Jury selection begins today in the Cheshire, Ct., triple murder trial of two parolees in what the New York Times says will be a test of Connecticut sentiment on the death penalty. Jury selection could take six months. “All of the things that are about to play out in the Cheshire case will have a tremendous effect on the death-penalty debate in this state,” said State Rep. Michael Lawlor.
Gov. M. Jodi Rell vetoed a bill to abolish the death penalty, citing the Cheshire case. For death-penalty opponents, the case is a model of what they see as the waste of capital cases in time, money, and misery. The Times says it will be slow, expensive, and grisly. If the jury votes for death, any execution would be years away, if it is ever carried out.