The Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on a bill to abolish the death penalty and replace it with life imprisonment at 11:30 a.m. today.
After lengthy debate in 2009 a bill that would have abolished the death penalty made it through the House and Senate only to be vetoed by then-Gov. M. Jodi Rell. This year, the bill is supported by a new governor, but even proponents admit it may be a tough sell.
“Some people think that with Dan Malloy taking the governorship this is a done deal, wrap it up, clap your hands it’s over. I think it’s actually going to be tougher than it was the first time,” Rep. Gary Holder-Winfield, D-New Haven, said in January. “It’s because of a lot of things. Partially because the case will be so visible at the time when we’re doing the bill.”
Three other bills related to the death penalty are on today’s public hearing agenda, along with an act concerning jurisdiction in homicide cases, an act concerning subpoenas for property, and an act concerning habeas corpus reform.
The case Holder-Winfield is referring to is the prosecution of Joshua Komisarjevsky, one of the parolees charged with murdering a mother and her two daughters in Cheshire back in 2007. Dr. William Petit the sole survivor of that 2007 home invasion and murder sat patiently waiting for his turn to speak and offer his support for the death penalty Monday afternoon.
Previous headlines: Families of Murder Victims Call On Legislature to Abolish Death Penalty
