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Politics & Government

Seventh Juror Picked for Komisarjevsky Trial

Jury now consists of five women and two men.

A seventh juror was picked for the trial of Joshua Komisarjevsky yesterday as jury selection for the second Cheshire home invasion defendant resumed.

Jury selection was not held on Monday because of a scheduling conflict involving either an attorney or the judge, according to a source knowledgeable about the pretrial proceedings.

The source said the seventh juror is a woman who works for Yale University. Previously, two men and four women were chosen as jurors for the trial.

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Komisarjevsky faces the death penalty for his part in the 2007 triple homicide in Cheshire that started as a kidnapping and robbery.

His co-defendant, Steven Hayes, was convicted in a separate trial last year and is on death row.

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Prosecutors used one peremptory challenge to excuse a woman juror just before the lunchtime recess.

During questioning, the woman told defense attorney Jeremiah Donovan that she was aware Hayes was convicted and sentenced to die.

She told Donovan that even though she knows Hayes was convicted, she could decide Komisarjevsky’s fate based on the evidence. "There’s two sides to the story," she said.

After that, the state excused her from the jury panel.

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