Brian McDonald

as jury selection for the steven hayes triple homicide trial creeps to conclusion (five more alternates and backups still to be chosen) and the summer months approach, this blog will take a short hiatus from murder and mayhem. of course, i will update you on any significant news out of New Haven Superior Court, and will start daily posting as the mid-Sept. trial date nears. have a nice summer true-crime fans.

a third alternate juror, described as a middle-age New Haven woman, has been chosen for the steven hayes triple homicide trial. the number of jurors now stands at 15. twenty are needed to complete a panel of jurors, alternates and back-ups for the trial that begins in mid-September

after spending 18 years on death row for the rape and murders of eight women in Connecticut and New York, Michael Ross was executed on Friday, May 13th 2005. in prison, Ross had found religion and spent the last years of his life trying to convince the state of Connecticut to put him to death. after the jump is a portion of a statement Ross made concerning his wish to die: (more…)

over the past two weeks, two jurors have been excused by Judge Blue months before steven hayes' trial starts including a Guilford woman yesterday. our number is back down to 14.

maybe the court should take out an ad for jurors in the AARP mag. the commitment in Sept. could be as long as three months, an incredible burden on employee and employers. then again, defense counsel knows that the olds are more likely to vote for the needle. they could look for jurors within the roles of the unemployed--9.3 percent at last check in Ct. wouldn't suit prosecutors though. lacksters are traditionally anti-death penalty. it adds up to a slow slog in superior court.

i might have been presumptuous in inferring that the ullman/culligan team will step on the gas as the patio party season nears. yesterday, 24 jurors were interviewed and none chosen. the process of seating a murder jury in Connecticut is catatonic in its pace--you could paint a house with Wite-Out quicker.

i still think a panel of 20 jurors (reg.,alternate and backups) will be completed by the end of May,

lawyers on both sides of the case agreed on two more alternate jurors yesterday. so far, 12 regular and three alternate jurors have been chosen. the new jurors are described as a North Haven, Ct. man in his 60s, and Madison, Ct. woman in her 40s. a panel of twenty regular, alternate and backup jurors are needed. selection continues today. the regular trial begins in mid-Sept.

ok, up until the beginning of last week there was at least one and sometimes AS MANY AS 600 news stories A DAY about the jury selection of the steven hayes trial. but for the past week there has been nothing. not a single new word about the trial in the press or on the web. it's as if jury selection for the hayes trial has disappeared. (more…)

still no news out of steven hayes' jury selection. i can't help thinking that something's up. soon as i get anything i'll let you know.