Petit Judge Hospitalized, Postponing Home Invasion Trial

Sept. 20, 2010 — -- The judge in the trial of Steven Hayes, accused in a deadly Connecticut home invasion, has been hospitalized.

Superior Court Judge Jon C. Blue was in the hospital over the weekend after he complained of feeling light-headed, the Hartford Courant reported. The trial will be postponed until at least Wednesday.

No testimony was heard Friday after Hayes suffered seizure-like symptoms. Hayes, 47, is on trial for the 2007 home invasion of Dr. William Petit in Cheshire, Conn. A second man, Joshua Komisarjevsky, 30, is also charged with the crime and will be tried at a later date.

The two men are accused of beating Petit, raping and torturing his wife Jennifer Hawke-Petit along with the couple's two daughters, Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11.

Petit escaped and went for help, but the females were bound to their beds and died in a fire that was allegedly set by Hayes and Komisarjevsky.

Last week, jurors were presented with gruesome evidence of the murder scene, including the girls' burned bodies and their charred beds. The evidence left jurors clearly shaken, with several sobbing while inspecting the photos.

Thomas Ullman, chief public defender for Hayes, told the court Thursday that his client had suffered "seizure-like symptoms" and had urinated on himself Wednesday night, but was healthy enough for Thursday's hearing. After Thursday's lunch break, however, Ullman asked the court to delay continuation of the trial until Monday due to Hayes' "medical status," the New Haven Register reported. The prosecution did not object.

It is not clear what caused Hayes' physical break-down. It's not known whether Hayes has a history of seizures and because the judge has imposed a gag order on the case, his lawyer was not available to speak about it.

Details on the judge's condition were not available. Blue was listed in fair condition Sunday night at Yale-New Haven Hospital, the AP reported.

During Thursday's testimony, the Cheshire police captain defended the department's response at the scene of the home invasion .