A rump jury of twelve Connecticut residents carefully screened to exclude any member who opposed the death penalty voted to kill Steven Hayes today. The state went a perfect six for six, winning each and every capital felony count. To those of us who oppose the death penalty, today was a sheer act of barbarism. The state, which cannot give life, has now received permission to take what it cannot give. This is not justice. This is the savagery.
In the end, there was but one hero in this case: The lawyer for Mr. Hayes, Tommy Ullmann. When an angry state lined up and volunteered to kill...
November 8, 2010
There are 118 seats for spectators in the courtroom in which the case of State v. Hayes is being tried. Although court is not scheduled to open until 10 a.m. this morning, I am told there might already by a full house. On the fourth day of deliberations, a verdict is expected. Indeed, many folks think a verdict is long overdue.
I have been following the press coverage of this case closely, including the accounts of those who have been sending instant messges via Twitter. My sense is that there are very few disapassionate and undecided folks watching these proceedings. Lacking from the...
November 8, 2010
I bring a unique perspective to the gubernatorial race in Connecticut as I voted neither for the declared winner, Dan Malloy, the Democrat, nor for the loser, Tom Foley, the Republican. Frankly, all the chatter back and forth among members of the two parties almost kept me from voting at all. When it came to the governor's race, all I could bring myself to do was to cast a write-in vote for former Gov. Lowell P. Weicker, an Independent. (I voted for Clarence Darrow, now long deceased, for Congress, figuring Rosa DeLauro wouldn't miss my vote.) I cast a reluctant vote for Richard Blumenthal...
November 8, 2010
After three full days of deliberations in New Haven, the jury is still out: There is no verdict on whether Steven Hayes shall live or be killed for his role in the 2007 home invasion in Cheshire that left a mother and her two children dead. Most observers thought the decision to kill would be easy. Even death penalty opponents were heard to mutter that if there is to be a death penalty, it should be reserved for cases such as this. Can it be this jury will not sentence Steven Hayes to death?
A decision not to refrain from killing in this case would speak as loudly as Clarence Darrow's...
November 7, 2010
November 6, 2010
Why is the Hayes jury deliberating over the weekend? Because the case is one heart-beat away from disaster. It has nothing to do with not wanting the...
November 5, 2010
I am persuaded that a significant percentage of trials are won or lost based on how well lawyers manage jury notes. It is a difficult business,...
November 4, 2010
Closing arguments in the case of State v. Hayes will be anticlimactic . The moral drama has been driven from the room. It was never disputed that Mr....
November 4, 2010
Habeas corpus is sort of like magna carta: it’s the smattering of Latin that all lawyers know. Recite these words in public, and...
November 2, 2010
My wife keeps calling today to inquire whether I have voted. "No," I answer. I don't think I am going to this year. All of the candidates look like a...
November 1, 2010
While most jurors stared dumbstruck at the evidence in the case of State v. Hayes, at least one could not take her eyes off one of the hunks keeping...