As the Cheshire murder trial is headed to the jury, the death penalty has once again moved into the spotlight in Connecticut.
In the hotly contested race for governor, Democrat Dannel Malloy remains opposed to the death penalty, while Republican Tom Foley favors the ultimate penalty in the criminal justice system. Independent Party candidate Thomas E. Marsh takes a stronger position than Foley, saying that the law should be changed to speed up appeals and complete the cases within five years, rather than interminable delays that can conceivably stretch a case out for 20 years. The longest-serving inmate on Connecticut's death row has been there for 21 years.
Malloy said recently that the ongoing death penalty trial of Steven Hayes has not changed his mind regarding the death penalty. Hayes is charged in the arson and triple murder of three members of the Petit family in Cheshire more than three years ago. The judge will issue detailed instructions to the jury Monday, and they will then start their deliberations.
"Listen, my position on the death penalty is long-lived,'' said Malloy, a former prosecutor in New York City. "I prosecuted four homicide cases - had convictions in all of those cases. Sent people away for 25 to life.''
Malloy said he has always had sympathy for the victims of homicide.
"I'm the guy who had to sit down with families who had lost a loved one,'' said Malloy, referring to his days as a prosecutor.
"Having said that, we know that there is precious little connection, if any, documented between the existence of the death penalty in a state and the homicide rate,'' he said. "We know that it has been unfairly, or at least disproportionately, applied to men and women of color. And then when you consider the difference in the race of the victim of the homicide, that becomes an even larger discrepancy. So, based on a number of factors, I would rather we lock people up for the rest of their lives and throw away the key.''