Juror Picked Monday for Komisarjevsky Jury Backs Out

In an unusual development, an alternate juror selected Monday for the Komisarjevsky trial returned to court Tuesday and asked to be excused.

Superior Court Judge Jon C. Blue granted the alternate juror’s request, and no other jurors were accepted for the jury on Tuesday, according to a source knowledgeable about jury selection for the case.

That means jury selection continued with the 12 regular jury members chosen previously.

The Hartford Courant reported that the 32-year-old Hamden man, who teaches science in Stratford, said he could not serve on the jury for financial reasons and would have a hard time rendering an impartial decision.

Joshua Komisarjevsky faces the death penalty for his part in the 2007 murders of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two daughters, Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11. His co-defendant, Steven Hayes, was convicted last year and is on death row.

Also Tuesday, Judge Blue rejected a defense motion requesting a three-month trial delay because of by a state senator last week. State Sen. Edith Prague, D-Columbia, told a reporter that she thought Komisarjevsky should be publicly hanged by his genitals.

Defense lawyers argued that prospective jurors might construe the statement as an invitation to lie in court in order to get on the jury and make sure Komisarjevsky gets the death penalty.