No Decision as Jurors Weigh Komisarjevsky's Fate

Jurors in the Joshua Komisarjevsky trial began deliberations on Wednesday, but no verdict was reached. If found guilty of the 17 charges against him, Komisarjevsky faces the death penalty. His accomplice, Steven Hayes, was sentenced to death earlier this year.

According to the Associated Press:

Jurors deliberated for about four hours and will resume on Thursday.

A judge denied an effort Wednesday by Komisarjevsky's attorneys to reopen their defense based on letters from co-defendant Steven Hayes claiming he had committed numerous murders in the past. They cited letters from Hayes saying he killed 17 people in the Northeast and committed dozens of drugged date rapes. A prosecutor called the letters unreliable.

Update at 6:20 p.m. on Oct. 11

Two men broke into the Petit home in 2007, leaving behind three bodies and a charred home. During Tuesday’s closing arguments, attorneys on both sides spoke of Joshua Komisarjevsky’s involvement.

According to the defense, it was a situation that escalated due to Steven Hayes, now on death row. The prosecution reminded jurors that it was Komisarjevsky’s decision to invade in the first place. Once inside he sexually assaulted an 11-year-old girl, but denied strangling the mother or setting the house on fire, killing two girls.

According to CNN:

[Prosecutor Gary] Nicholson recounted for jurors Tuesday the ways in which Komisarjevsky aided Hayes during the crime, including driving him to the Petit home, helping him beat William Petit and helping him restrain other family members.

"Make no mistake about it, this intrusion into the Petit home was Mr. Komisarjevsky's idea," Nicholson said.

Defense Attorney Jeremiah Donovan said his client never intended for anyone to die and also willingly confessed his crimes to police. According to the Hartford Courant:

Donovan brought up Hayes, saying he was a bully, was desperate for money and had a fetish for women's sneakers and pornography. Donovan said Hayes called Komisarjevsky several times before the home invasion and was eager to get it started.

Donovan described Komisarjevsky as a "damaged lad," who as a boy was sexually abused and burned by cigarettes by a foster child the family took in. Donovan urged jurors to read a report done by a neuropsychologist who evaluated Komisarjevsky, which detailed Komisarjevsky's use of illegal drugs and multiple concussions he suffered.

Update at 7:40 p.m. on Oct. 10

Attorneys in the trial for accused killer Joshua Komisarjevsky will make their closing arguments on Tuesday.

According to the Hartford Courant:

Jurors could begin deliberating Komisarjevsky's fate Tuesday afternoon, once a judge finishes giving them detailed instructions on how to sort through the 17 counts that Komisarjevsky faces in the July 23, 2007, slayings.

Update at 6:50 p.m. on Oct. 6

Three weeks after the start of the trial, the defense rested its case on Thursday. The closing arguments in the triple murder case will be Tuesday. Joshua Komisarjevsky faces the death penalty.

According to the Associated Press the defense further detailed Komisarjevsky’s troubled childhood.

He said he began self-mutilation at age 13, and carved the word “hate” into his arm as a teen.

“I hated everything about my life,” he said. “I had been abused and wanted others to know what it was like to hurt, to lose something. I had so much pain inside and cutting was a way to get at it.”

Update at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 5

Attorneys representing accused murderer Joshua Komisarjevsky began their defense on Wednesday. A neuropsychologist detailed a pattern of sexual and violent abuse Komisarjevsky endured when he was a child that shaped his life.

According to the Associated Press:

Dr. Leo Shea testified that Joshua Komisarjevsky told him he was sexually abused from ages 4 to 6 and was burned and tortured. One person Komisarjevsky said had abused him admitted it, Shea said.

Shea also said that Komisarjevsky “extensively abused” crystal methamphetamine.

His childhood history, combined with his recent troubles and a history of concussions, is seen as a possible explanation as to how the home invasion escalated to a triple murder. According to the Hartford Courant:

All of those experiences could have affected certain parts of Komisarjevsky's brain, Shea said. The effects include irritability, an inability to make decisions, problems socially and the lack of ability to think of the needs of other people.

Update at 5:45 p.m. on Oct. 4

With strong evidence and a graphic confession stacked against murder suspect Joshua Komisarjevsky, experts interviewed by ABC News say the defense is taking unusual measures to keep him off death row.

With little to lose, some think the defense might even put Komisarjevsky on the stand. He previously admitted to sexually assaulted 11-year-old Michaela Petit but distanced himself from accomplice Steven Hayes, who has already been sentenced to death. Evidence showing gasoline on Komisarjevky’s clothing indicates he may have had more of a role in the fatal fire than he confessed to.

ABC News reports:

"They are going to try to hang the jury up on whether or not Komisarjevsky was merely an accessory to the murder of a child or if he had a hand in committing the murders himself. If he's only an accessory, the defense will say he ought not to be killed," said Norman Pattis, one of the highest profile criminal defense attorneys in Connecticut.

Update at 6 p.m. on Oct. 3

A supporter of the Petit family reportedly approached a juror on the murder trial to say, “thank you for what you're doing," reported ABC News. The defense asked on Monday for a mistrial, but the judge turned down the request.

According to ABC News:

Walter C. Bansley, a defense attorney, said that he did not believe Komisarjevsky could get a fair trial. Bansley called the spectator's actions part of a "pattern of intimidation" by Petit supporters.  

New evidence in the case was provided by chemist working for the state. Gasoline was found on Joshua Komisarjevky’s clothing. The Associated Press noted that Komisarjevsky previously blamed his accomplice Steven Hayes for starting the fire that killed two girls.

Under cross-examination, Komisarjevsky’s attorneys noted he did not have gas on the gloves he wore and suggested the fuel could have come from construction work Komisarjevsky did.

For a complete look at the guilt phase of the Komisarjevsky trial, .