Killer Gets Death Penalty in CT

[sixmile]

http://www.courant.com/community/cheshire/cheshire-home-invasion/hc-hayes-verdict-death-penalty-20101108,0,6875785.story

'A Superior Court jury today sentenced Steven Hayes to death for the murders of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters, Hayley and Michaela, at their Cheshire home in July 2007.

Outside the courthouse after the verdict, Hawke-Petit's father, the Rev. Richard Hawke, said "There are some people who do not deserve to live in God's world."

Dr. William Petit Jr., who survived the brutal attack on his family, said "This is a verdict for justice." But, he said, as the verdict was read, "I was really thinking of the tremendous loss … I was sad for the loss we have all suffered."

more at link

[proteus_lives]

1. He deserves it.

[Dogtown]

81. !

Hi, Killer!
:hi:

[proteus_lives]

82. Hmmm.

Oh, yeah. Now I remember.

The name-caller.

How are you doing? Still acting juvenile when people disagree with you?

Also, who have I killed?

[Dogtown]

86. By proxy?

Throngs.

[proteus_lives]

88. Really?

And Georgia I see. They've performed 48 executions since 1976. Indiana, only 20. I guess your hands are bloodier then mine.

[Dogtown]

91. No.

I don't lust for it.

I note you were the 1st execution-cheerleader in the thread.

Pure silliness to blame a liberal for a red state. At least I work for the the progressive principle that my government shouldn't be in the murder-trade, whilst you wet-dream over every sanctioned killing.

Face it, p_l, you're POTP.

[BoneDaddy]

95. Hey

Fake Morally Superior Smug fool!

[Dogtown]

97. If you support the DP

I *am* morally superior.

For the record, I'm not nearly a smug as I was when younger, and I'm certainly not a fool.


"Fake" seems unsuited to this discussion, I'm quite consistent in my unease with medieval methods. I'm pretty sure that death-worshipers are fake progressives, though.

[BoneDaddy]

98. Well

your "superiority" is oozing out of your pores. I love "liberals" such as yourself who just thrive in your moral highground, thinking you are so much better than people, who, God forbid, feel such anger, pain and horror, and dare say I, the desire for revenge.

That is why I say fake, it is act. Because in a real life situation, your "morality" would go right out the window and you would, ahhh, become like the rest of the trogs you think you are better than.

[WildEyedLiberal]

100. I find that anyone who actually explicitly claims to be morally superior to anyone else rarely is

That goes for sanctimonious bible-thumpers and "progressive" purists alike.

[BoneDaddy]

104. Well said

And it runs rampant in DU

[stray cat]

2. No sympathy from me on this one

[uncommon]

3. I am glad.

Not jumping up and down in joy or anything but there are some people who need not to be alive.

[DesertFlower]

4. i'm against the death penalty, but

in this case i'm for it. it was such a horrendous crime.

[EOTE]

15. Supporting the death penalty in any instance is supporting the death penalty.

I understand your thought process, but right now the death penalty is only supposed to be implemented in the most horrid of cases. It's also supposed to only be used when guilt is determined beyond a shadow of a doubt. In practice, however, things are far different. I won't be sorry to see this worthless wretch of a human loses his life, but I still cannot support the death penalty in this case or in others. So long as the process remains flawed (and it's EXTREMELY flawed), I cannot support it in any manner.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

26. Are you saying this trial was flawed in any way?

Are you saying the judicial process is ALWAYS flawed? That seems to be what you are saying. I know that black and brown people are prosecuted far out of proportion to their numbers in the population, if you are talking about racial studies. Both these defendant are white.

I have seen no evidence of prosecutorial or defense misconduct.

Are you saying this is NOT the most horrid of cases? This is the first case I have heard of in which pictures taken by the defendant on a cell phone had to be described and could NOT be shown to the jury because of their extremely upsetting content. That is a first for me. Crime scene photos are extremely upsetting, but with the defendant taking cell phone pictures this adds yet another layer to the horrific nature of the evidence.

BTW, the standard of proof in a criminal case is BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT. There is no extremely specific legal definition of beyond a reasonable doubt, but there is a definition.

I worked as a court stenographer for twenty years, I was a legal secretary before that, and I also have a Juris Doctor degree (law degree).

I think the DP should be applied very sparingly for many of the same reasons you cite.

And I think this is the most horrid of cases with absolutely NO mitigating factors. This is in the same league, or worse, than serial killer like Ted Bundy, or the pickax murderer Karla Faye Tucker.

