July 28, 2010
Death penalty for Winsted suspect at issue in multiple murder case
An attorney for Steven J. Hayes argued today in Superior Court that the death penalty should no longer be applied in the Cheshire triple homicide because of Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s language last year when she vetoed a capital punishment prohibition bill.
Attorney Patrick Culligan told Judge Jon C. Blue that Rell’s veto message, which named the home invasion’s survivor, Dr. William Petit Jr., was “a violation of due process.”
“Because of what the governor did,” Culligan said, “the death penalty can no longer be pursued by the state in this particular case.”
Culligan also cited Rell’s statement accompanying the veto that certain crimes are “so vile and inhuman” that the perpetrators should receive the death penalty.
“The line here is very clear,” Culligan added. “And she (Rell) stepped very far over it.”
Blue, who did not rule on the motion today, asked Culligan a series of questions about his position that indicated he was at least not immediately convinced by Culligan’s argument.
Citing the vote by the legislators, Culligan said, “The death penalty is now cruel and unusual punishment because it’s no longer approved or authorized by the legislature...It no longer comports with contemporary standards of decency in Connecticut.”
But State’s Attorney Michael Dearington reminded Blue that when the legislature passed the death penalty ban and sent it to Rell, “It was a close vote. Looking at the vote, it doesn’t reflect an overwhelming desire to do away with the death penalty in Connecticut.”
Hayes, 47, of Winsted, is due to go on trial Sept. 13. Co-defendant Joshua Komisarjevsky, 29, of Cheshire, is scheduled for trial next year.
After court adjourned, Petit said he considered Culligan’s arguments “frivolous” and “a waste of time and resources.” He noted Rell’s veto represents support for the death penalty by a majority of Connecticut’s residents.
Read Gov. M. Jodi Rell's 2009 letter on the death penalty veto here
Death Penalty Veto
http://registercitizen.com/articles/2010/07/28/news/doc4c4f2fca08f1c383916374.txt
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