Jury to start penalty phase for Steven Hayes

New Haven, Conn. (WTNH) - Monday, jurors will hear arguments from both sides in the sentencing phase of convicted killer Steven Hayes.

They will have to decide whether the convicted murderer should get life in prison, or the death penalty.

After sitting through eight days of testimony and gruesome photos from the scene of the 2007 Cheshire home invasion, jurors will once again hear testimony and consider the evidence. But the penalty phase will not be a re-run of the trial.

The lone survivor of the crime, Dr. William Petit, was called by the prosecution in the trial but announced he will not testify at Hayes' sentencing.

Dr. Petit said Connecticut's law on victim impact statements is unclear and could provide Hayes with grounds to appeal his sentence.

Even with a guilty verdict this will be an extremely high stakes phase for the state.

"There's a lot of stress on them to make sure that they present this correctly," explained defense attorney John Walkley. "That they present it without error. They want to make sure they don't make any mistakes. They want to make sure the judge doesn't make any mistakes."

Last Friday the defense and prosecution were back in New Haven Superior Court preparing for the penalty phase. The state requested access to the notes of a psychiatrist who evaluated Steven Hayes. A judge rejected it, but that psychiatrist will be testifying.

Right now it looks like the convicted murderer's mental state will be part of the argument to keep him off death row.

“You’re not just dealing with what the activity was in this case," Walkley continued. "You're talking about who he is and you are concerned with what a psychiatrist will say about his mental health."

The prosecution painted Hayes as down on his luck and desperate for money. Hayes's team has implied that the co-defendant in the case -- Joshua Komisarjevsky -- was responsible for ramping up the violence.

Komisarjevsky is still awaiting trial.

The judge is predicting testimony in the penalty phase will last about two weeks.