Politics & Government
Supreme Court Defines Komisarjevsky Witness List Appeal Issues
Attorneys have one last jury selection to make in the trail that's scheduled to begin in September; defense uses all 40 peremptory challenges.
The Connecticut Supreme Court has issued an order defining the issues related to the witness lists for the Joshua Komisarjevsky trial that it will consider on appeal by the defense.
If the defense loses its appeal to the Supreme Court, the witness lists will be released to the public and the media, something Komisarjevsky’s defense lawyers say would jeopardize his right to a fair trial.
The issues are:
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- does the trial court’s decision to grant an intervenor’s motion to unseal the witness lists constitute a final judgment?
- if it is an appealable final judgment, did the trial court err in granting the intervenor’s motion?
The intervenor, in this instant, is the Hartford Courant, which has battled Komisarjevsky’s defense lawyers since March to obtain the witness lists.
The defense said Komisarjevsky’s witnesses could become targets of threats and intimidation if their identities are known publicly, something that happened to at least one witness for his co-defendant, Steven Hayes, in his trial last year.
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Komisarjevsky faces the death penalty in the second Cheshire home invasion trial. Hayes was convicted last year and sentenced to die.
Only one more backup alternate juror must be selected. Two backup jurors were picked on Wednesday, according to the Register. A courthouse source said one of the backup jurors is a 60-year-old college administrator from New Haven. No jurors were selected Thursday.
Komisarjevsky’s defense attorneys used their last peremptory challenge Thursday with one more juror still needed for the capital murder trial.
Special public defenders Jeremiah Donovan, Walter Bansley III and Todd A. Bussert requested an 40 more peremptories, but Superior Court Judge Jon C. Blue denied their request.
State’s Attorney Michael Dearington and Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Gary Nicholson also used a peremptory challenge Thursday, leaving them only one more.
Komisarjevsky, 30, faces the death penalty for the Cheshire home invasion triple homicide in 2007. The co-defendant in the crime, Steven Hayes, was convicted in a separate trial and is on death row.
