After three days of deliberation, a Connecticut jury has not yet reached a decision in the sentencing of Steven Hayes, who was convicted in October of the 2007 murderer of Hayley Petit, her mother and her sister, WFSB reported. Hayley Petit would have matriculated with the Class of 2011.
The jury, which consists of five men and seven women, adjourned at 4 p.m. Sunday with no final decision as to whether Hayes should serve life in prison or receive the death penalty, CNN reported.
Hayes was convicted last month after two days of deliberation on 16 of 17 charges, including rape, assault, murder and kidnapping. Hayley Petit, her younger sister Michaela Petit and mother Jennifer Hawke-Petit were murdered in July 2007 when Hayes and accomplice Joshua Komisarjevsky allegedly invaded and later set fire to the Petit home in Cheshire, Conn.
After the first full day of deliberations on Friday, jurors were divided 10-3 over aspects of the case that could save Hayes from the death penalty, NBC Connecticut reported. The jurors asked for clarification on the legal requirements for finding that mitigating factors exist, such as the claim advanced by the defense that Hayes was mentally impaired while committing the crimes.
If one of the mitigating factors in question is found to exist, Hayes will automatically be sentenced to life in prison, WFSB reported.
The jurors also requested clarification concerning superior court judge Jon Blue's definition of "unanimous," according to NECN. Blue informed the jurors that they were required to attain complete unanimity in their decision regarding the mitigating factors before they could continue the sentencing procedures.
If jurors cannot all agree whether or not mitigating factors exist in the case, the trial will result in a hung jury, New Haven criminal defense attorney Hugh Keefe told The Hartford Courant. Keefe is not involved with the case.
"This is the first time I cried in a while," Cynthia Renn, Hawke-Petit's sister, said in an interview with WFSB on Sunday. "It's really hard to go home with this being unresolved. I wish we could have seen conclusion, but they will be one way or not."
On Thursday, Hayes's lawyer, Tom Ullmann, told to the jury his client would suffer "a fate worse than death" if sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, CNN reported.
"If you want to end his misery, put him to death," Ullmann said, according to CNN. "If you want him to suffer and carry that burden forever, the guilt, shame and humiliation, sentence him to life without the possibility of release."
Hayes has exhibited suicidal tendencies and previously told a psychologist that he wished to be executed.
William Petit '78 Hayley Petit's father, who survived the attack has lobbied for the death penalty in the past but declined to testify at Hayes's sentencing because of concerns it could give Hayes grounds for appeal, The Dartmouth previously reported.
On Nov. 2, the last remaining alternate juror was caught passing a note asking a court officer on a date as the defense finished its closing arguments, CBS reported. Although a defense lawyer requested that the juror be dismissed, Blue determined the incident would not affect the juror's ability to make impartial decisions after allowing both defense and prosecution attorneys to question her.
The jury was set to resume deliberations at 10 a.m. today.
Hayes and Komisarjevsky allegedly invaded the Petit home on July 23, 2007. The suspects later forced Hawke-Petit to go to a bank to withdraw money, where she alerted a bank employee that her family was being held captive.
The accused later set fire to the home and attempted to flee the scene, but crashed their getaway vehicle into two police cars positioned as a roadblock.
Autopsies of the victims showed that Hawke-Petit had been strangled, while her daughters died of smoke inhalation.
