Eleventh Juror Picked for Komisarjevsky Trial

Defense attorneys and prosecutors Thursday chose an 11th juror for the trial of Joshua Komisarjevsky, the second Cheshire home invasion defendant.

The latest juror is the seventh woman picked for the panel, according to a source knowledgeable about the jury selection proceedings in New Haven Superior Court. The fourth male juror was chosen on Wednesday.

Also on Thursday, Komisarjevsky’s defense lawyers used his 26th peremptory challenge to excuse a juror. Prosecutors, who did not use a challenge on Thursday, have so far used 20 of them.

Each side gets 40 peremptory challenges, which they may use to reject jurors without giving a reason.

Komisarjevsky faces the death penalty for the triple homicide of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters, Hayley and Michaela, in 2007.

His co-defendant, Steven Hayes, was convicted in a separate trial last year and is on death row.

Jury selection will resume on Monday.