Supreme Court Defines Komisarjevsky Witness List Appeal Issues

The Connecticut Supreme Court has issued an order defining the issues related to the witness lists for the Joshua Komisarjevsky trial that it will consider on appeal by the defense.

If the defense loses its appeal to the Supreme Court, the witness lists will be released to the public and the media, something Komisarjevsky’s defense lawyers say would jeopardize his right to a fair trial.

The issues are:

• does the trial court’s decision to grant an intervenor’s motion to unseal the witness lists constitute a final judgment?
• if it is an appealable final judgment, did the trial court err in granting the intervenor’s motion?

The intervenor, in this instant, is the Hartford Courant, which has battled Komisarjevsky’s defense lawyers since March to obtain the witness lists.

The defense said Komisarjevsky’s witnesses could become targets of threats and intimidation if their identities are known publicly, something that happened to at least one witness for his co-defendant, Steven Hayes, in his trial last year.

Komisarjevsky faces the death penalty in the second Cheshire home invasion trial. Hayes was convicted last year and sentenced to die.

The New Haven Register reported today that Komisarjevsky’s defense lawyers have asked for 40 additional peremptory challenges to complete jury selection. The challenges may be used to excuse jurors without stating a reason.

The defense and the prosecutor were both given 40 challenges at the start of jury selection on March 16. Both have used 38 of them.

Only one more backup alternate juror must be selected. Two backup jurors were picked on Wednesday, according to the Register.

A courthouse source said one of the backup jurors is a 60-year-old college administrator from New Haven.