Community Corner
Alternate Juror Will Learn Today If She Must Serve
Wallingford woman begged to be excused from the Komisarjevsky jury after learning the gruesome details of the crime.
A Wallingford woman picked last week as an alternate juror for the Joshua Komisarjevsky trial will learn today if she will have to serve on the jury.
The 35-year-old woman was selected on May 26 just before Judge Jon C. Blue called a recess of jury selection for lunch. She returned that afternoon and tearfully begged to be excused from the jury, according to a report in the New Haven Register.
The woman said her babysitter told her details of the Cheshire home invasion triple homicide that upset her and she did not think she could be fair and impartial as a juror.
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Judge Blue told her to return today for further questioning and he would excuse her if she still felt the same way.
Komisarjevsky faces the death penalty for the 2007 murders of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters, Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11. His co-defendant, Steven Hayes, was convicted last year and sentenced to death row.
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The sixth alternate juror was chosen Tuesday. Previously, defense attorneys and prosecutors selected twelve regular jurors. They still must pick three backup alternates.
If regular jurors become unavailable to serve before the trail starts in September, alternate jurors will fill their spots in the order they were chosen. After the trial starts the alternates will be chosen by lottery to fill the vacancies.
