A Democrat in the state Senate that had previously supported a bill to abolish the death penalty in the state has changed her mind after meeting with Dr. William Petit, the sole survivor of a brutal home invasion.
Sen. Edith Prague, a Democrat from Columbia, said she asked Senate leaders to defer a vote on the bill out of respect for the Petit family. One of two defendants in the killings of Petit's wife and two daughters is slated to go trial later this year.
"I don't care what anybody says,'' Prague said. "I want to give this man a little ounce of consideration here and that's my reason at this point in time to not support repeal. I have to live with myself...I could not for one second cause this family any more stress.''
Senate President Donald Williams, a Democrat who backs the repeal effort, said the vote is close in the chamber right now but he does not have a formal vote count.
"When we finish running bills on the floor right now, we'll caucus a lot of different bills for the next couple of days. In that caucus we'll take up the death penalty and see where people stand,'' Williams said.
Sen. John Kissel, the ranking Republican on the legislature's judiciary committee and a supporter of the death penalty, said whether the bill will come up for debate in the Senate "is very much in doubt."
"It does not appear that they have the numbers,'' Kissel said of death penalty backers. he said there was particular concern about the "prospective" nature of the bill. As the bill is drafted, the men currently on Connecticut's death row would remain eligible for the death penalty; but in reality, several experts testified during a hearing on the matter that it would be very hard to enforce capital punishment for anyone once a repeal bill goes into effect.
Prague, a longtime supporter of the death penalty who became an opponent in 2009, said she continues to continues to believe the capital punishment should be repealed. But after meeting with Petit and his sister-in-law, she decided she could not support repeal this year.
"I spoke with Dr. Petit and his wife's sister and they told me if we repeal the death penalty at this point in time, it would be more difficult to get the death penalty for Komisarjevsky.
"And I cannot cause this man and his family any more stress so at this point I will not support repeal out of respect for that family,'' Prague said in a brief phone interview this afternoon between votes.
Prague said she met with the family once. "That was enough for me...All I had to do was look at his face.'
Ben Jones of the Connecticut Network to Abolish the Death Penalty, said he and other advocates are waiting to see if the bill will come up in the Senate this year.
"Obviously it's very close....there's a handful of undecideds out there,'' Jones said.
Jones said he understands how the Petit case would have a "very emotional impact" on Prague and other lawmakers.
"Sen. Prague had her concerns, I don't think that's where most of the caucus is,'' Jones said.