The lawyer for Joshua Komisarjevsky opened his murder trial today by blaming his client's accomplice for the rape and triple murder in a suburban, Connecticut home in 2007.
He painted his client as a man who was "confused" and easily led but who never meant to kill anyone, so that when the horrific events of that night spiraled out of control, Komisarjevsky was helpless to stop them.
Komisarjevsky, 31, has confessed to the crime and offered to plead guilty to avoid the death penalty, an offer the prosecution rejected. His defense hopes to save him from death by lethal injection.
His accompliced Steven Hayes was convicted in a trial last year that was graphic that the jurors received counseling when the case was over. Hayes was sentenced to death and is currently on death row.
The two men were charged with the invasion of the home of Dr. William Petit on July 23, 2007. Evidence in Hayes' trial said that Petit was tied up and beaten with a bat and that Hayes raped and strangled Petit's wife Jennifer Hawke-Petit.
The testimony in the first trial also alleged that Komisarjevsky sexually assaulted Petit's 11-year-old daughter Michaela. The house was then set on fire with Petit's daughters, Hayley, 17, and Michaela tied to their gasoline doused beds. The girls died in the blaze. Only the father survived the attack.
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Connecticut State Police/AP Photo
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Watch Video During his opening statements today, defense attorney Walter C. Bansley III warned the jury that testimony they will hear would "break your hearts" and "shake your confidence in humanity," but he argued that as horrible as the events of that night were, Komisarjevsk's only broke into the home to commit a robbery. Hayes, he said, was responsible for the murders.
It was Hayes who raped and killed the mother and it was Hayes who bought the gasoline which was used to set the house ablaze.
Bansley also noted that Komisarjevsky gave a confession to police after he was apprehended and that he would show the confession was consistent with forensic evidence.
The lawyer urged jurors several times to set their emotions aside, but in an attempt to humanize his client, Bansley told jurors that before the crime, Komisarjevsky took his own daughter to a park and then put her to bed before heading out to burglarize the suburban home.
"The evidence will show Steve Hayes is to blame" and that Komisarjevsky "did not intend to kill anyone."
Petit, his sister and other family members occupied the first two rows of the courtroom today, just as they did every day during Hayes' trial.
This morning, Komisarjevsky, wearing a suit, sat with his lawyers and listened attentively throughout the proceedings in sharp contrast to Hayes often spent his days in court slumped over with his head down. At one point, Komisarjevsky leaned back and looked over at the Petit family members.
Shortly before opening arguments, defense attorney Jeremiah Donovan sparred briefly with the Prosecutor Michael Dearington over the Petit Foundation's pins that 27 members of the Petit family were wearing in court. Donovan referred to family members as the "Petit posse." Dearington objected to calling family members a "posse." Judge Jon Blue rejected the request to have the pins removed and said the pins were "small and discreet."
Prosecutor Michael Dearington declined to present opening arguments preferring he said to "offer evidence" instead.
The courtroom was packed for the this morning. A long line stretched outside the courtroom before security officers opened the doors to let media and family members inside - an indication that the horrible events of July 23, 2007 continue to captivate Connecticut and the nation.
The assault at the Petit home in Cheshire, Conn., lasted for seven hours. The daughters were tied to their beds and one of them allegedly sexually assaulted.
Hawke-Petit was driven to a bank at gun point, told to withdraw money and taken back to her house, where she was raped and then strangled. Dr. Petit managed to escape and crawl to a neighbor's house, beaten and bloodied to call for help.
The first witnesses are scheduled to be heard this afternoon.
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