[EOTE]

35. No, that is definitely not what I was saying.

I have pretty much zero doubt about this cretin's guilt. However, I don't get to decide when and where the death penalty is applied. The standard for the DP is already set, the most heinous crimes where guilt is proven beyond a shadow of a doubt. In spite of this, the DP is applied with racial bias. In spite of this, innocent people have been put to death. For these reasons, I cannot support the DP no matter how claims are made to its application. Crimes like this one are used all the time to talk about how necessary the death penalty is. Until the DP system is massively reformed, it should not be used at all.

[CakeGrrl]

5. I have no problem with it.

If you have it in you to do something like this, better that you're not around.

[flvegan]

6. Meh, another killer gets off easy.

I think better he suffer in general pop for every wretched day given him.

[The Doctor.]

9. Heh... GMTA. n/t

[uncommon]

12. Well at least he won't be able to rape, murder, and set afire any prisoners during his tenure.

Death penalty guys bunk alone, right? Very tight security? No general pop mingling?

[flvegan]

65. You really think this pile of shit has that ability?

He and his buddies went after a family. A man, his wife and their two daughters. He's no made man, no gangster, no Blood, no Hells Angel, no skinhead. He's not going to rape, murder nor set anyone afire. He's going to quake, in fear, every day wondering what will happen to him. Will the other inmates find out that his buddy sexually assaulted a female minor? Oh no, that shit doesn't go well in prison.

Outside, he might have been a "predator" so to speak. Inside...he's prey. Let him live every day of his life as prey.

That's punishment.

[blondeatlast]

61. +1. nt

[SammyWinstonJack]

89. +1. nt

[The Doctor.]

7. I'm against the death penalty in this case;

He's getting off easy.

[MrSlayer]

8. This one deserves far worse than death.

This particular "person" deserves medieval justice. Being that he'll never get what he deserves I hope he is executed swiftly.

[digitaln3rd]

21. Might I suggest one of these for him?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_methods_of_capital_punishment

Lethal injection is far too humane for someone like this.

[MrSlayer]

37. Most of those are too quick.

Immurement and Crucifixion are the best of the lot on this list.

[Kievan Rus]

41. How about a dry sponge electrocution like in the Green Mile?

I personally think this perp deserves an execution like that.

[Upton]

40. He should be given exactly what he did to his victims

no more no less. In this case, that would involve sexual assault, a little bit of torture, then a match..

[Alexander]

56. Let's rape and torture him! Go Democrats! Why did we oppose Bush anyway?

Wait, what?

[CTLawGuy]

66. then what would make us any better than him?

nt

[flvegan]

69. Wow. Wishing for rape? Really?

Thank the even-minded folks that your idiot eye-for-an-eye idiocy left us a long time ago.

[SammyWinstonJack]

90. And who would be the sick puppies that would agree to carry out that 'justice'?

They would be no better then him, imo. :puke:


Let him rot in prison.

[marmar]

10. I'm anti death penalty......without equivocations.

nt

[Dreamer Tatum]

14. Then I balance you out nt

[EOTE]

19. That's the only way to be anti death penalty, IMO.

I really can't see the sense in people who say that they're against the death penalty until they see a particularly heinous crime and then say "Well, I'd certainly support the death penalty in THIS case." Well, things don't work that way. At all. The death penalty is already supposed to be reserved for the most heinous of cases. It's already supposed to be used in cases where guilt is established beyond any doubt. The reality, though, is that the death penalty has an extreme racial bias. The reality is that innocent people have been, and will continue to be, put to death by the death penalty. If you support the death penalty at all, you are supporting those horrible things. We don't get to vote on who receives the DP.

[malaise]

34. +1

I will never support the death penalty.

[Alexander]

38. +2

[CTLawGuy]

60. as am I

nt

[blondeatlast]

62. +1. nt

[closeupready]

101. Yes. Being Anti-DP is NOT about this crime or tomorrow's, or yesterday's.

It's about something else entirely.

[ileus]

11. well I hate that for him...

[Dappleganger]

13. Should have been buried under the jail.

With only his nose sticking up for air.

Yes, cruel and unusual...but then again, the crimes were incomprehensible.

[caty]

16. Sometimes I think

I'm against the death penalty because I think that a long life in prison would be worse. But then I think of all the other prisoners, who might someday be released, that he might influence. Then I believe that the death penalty is the right thing to do, as long as we can be 100% sure that he is truly guilty. Wittinesses or confessions, not circumstantial evidence. Beyond a reasonable doubt doesn't always matter to some juries.

