The death penalty issue is back and will be discussed at a judiciary committee public hearing Wednesday.
The hearing is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. in room 2C of the legislative office building.
Last year, lawmakers in both the House and the Senate voted to abolish the death penalty, but did not have the numbers to override Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s veto. This year’s bill would not get rid of capital punishment, but it would attempt to streamline the complicated death penalty process. The bill allows lawmakers to see if there’s some way to fix the “broken system,” said Michael Lawlor, co-chairman of the judiciary committee.
This year’s death penalty bill includes suggestions from a 2003 report by a commission charged with studying the death penalty. It would also recycle an amendment to last year’s bill, which would shorten the end of the appeals process.
The 2003 recommendations were included in the bill because Rell suggested that lawmakers consider the document when she issued her veto message last year, Lawlor added. Recommendations touch on areas such as the cost of the death penalty and the training and experience of prosecutors and defense counsel. The 2003 report also makes suggestions on how to address disparity based on race, ethnicity, gender and other factors.
Lawlor said he does not believe the state can make the death penalty workable, and he supports abolishing it. The governor has said she supports the death penalty and believes that the current law is effective and should not be changed.
Still, Rep. David Labriola, R-Naugatuck, and Rep. William Hamzy, R-Terryville, believe changes can be made to make the death penalty workable by shortening the appeals process in a way that is constitutional, and they asked judiciary committee leaders to raise a death penalty bill again this year.
“Others states do it; why can’t we?” Labriola said, adding that he believes the bill has a good chance of being passed by the legislature.
While Lawlor agreed to a public hearing and said he would likely support the bill, he noted that the timing of the conversation is unfortunate. The bill would not impact the process for two men on trial for allegedly killing Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two daughters, Hayley and Michaela, in a 2007 home invasion in Cheshire, but Lawlor said discussion on the death penalty process will occur at a time when many are frustrated about jury selection in that specific case.
Lawmakers do not know if the lone survivor of the home invasion, William Petit, will testify at Wednesday’s hearing. He waited for hours last year to tell lawmakers that he supported the death penalty.