The penalty phase in the Steven Hayes trial is now in its second day in New Haven, Connecticut.   The same jury that found the career criminal guilty on 16 of 17 charges against him in the home invasion murder trial will decide if he should live or die for his role in the attack three years ago in Cheshire, CT.   Hayes was convicted of six capital felony charges, three murder counts and sexually assaulting the mother of the family Jennifer Hawke-Petit.   Her husband Dr. William Petit escaped within an inch of his life after being badly beaten and tied up in the basement.  The couple’s two daughters were bound to their beds with ropes and doused with gasoline.  Both died from smoke inhalation after the house was lit on fire.   Among the capital offenses – killing two or more people, the killing of a person under 16, murder in the course of a sexual assault and three counts of intentionally causing a death during a kidnapping.

 Throughout the trial, Hayes’ defense team has pointed the finger at Hayes’ co-conspirator in the case, saying it was Joshua Komisarjevsky who escalated the violence every step of the way.   They say it was Komisarjevsky who “ordered” Hayes to rape Hawke-Petit  after Hayes returned from the bank where he forced her to withdraw thousands of dollars. Komisarjevsky allegedly told Hayes to rape Hawke-Petit to “even things up” because he had sexually assaulted the younger daughter, 11 year-old Michaela.

Today Hayes’ defense team presented jurors with jailhouse diary entries, interviews and writings of Komisarjevsky.  Defense attorney Patrick Culligan told the judge he wanted to introduce this evidence to show his role in planning and carrying out these crimes.  The theory behind the spotlight on Komisarjevsky is to show that he was the mastermind behind the home invasion and that Hayes, while a lifelong criminal, was a follower not a leader.   Yesterday during opening arguments, Culligan told jurors Hayes had a long history of being a burglar and a thief and a person who had a serious drug abuse addiction since his teenage years.  He also told jurors, “You’ll learn he was a good worker and he could express concern and care for his family and friends and co-workers. He could be a likable person.”