HARTFORD, Conn., Jan. 17 (UPI) -- Selecting an impartial jury for a trial in a widely publicized triple-homicide case in Connecticut will be difficult but can be accomplished, experts say.
A jury will hear the case against Steven Hayes, one of two men who allegedly killed a Cheshire, Conn., woman and her two daughters during a 2007 home invasion, the Hartford (Conn.) Courant reported Sunday.
Finding jurors who can impartially consider the evidence against Hayes, accused along with Joshua Komisarjevsky of killing Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two daughters, Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11, will be difficult, but they will be found, experts say.
One of those experts is Vincent Bugliosi, who successfully prosecuted Charles Manson and other defendants accused of the Tate-LaBianca murders in 1969.
"You go into it knowing that unless they're going to lie to you or they've been living in a bank vault, 99 out of 100 people have heard of the case," Bugliosi said. "And human nature being what it is, they may have formed an opinion about it.
"But it's something you know you're going to succeed at. You know you're going to find 12 people who have not formed an opinion and will be fair," he said.
Hayes' attorneys had raised the issue of pre-trial publicity in a failed attempt to delay jury selection, the Courant said.
