Komisarjevsky Defense Uses Up Half Its Peremptory Challenges

Joshua Komisarjevsky’s defense lawyers have used up half of their 40 peremptory challenges following jury selection Wednesday in New Haven.

A source knowledgeable about jury selection for the case said the defense used one challenge Wednesday, bringing its total to 20.

An earlier report today undercounted the total number of peremptory challenges used so far by Komisarjevsky’s defense lawyers and state prosecutors. As of the end of jury selection Wednesday, prosecutors had used 16 challenges, the source said.

No new jurors were selected today for the trial, leaving the total at eight, five women and three men.

Peremptory challenges allow the lawyers to excuse a prospective juror without giving a reason. They are usually used when the lawyers feel the juror is inclined to favor the other side in the trial.

Judge Jon C. Blue assists in the questioning of jurors to determine if they could serve for the entire three-month trial and render a verdict based on the evidence and legal instructions.

Many of the jurors admit they are biased against Komisarjevsky, who faces the death penalty for his part in the Cheshire home invasion triple homicide in 2007. His co-defendant, Steven Hayes, was convicted last year and is on death row.

Other prospective jurors have admitted they oppose capital punishment and could not sentence Komisarjevsky to die even if it were the appropriate sentence under the state’s death penalty law.

Several jurors questioned in the courtroom have not outwardly show hostility toward the defendant until after they were excused, when they shouted epithets at him or broke down emotionally.

Komisarjevsky is present in the courtroom during jury selection, dressed in a suit and tie. Several jurors have told reporters that his presence was unnerving.