09-27-2010, 01:17 PM
not surprising.
Defense Lawyer Faces Contempt Hearing
By THOMAS B. SCHEFFEY
Jeremiah Donovan, the Old Saybrook lawyer who is defending Joshua Komisarjevsky, one of two men accused of killing three Cheshire women in July 2007, has been ordered to show cause why he should not be held in contempt of a gag order.
Donovan last week told reporters outside the courthouse where Steven Hayes is being tried that Komisarjevsky did not anally rape 11-year-old Michaela Petit, as autopsy tests seemed to suggest. Lawyers in the Hayes case have been ordered to make no “extrajudicial statements” which might prejudice Hayes’ right to a fair trial.
Shortly after Donovan’s impromptu news conference, Dr. William Petit Jr., the sole survivor of the home invasion, called for Donovan to be held in contempt. The order to show cause was signed by New Haven Superior Court Judge Roldad D. Fasano, and a hearing is set for Oct. 6 at 2 p.m.
Fasano’s order states that Donovan’s conduct “raises a reasonable likelihood of material, prejudicial impact upon the Hayes trial currently in progress and the Komisarjevsky trial to follow, all in flagrant violation of this court’s Order of Sept. 13, 2010.”
Donovan was tossed out of Judge Jon Blue’s courtroom in the Hayes’ trial after his cell phone unexpectedly launched into the 1970’s pop song, “Joy To The World,” whose opening line states, “Jeremiah was a bullfrog…”•
Defense Lawyer Faces Contempt Hearing
By THOMAS B. SCHEFFEY
Jeremiah Donovan, the Old Saybrook lawyer who is defending Joshua Komisarjevsky, one of two men accused of killing three Cheshire women in July 2007, has been ordered to show cause why he should not be held in contempt of a gag order.
Donovan last week told reporters outside the courthouse where Steven Hayes is being tried that Komisarjevsky did not anally rape 11-year-old Michaela Petit, as autopsy tests seemed to suggest. Lawyers in the Hayes case have been ordered to make no “extrajudicial statements” which might prejudice Hayes’ right to a fair trial.
Shortly after Donovan’s impromptu news conference, Dr. William Petit Jr., the sole survivor of the home invasion, called for Donovan to be held in contempt. The order to show cause was signed by New Haven Superior Court Judge Roldad D. Fasano, and a hearing is set for Oct. 6 at 2 p.m.
Fasano’s order states that Donovan’s conduct “raises a reasonable likelihood of material, prejudicial impact upon the Hayes trial currently in progress and the Komisarjevsky trial to follow, all in flagrant violation of this court’s Order of Sept. 13, 2010.”
Donovan was tossed out of Judge Jon Blue’s courtroom in the Hayes’ trial after his cell phone unexpectedly launched into the 1970’s pop song, “Joy To The World,” whose opening line states, “Jeremiah was a bullfrog…”•