Brian McDonald

there hasn't been news out of Superior Court in New Haven for days now, and I can't find any indication that jury selection has been interrupted. this might be the longest stretch since the selection process began without a juror being chosen. maybe hayes' defense is reverting back to the stall tactics it implemented earlier on.

while we wait for things to heat up (and they will), there is a terrific piece about an excused prospective juror for the hayes trial in The Yale Herald by Cassie Crockett. It's required reading for any informed hayes trial-watcher.

in the wake of the Petit murders, Connecticut legislators passed a bill that invented a new category of crime called "home invasion." the burglary of someone's home was reclassified as a Class A felony.

Last week in Connecticut there were two home invasions of note. the men responsible for the break-ins are both now in prison. One turned himself in because he "felt guilty," the other had some type of seizure in the house and was held down by occupants until police arrived.

these two knuckleheads could face 25 years in prison.

no news out of new haven, juror count still stuck on 12

journalist Greg Berger did a nice job in his piece on the political implications of the Petit trial in The Dartmouth

quiet couple of days in New Haven Superior Court as the jury selection stalls at 12. guaranteed though, by the end of May they'll have the panel wrapped-up and ready to go. there's no way the defense would let this process bleed into June. The summer season of patio parties beckons and with a client as high-profile as hayes, the ullman-culligan team are sure to head up all the important guest lists. and why not? they're armed with enough courtroom anecdotes about nutty hayes to fill a whole season of summer sunsets.

but as the curtain comes down on the first act in new haven, i wonder how the star will be spending his intermission. (more…)

i was reading a blog yesterday written by a Connecticut defense lawyer who shall remain nameless mostly because i think he's a self-important blowhard and i have an aversion to any man who wears a ponytail and is not playing a violin. it's closed-minded of me, i know. but i'm a work in progress.

anyhow, he mentioned in his piece that there are "grisly photographs" of hayes "participating in the carnage," presumably on the morning of July 23rd, 2007 in Cheshire. (more…)

a new haven woman chosen today. eight more needed to complete the jury panel for steven hayes' triple murder trial.

Judge Jon Blue pulled something of a Pontius Pilate yesterday by washing his hands of the "how nuts is hayes" question. in his refusal to allow hayes to skip jury selection, Judge Blue cited Suzanne Ducate (you remember her, right? the DOC psychiatrist?) who back in March gave hayes the thumbs up to continue the trial, and the defendant's own lawyers who waived the last hearing on their client's competency.

in essence, the judge said in his eight page decision, if hayes does something crazy from here in, don't blame me. go see Ullman or the prison shrink.

it's good to be king (or Prefect).

it will be a moment when the whole state of Connecticut will still and listen.

the emotional impact of Dr. Petit testimony promises to be enormous.

if all goes as planned, Dr. Petit will take the stand a little over a month before Connecticut chooses a new governor. the death penalty debate will be in full throat. in a letter to prosecutors, Thomas Ullman wrote that there is a "realistic probability" that the next governor will be anti-death penalty.

let's see how probable that outcome is after Dr. Petit tells the court what happened to his wife and two daughters.

according to his lawyers, hayes hasn't showered or brushed his teeth in weeks. they say he eats little, and has trouble keeping whatever he eats down. he rarely sleeps. he spends his time rubbing his face and hands and pinching his fingers. in court, he rocks back and forth on his chair, and yawns. he cares nothing about his trial, they say. (more…)

think i liked this guy patrick j. culligan, hayes' co-counsel, better when he wasn't saying anything. an "incredibly stressful" situation? that's his argument to get his client excused from having to watch jury selection?

i'm gonna go out on a limb here, patrick, but i think stress is part of the job description of a defendant in a triple murder trial.

so the defense wants Judge Blue to allow their client to stay in his cell for jury selection. Blue will hear arguments today.

can't blame ullman for not wanting hayes in court. heck, the guy might stand up and yell "guilty!" again. have a heart, judge. hayes is in such a delicate condition, it's inhumane to make him sit in the same room with the victim's family.

when it comes right down to it, defense doesn't need hayes to participate at all. this trial isn't about him, it's about ideals. so just put a crash-test dummy with a Steven Hayes name tag and sit it at the defense table. don't want to let a death-penalty debate get all messy with real live people.

eleventh juror chosen yesterday. a woman from Wallingford, Ct.

a Hamden, Ct. man was chosen Wed. as the 10th juror. we are now halfway home to the 20 needed for a panel complete with back-ups and alternates.

this milestone warrants a quick re-cap:

jury selection for steven hayes' triple murder trial began four months ago. there have been two extended delays, one because of (more…)

a new haven women was chosen as the ninth juror yesterday. eleven more to go

it's no longer steven hayes'. the trial now belongs wholly to defense counsel thomas ullman and patrick culligan. and their plan is to drag their "diminished, tortured and suffering" client into court every day until there is nothing left of him to put to death, or to serve out a life sentence.

