Have we become just a mob?

Joshua Komisarjevsky

Today begins the trial for Joshua Komisarjevsky, the second defendant in the murders of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters, Haley and Michaela, of Cheshire, Connecticut.

Another man, co-defendant Steven Hayes, sits on Connecticut's death row for his role in the crimes committed against this family over a six-hour period in July 2007.

And a mob mentality seems to have taken hold of the public.

People are angry, and rightfully so. What occurred that warm, rainy summer's night reminds each of us that we remain vulnerable to stranger violence even while tucked snug in our beds in our homes. Though the chances of such an attack actually happening to any one household are quite remote in this country, what happened to the Petits hit way too close for many, both emotionally and geographically. Some would rather get this nightmare over with by dispensing with due process and invoking mob justice.

The complex emotional reaction of the public at large can seemingly be summed up by a New Testament paraphrase: crucify them.  Some have even suggested in print (usually in post-news article rants) that a trial is not required and they these men deserve to be taken out and ________________ (insert preferred violent method of killing here). They are deadly serious, their judgement clouded chiefly by anger and a sense of "there but by the grace of God go I."

Have we forgotten that the United States is a nation of laws and processes? Simply put, due process is about fairness. It's about preventing the wrongful conviction of the innocent. It's about the scales of justice being blind and balanced and rendering judgement only after all of the evidence is presented before a jury of our peers.

Our forefathers were so passionate about due process that they put it into the Constitution in Amendments 5 AND 14. It is strongly support by case law. In the U. S., we don't throw 200-plus years of case law just to satisfy the human need for revenge. Leave that to the world's dictators.

It is a process designed to protect the innocent from being wrongly accused and convicted.  Defending Joshua Komisarjevsky will not be an easy task. He and Hayes rank high among the most despised men in Connecticut history.

L to R: Jeremiah Donovan, Todd A. Bussert and
Walter C. Bansley, III. (PHOTO CREDIT: Bettina
Hansen, Hartford Courant)

Therefore, I must express my admiration for his defense team of Jeremiah Donovan, Todd A. Bussert and Walter C. Bansley, III. Despite overwhelming odds and vehement public sentiment against this defendant, they have taken on the monumental (and likely futile) task of giving him the best possible defense. I don't always agree with their legal tactics, but they are to be praised for endangering both their practices and their lives in the name of a bigger ideal: a fair and accessible justice system.