responsible for deaths of the three women are the focus of this trial and the one held last year.

In his opening statement in the trial of Joshua Komisarjevsky at Superior Court in New Haven, defense attorney Walter Bansley III said his client did not intend for the Petits to die on July 23, 2007. Bansley did admit his client beat sole survivor Dr. William Petit Jr.