[EOTE]

20. Do you think witnesses and confessions are 100% reliable?

Don't get me wrong, I am 100% convinced that this beast committed these terrible crimes. However, witnesses are never 100% reliable. Even when you disregard those witnesses who were paid or coerced in another manner. Even when dealing with witnesses who have nothing but the best intentions, time and time again, the limits of the human memory are shown. There are so many things that each one of us are completely convinced are so, that simply aren't. The human mind is a very tricky device indeed. And with regard to confessions, how many confessions do you think have been beaten out of suspects? How many confessions were the result of sleep deprivation after marathon interrogation sessions lasting a day or more? How many confessions were the result of people believing law enforcement officials when they not only have the ability, but the duty to lie during these interrogations? Witnesses and confessions shouldn't be considered anything more than circumstantial evidence most of the time.

[caty]

27. You have a very

valid point.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

68. Circumstantial evidence is the BEST evidence. It's science.

Circumstantial evidence follows the laws of science: physics and chemistry (blood spatters, knife/bullet trajectories, DNA/chemicals, wound patterns, decomposition rates, physical activities of perps and victims). That's why there is a special category of witness called the expert witness.

Circumstantial evidence is ONLY made up of a)objects and photographs -- evidence as exhibits; and b)expert testimony by doctors and other experts with specialized knowledge.

Circumstantial evidence is the best evidence because it never lies -- it follows the rules of physics and chemistry (assuming if it is expert witness testimony that the expert is telling the truth).

Witnesses are notoriously unreliable because of the upset nature of the witness' mind (res gestae). Also, bias, prejudice and lighting and amount of time seeing the alleged defendant all affect the mental impression. As you have said very well, minds and memories are tricky and un-stable and can be changed by interrogations.

Witnesses are eyewitness evidence. Confessions are written admissions against self-interest and thus admissible as an exception against hearsay.

Nothing a lay witness says is circumstantial/expert testimony. You are confused on your terms in the above post.

I have a Juris Doctor degree, I was a court stenographer for twenty years, a legal secretary before that, and I have seen literally thousands of hearings/trials, from Justice of the Peace court, Traffic, County, State District, and United States District Court. I've worked in every form of trial court there is in Texas.

[aikoaiko]

17. Heinous crime? check. Certainty of agency? Check. No significant mitigating facts? Check.

He deserves it.

[Taverner]

18. I feel no sympathy for Mr Hayes, however I don't think the DP will be justice

I don't think the state should have the right to take a life, period. I don't care if its Bundy or Manson - that is not a power I want to grant the state.

Besides, death is too easy of an out. He should be made to suffer for the rest of his life in a cold hard jail cell, let out once a day, no TV, no radio.

[LisaL]

47. Considering how long it takes to carry out death penalty in CT-

he certainly is going to suffer for a very very long time in his jail cell before death penalty is carried out, if ever.

[Taverner]

51. Well, good

[NuclearDem]

22. No one should ever be given the DP

It's simply immoral and a statement that we the people are out looking for blood and vengeance.

Killing a killer won't bring the victims back. No person on this earth has done something so horrible they deserve death.

[Name removed]

29. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Ghost in the Machine]

32. "No person on this earth has done something so horrible they deserve death."

Really??

I think raping an 11 year old, a 17 year old and their mother, then setting them on fire while they were alive and tied to their beds qualifies as horrible enough.

My heart doesn't bleed for animals like this, sorry..

[BoneDaddy]

96. Sometimes

vengenge is just the right thing to do. And I disagree, killing a mother and two daughters after sexually assaulting a child then setting them on fire deserves not only death but a very long and painful one.

[HS News]

23. What took so long?

Honestly, deliberation took too long.

[spanone]

24. death is too good for this fucker...2 wrongs don't = right

[Gator_Matt]

67. You assume his execution is a "wrong."

I think it's good for society. He is clearly guilty. He chose to destroy many lives, so it is only fair that his own is forfeit.

[eissa]

25. Good riddance to bad rubbish

Hope he spends years getting raped in jail before he's finally wiped off this earth. Fucking monster. The only thing better would be to give the grieving father a few mintues alone with this animal.

[blueamy66]

28. Good

He is an animal.

[Upton]

30. Excellent news..

I suggest he be afforded the same consideration he and his partner gave to their victims. If I were made king for a day, I would have him burned alive.

[Name removed]

31. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[4lbs]

33. Why can't the punishment match the crime?

He raped the mother and the two teenage daughters, and then set them on fire, after bludgeoning them.

