CT Supreme Court protects trial witnesses

August 15, 2011

Connecticut: Last week, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled in favor of keeping sealed the witness lists for the Joshua Komisarjevsky trial. Komisarjevsky is accused of a triple homicide in 2007. The case has garnered a lot of media attention, leading to a string of court rulings challenging decisions associated with it.

The appellate court ruling reversed the decision by Jon C. Blue, of the New Haven District Superior Court. In the previous decision, Blue found that the lawyers must make public the witness lists, due to the large number of witnesses. This would aid in the jury selection process, since attorneys would be able to vet potential jurors with connections to the witnesses.

However, the Supreme Court decided that releasing the witness lists might jeopardize Komisarjevsky's right to a fair trial. The opinion stated: "With respect to the merits of the trial court’s decision we conclude that the trial court improperly determined that the defendant had not sufficiently demonstrated that the disclosure of the witness list could impair his rights to a fair trial and to prepare a defense. We further conclude that the defendant demonstrated that the potential abridgement of these rights clearly outweighs the right of the intervenors and the public to access this document."