in her column in yesterday's Courant, Helen Ubinas describes hayes in court last week as looking like a "chastened child," who barely got the word "yes" out in answer to Judge Blue's question of whether he wanted to change his plea back to not-guilty.

as the state's number one death-penalty opponent, ullman no doubt thinks he's fighting the righteous fight, and he may be. but it's a fight of which his client wants no part.

interesting opinion piece in today's Waterbury Republican American by Lee Grabar (sorry, link not available). It seems that thomas ullman had to talk long and hard to get hayes to change his mind about pleading guilty. the piece also talks about the death penalty being the lesser of two evils to some convicted murderers, like Michael Ross who was executed in Ct. in 2005. It made me wonder if hayes sees a freedom in death that he knows he'll never experience serving a life sentence. (more…)

two more jurors were chosen yesterday for hayes' murder trial bringing the total now to eight. 20 are needed for a panel complete with alternates and backups. all i know about yesterday's picks is that one is a woman, the other a man. if i get any more info i'll of course pass it on.

so far, 207 perspective jurors have been interviewed. if i haven't forgotten all my math, that means 1 out of every 27 perspective jurors have been chosen. no doubt this is a time-consuming process, but it's certainly not a completely tainted jury pool.

interesting item in today's Hartford Courant. during the process of being confirmed for another term as a Superior Court judge, James Bentivegna, who sentenced Joshua Komisarjevsky to nine years back in 2002, said Wednesday that it was an "unfortunate tragedy" that the parole board never received the sentencing transcript. that document contained Bentivegna's assessment of Komisarjevsky as a "cold, calculating predator." had komisarjevsky been denied parole and served his full sentence he would still be in jail, which, obviously, would have saved the lives of Jennifer, Hayley and Michaela Petit.

more updates on the hayes trial as they happen

william glaberson, the ny times reporter covering hayes' trial, mentioned in his piece today that ullman's filing on monday included information that the state is administering "high doses" of medication to hayes.

so hayes goes from overdosing on meds, to being refused his meds, to high doses of meds.

even instructions for anti-depressants warn (more…)

steven hayes changed his plea back to not-guilty today. if you're keeping score, it's not-guilty 2, guilty 1. but there is plenty of trial yet to play so don't turn your sets off yet.

dear thomas ullman,

i hope you don't think i'm just trying to get back at you for what you said about In the Middle of the Night, you know all that salacious, journalistic trash stuff read here. forget about your role as hayes' lawyer, just as a reader you have every right to your opinion about my writing. believe me, i hold no ill feelings towards you because of what you said.

but sheesh, thomas, the letter you filed in court yesterday could have used an edit: (more…)

ok, for those of you who haven't been following steven hayes' triple murder trial here's a little update:

Jan. 19, after much gamesmanship on the part of hayes' defense in pursuit of delaying the trial, including the insistence that In the Middle of the Night and pre-trial publicity has tainted the jury pool, jury selection begins. by the end of January, four jurors are chosen

Jan. 31, hayes tries to commit suicide by taking anti-psychotics and sedatives that he "cheeked" or horded. the defendant is in coma for serval days. after recuperating in hospital, hayes is placed in "safe" cell at macdougall-walker correctional. jury selection is postponed

Feb. 8, hayes' lawyer complains that his client is being held in "inhumane" conditions: denied his meds, kept in restraints, lights kept on 24/7

March 1, Judge Jon Blue visits hayes' cell

March 10, a prison psychiatrist testifies that, though depressed and wants to die, hayes is competent to stand trial

March 15, after six week interruption, jury selection resumes. two more jurors are chosen

March 17, trial again postponed as judge grants defense another competency hearing after hayes' lawyers complain that their client is exhibiting listless resignation and involuntary muscle movements

April 1, after being deemed competent by state psychiatrist and social workers, hayes tells judge he wants to change his plea to guilty as charged. those charges include capital felony murder for which the death penalty is a possible punishment

April 2, hayes' lawyers vow to fight their client's change of plea, hearing scheduled for April 6th

in one of the first letters i received from joshua komisarjevsky there was a description of his and hayes' attempted escape from the Petit house on the morning of July 23rd, 2007. having set the house on fire, and having no idea the police had them surrounded, Joshua and hayes ran from the house and jumped into the Petit's Chrysler Pacifica. joshua was behind the wheel. police had roadblocks (more…)

in a voice that one observer called soft but confident, steven hayes changed his plea to guilty of all capital charges against him. he made the statement right after Judge Jon Blue had declared him competent to stand trial. Hayes' words stunned everyone in the courtroom, even his own counsel.

a lot of things have to happen before hayes is strapped to a gurney. but one thing is for certain, this evening Steven Hayes is a lot closer to being executed than he was yesterday.