Guilty as charged. Speaking of which, how the F do you forget your baby is under two minutes, and it's not just a case of putting him in the car and going straight to daycare/work, he stopped and had breakfast with him, if I'm not mistaken, put him back in the car, and then forgot, and then not once, in seven hours, remembered?
Well, that's a key question the defense is going to have to try to explain, eh?
IMO it's theoretically possible that he did forget, even in that ridiculously short amount of time. Cooper hadn't been sleeping well, and tired kids that young can and do fall asleep almost instantly after being put in a car seat. My DS did just that up until the age of 7 or 8.
Harris's mind was obviously elsewhere-- rushing to avoid being late for work, and thinking about what he was going to text next, at the very least.
State of mind. Difficult to prove, IMO, unless the State has solid evidence of premeditation. What was initially reported about his internet searches (child free life, etc) was very misleading and/or inaccurate, and it appears some of LE's testimony at the probable cause hearing was as well.
I agree with those who focus on the car seat as possible evidence Harris intended to kill Cooper by "forgetting" him. If I understand it correctly, and if what has been reported about the car seat is accurate, as a parent I find it very difficult to believe Harris could have put his toddler into a car seat that was definitely too small for him and-- the part that strains credulity -- put the strap settings on the shortest available, settings intended to be used for babies.
Even an exhausted child, IMO, would have immediately protested that the straps hurt, and by his own account, Harris was supposedly familiar with the correct way to use car seats.
More subjectively....as a juror I would be receptive to testimony about Harris being a man of routine and habit, almost to the point of OCD, though that can cut both ways.
On the one hand it seems unlikely a man of rigid habit could so quickly "forget" to take care of one of the most important tasks on his morning list -- dropping Cooper off at daycare.
On the other hand, I think it's easier to believe that Harris could forget Cooper so quickly if for whatever reason he checked off that "to do" (in mere minutes) and moved on to what was next on the list.
As for forgetting for hours at work. That's possible, IMO, if (big if) Harris thought Cooper was at daycare, though that would require Harris not remembering he had ever forgotten to drop Cooper off.