Community Corner
Court Will Call New Jury Panel for Komisarjevsky Trial
Journalist among 30 excused Tuesday from serving on triple-murder trial jury.
A new jury panel is scheduled to be called today in New Haven Superior Court for the trial of Joshua Komisarjevsky, the second Cheshire home invasion defendant.
The New Haven Register published a first-person story in today’s edition by reporter Abbe Smith about being a member of the jury panel questioned on Tuesday.
The entire Tuesday as jury selection resumed following a four-day break. About half of them, including the reporter, were sent home because it would be a financial hardship to be on the jury for the trial, which is expected to last three months.
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Sources who were in the courtroom Tuesday said prosecutors used peremptory challenges to excuse two prospective jurors.
A source said a previous Patch report that the defense also used a peremptory challenge to excuse a juror was incorrect.
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That means defense attorneys and prosecutors have each used three of their 40 peremptory challenges, which allows them to dismiss a juror without giving a reason.
Komisarjevsky, 30, for the triple murder case of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two daughters in 2007.
His co-defendant, Steven Hayes, 47, was convicted in a separate trial in 2010 and is on death row.