So.... have the punishment match the crime.

Let 3 big, hairy, male prisoners take turns gang-raping him.

Then let him be bludgeoned.

Then set him on fire.

[EOTE]

36. You've got things a bit confused.

If the punishment were truly to match the crime, his wife and daughters would be raped. Perhaps that's why we don't use a system as outdated and stupid as "eye for an eye". It's funny to see the things that will turn the average DUer into a supporter of theocratic law. Fuck civil rights, gotta have that pound of flesh. Fuck civility and the cost, far more important that someone bleeds.

[bettyellen]

72. wow, you think the crime was commited against the husband and not the wife and daughter?

think again. he had great loss and pain, but you're forgetting who the actual victims here were.
not that i'm advocating eye for an eye here.

[EOTE]

74. A horrible crime was committed against them all.

The point is that "an eye for an eye" is barbaric and has no place in a civilized society.

[bettyellen]

79. yes, of course..... but the equivelent crime is not for this man's wife and daughter to be raped

I/m sorry, that's equating ONLY what happened to this man to the criminal. As if the wife and daughter were possessions of his that had been damaged and he is owed vengence on. They were not. It just struck me as a very patriarchal reaction. Very odd to suggest this man should suffer only as the other man had. (even though your larger point was against revenge, and I agree).

[EOTE]

75. A horrible crime was committed against them all.

The point is that "an eye for an eye" is barbaric and has no place in a civilized society.

[Alexander]

73. Hammurabi died 3700 years ago. A shame his barbaric ideas live on.

You call yourself a liberal?

[Lyric]

39. Nobody should get the death penalty. Not ever, not for any reason.

The government should never have the power of life and death over its citizens. NEVER.

[Alexander]

42. Thank you. It seems a lot of people here want revenge

More than justice in any kind of meaningful sense.

In the end, that's really what the death penalty is all about.

[guardian]

103. Works for me. n/t

[Terra Alta]

44. You won't get any argument from me.

What he did was heinous, but executing him won't bring his victims back. I'm all for locking him up in a Supermax-like prison for the rest of his life, though.

[pipi_k]

52. You're right...executing him won't bring the victims back, but...

what if the guy whose family was killed said he would be better able to find resolution with the deaths of the men who did those heinous things...

It's his family, after all...not yours...not mine.

How could anyone here stand before him and tell him he would be wrong to want revenge?

[Alexander]

55. We're supposed to have a justice system, not a revenge system.

I would like to think we as a human race, after hundreds of thousands of years of human evolution, have learned that revenge solves absolutely nothing.

Apparently not a lot of people, including DUers, have come to that conclusion.

[Obamanaut]

78. Justice prevailed, and now the miscreant will get the punishment. nt

[pipi_k]

83. I realize that, and I agree....but

OTOH, would it be fair for any of us who have NOT lost family members in such a horrific fashion to sit in judgment of someone who did want revenge?


What right would any of us have to tell someone what would, or would not, bring closure?

It's so easy to judge someone else's wants or needs when we haven't been in that person's shoes, and I am reluctant to do it.

[lapislzi]

92. What would constitute "justice" in this case?

I honestly can't answer that. I know that torturing a person is wrong. That would include "allowing" horrible things to happen to this murderer during his time in jail. I don't believe in the death penalty because I think it diminishes us as a society.

Still, this person must be removed from society, permanently.

Is justice even possible in a case like this? Are we kidding ourselves?

[Terra Alta]

57. I wouldn't say he's wrong

If my entire family were so brutally murdered I would probably want revenge too. But I would hope that after some time -- and lots of therapy -- I would come to understand that revenge isn't the answer, and won't bring my loved ones back.

[pipi_k]

84. Yes....That's exactly the point I was making...

We can always hope that a person can find it in his heart to not want revenge, but it's good to be able to understand as well...

[flvegan]

70. He's free to seek revenge,

being an emotional response, it isn't "wrong" so to speak. Nobody would likely begrudge him, but he'd face whatever recourse there might be.

But, I'm biased. I favor punishment over revenge, hence the avatar.

[proteus_lives]

63. Taxes, food, roads, military, war, etc.

The government already has power of life and death over us.

[pipi_k]

43. This has a lot of gray areas for me...

I don't like the death penalty, yet there's a nagging question inside of me that asks if I would be able to sit here and be all sanctimonious as hell about it if it were someone I loved who had been so brutally murdered.

