11-04-2010, 01:08 PM
November 4, 2010
NY TIMES
NEW HAVEN -- The prosecution called for the death penalty during closing arguments Thursday at the trial of Steven J. Hayes, the man convicted of killing a mother and her two daughters in a home-invasion in Cheshire, Conn. But the defense had Mr. Hayes stand mute before the jury box as the chief defense lawyer made an argument that Mr. Hayes should be sent to prison for life because that is the more severe punishment.
“Life without the possibility of release is the harshest punishment for Steven Hayes,” the defense lawyer Thomas Ullmann said. "It is a fate worse than death for him."
When Mr. Hayes stood briefly and walked to stand next to his lawyer, in a baggy blue shirt and beltless pants, Mr. Ullmann spoke quietly.
“You may not like him,” Mr. Ullmann said, "You may hate him. But he’s not a rabid dog."
Mr. Hayes seemed awkward; he looked down. Execution, the defense lawyer said, "would be the easy way out for him." But the prosecutors said a death sentence was the only proper response to the crime.
"If there ever was a case where the facts and the law require such a penalty, it is this case," said Gary Nicholson, one of the prosecutors, urging a capital sentence for Mr. Hayes, who was convicted of capital crimes on Oct. 5 by the jury that is now considering whether to impose a death sentence.
Mr. Hayes, 47, a parolee with a long criminal record, was convicted of entering the home of the Petit family with another long-time criminal in a home invasion that included sexual assaults and ended with the deaths of the mother and her two daughters, ages 11 and 17, in a fire started by the intruders.
"It was horrific," Mr. Nicholson said, "It was shocking. It was vicious. It was brutal. It was evil."
Mr. Nicholson argued that the jurors should disregard the defense claim that Mr. Hayes was a mere follower — a "klutz" in the description of a defense witness — and said he played a full role in the crime. "It could not have been done by one person alone," Mr. Nicholson said. "Just imagine yourself in that house" throughout the seven-hour ordeal, Mr. Nicholson said.
Jurors are expected to start deciding Mr. Hayes’ fate either later Thursday or Friday. Only one person has been executed in Connecticut in 60 years, a serial killer who waived his appeals.
NY TIMES
NEW HAVEN -- The prosecution called for the death penalty during closing arguments Thursday at the trial of Steven J. Hayes, the man convicted of killing a mother and her two daughters in a home-invasion in Cheshire, Conn. But the defense had Mr. Hayes stand mute before the jury box as the chief defense lawyer made an argument that Mr. Hayes should be sent to prison for life because that is the more severe punishment.
“Life without the possibility of release is the harshest punishment for Steven Hayes,” the defense lawyer Thomas Ullmann said. "It is a fate worse than death for him."
When Mr. Hayes stood briefly and walked to stand next to his lawyer, in a baggy blue shirt and beltless pants, Mr. Ullmann spoke quietly.
“You may not like him,” Mr. Ullmann said, "You may hate him. But he’s not a rabid dog."
Mr. Hayes seemed awkward; he looked down. Execution, the defense lawyer said, "would be the easy way out for him." But the prosecutors said a death sentence was the only proper response to the crime.
"If there ever was a case where the facts and the law require such a penalty, it is this case," said Gary Nicholson, one of the prosecutors, urging a capital sentence for Mr. Hayes, who was convicted of capital crimes on Oct. 5 by the jury that is now considering whether to impose a death sentence.
Mr. Hayes, 47, a parolee with a long criminal record, was convicted of entering the home of the Petit family with another long-time criminal in a home invasion that included sexual assaults and ended with the deaths of the mother and her two daughters, ages 11 and 17, in a fire started by the intruders.
"It was horrific," Mr. Nicholson said, "It was shocking. It was vicious. It was brutal. It was evil."
Mr. Nicholson argued that the jurors should disregard the defense claim that Mr. Hayes was a mere follower — a "klutz" in the description of a defense witness — and said he played a full role in the crime. "It could not have been done by one person alone," Mr. Nicholson said. "Just imagine yourself in that house" throughout the seven-hour ordeal, Mr. Nicholson said.
Jurors are expected to start deciding Mr. Hayes’ fate either later Thursday or Friday. Only one person has been executed in Connecticut in 60 years, a serial killer who waived his appeals.