Cheshire killer back in court

The robbery and murder, planned and executed by two men with long criminal records, of a mother and her two daughters in Cheshire still resonates in the hearts and minds of not only the one survivor, Dr. William Petit, but his neighbors, relatives, friends and the community at large. When I say community at large, I mean any person throughout our country who read about this horrendous crime. Time can never erase the trauma of these deaths from our being.

Now, Joshua Komisarjevsky is seeking a new trial based on what his attorney claims is: “too much emotional feelings,” causing people to feel personally threatened, and “buying guns and dogs” and one potential juror told of his “sleeping with a hammer next to his bed.” His attorney claims such opinions were much too prejudicial against Komisarjevsky.

Komisarjevsky’s lawyer wants a new trial in a different venue, away from those of us “who were losing it” emotionally. And other objections like the fact that Cheshire police did not give the defense attorneys a record of six phone calls from the Police Department the day of the murder. Joshua Komisarjevsky and Steven Hayes were convicted on evidence well beyond a reasonable doubt.

Having the trial anywhere in the state will not remove it from publicity, it may well increase with the speed that news travels today across country in matters of minutes. Being such a notorious case it may well cause even more people to become “emotionally stressed.”

I might add that besides Komisarjevsky’s request for a new trial, his coconspirator Hayes, is studying to convert to Judaism and now demanding Kosher food. Between them both, they appear to me to be flouting the system. Redemption is not part of their vocabulary.

Being an attorney is a fine profession. Being altruistic, doing pro bono work for the under privileged is all well and good, but this looks to me as just another case of someone whipping up a storm that would produce nothing but more financial cost for the taxpayers of this state, and causing emotional stress among those of us who take murder of our loved ones seriously.

Marvin Cohen Hamden