Oh, let's not even talk about murder...some years back when each of my children became the victim of a drunk driver (in separate accidents), I wanted to kill the perpetrator with my own hands even though, thank goodness, they were ONLY injured.

To anyone whose loved one has never died at the hands of another, I think it's pretty arrogant to sit in judgment of someone else who might not care if a murderer gets the death penalty.

To anyone whose loved one has been killed by someone else, but who has the capacity to not want retribution, I say Bless You...for you are a better person than I think I could be under similar circumstances.

[sixmile]

45. This case has no gray area

Some do.

Sanctimoniousness, as you mentioned, abounds on this thread. For instance, equating political liberalism with being anti DP is fallacious.

[Carolina]

46. Good! The sooner the execution, the better

There is absolutely no doubt about guilt since he and his partner in crime were caught fleeing the ghastly scene in the victims' car which they rammed into a police cruiser. They were both career criminals, too.

And for all those who say that rotting in jail would better fit the crime, I say I'd rather my tax dollars be spent in other ways. Moreover, ever heard of escape? Ted Bundy's Florida sorority victims are dead today because he escaped from prison and went to Florida. The death penalty means never having a chance to kill again!

[NuclearDem]

48. That's why they have supermax prisons

No one's ever escaped from Florence.

And it takes a horrible long time for executions to take place anyway. Just let him rot in a supermax. I'd rather have my tax dollars putting him up in prison than have blood on my hands.

[Terra Alta]

49. Supermax prisons were made for people like this piece of trash.

That's where he belongs, and where he should stay for the rest of his life. Locked in a cell for 23 hours a day, with very limited contact with the outside world.

[pipoman]

64. No

First this wasn't a federal conviction so he will never go to the federal administrative maximum security prison in Florence for this conviction.

Second those who are in AdMax in Florence are "disruptive group members" and those convicted of "notorious crimes against society". If these guys were convicted in federal court they may go on death row or to a maximum security prison, not necessarily to an AdMax, in fact they probably wouldn't go to AdMax.

[Jennicut]

50. My Mom and I talked about it this morning. We are from Cheshire, we know that neighborhood.

I lived on Mountain Rd, the killing happened on Sorgum Mill. 5 minutes away. It was called Deaconwood when I was in middle school in the early 90's. It is a huge housing tract. Beautiful, peaceful neighborhood. I wanted to see him get the death penalty but I really dislike myself for feeling such anger. Maybe if it wasn't so close and I never knew this town or the people. Mr. Petit even lives near my mother in law in Plainville as his Dad is still there. I don't know, it certainly is a test for how detached you can become and learn to put aside the anger in order to let the better, more humane choice be made. It is about us and how we react to this, not about Mr. Hayes. I just don't know what else to say. Hope Mr. Petit gets some peace from the end of this trial. Unfortunately, Komisarjevsky is next.

[MilesColtrane]

53. He got what he wanted, the easy way out.

Let him live to a ripe old age with nothing to interact with but his own twisted mind.

[pipi_k]

85. I agree...

On the other side of my debate with myself on the DP is the knowledge that sometimes the worst punishment is not death at all...

[Withywindle]

54. Doesn't bother me one bit.

The thing that makes murder unique as a crime is that the ONLY person or people who really have the moral authority to forgive the murderer--can't possibly do so. Because they're dead.

[WillyT]

58. wee

woo hoo

[CTLawGuy]

59. no love for this asshole

but the death penalty ought to be beneath us. Thank goodness our new governor is opposed to the death penalty. CT will hopefully not have the death penalty for long.

[NYC Liberal]

71. I am against executions 100%. This guy is a piece of shit who

should rot in prison for the rest of his life.

[Raine]

76. GOOD, my sympathy goes to the victims. nt

[old mark]

77. The thing I am sorry about is that it will probably take at least 10 years to kill Mr. Hayes.

He should not have so much time to enjoy, even in prison.


mark

[littlewolf]

80. can he be tied to the bed ... raped .... beaten ...

and then set on fire .... please .... so he can understand what his victims experienced ....

[Tommy_Carcetti]

87. And his victims will remain dead after the execution.

Futility at its worst.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

93. Funny how I never see threads about things like this happening...

...in Massachusetts, Maine, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan...

[BoneDaddy]

94. AS he should

What he did in addition was abdicate his humanity, see ya!

[sadbear]

99. There is no gray area when it comes to the death penalty

You are either for it or against it. There is no in between.

[guardian]

102. Good

Too bad he'll get lethal injection. He should be tied to a bed, raped repeatedly, doused with gasoline and burned alive.