Ross Harris Trial Jury Selection - Tweets, News & Discussion (Brunswick)

[SuzDuJour]

If you go to YouTube and type in a search for Ross Harris, it will bring up the live jury selection. The live one will be marked with a red rectangle and the word 'live' in it.

 

[GA_Peach]

I am not sure what juror is currently being interviewed, but I really like her. She is at least 30 minutes into her interview. Her father was LE killed in the line of duty. Her ex-husband cheated on her and was kicked to the curb. She has served on 4 juries and reached a verdict on one occasion. She has worked with kids (both professionally and on a volunteer basis). She still has a landline... no cell.

ETA - That was juror 23.

 

[Carolina Girl]

They really are asking personal Questions about the prospective jurors and their Families. I have been on a jury for a murder trial and sequestered and never got asked questions like these. They are telling the ones they want to come back to come October 3. It will be awhile before it starts jumping apparently.

 

[Nymeria]

I am not sure what juror is currently being interviewed, but I really like her. She is at least 30 minutes into her interview. Her father was LE killed in the line of duty. Her ex-husband cheated on her and was kicked to the curb. She has served on 4 juries and reached a verdict on one occasion. She has worked with kids (both professionally and on a volunteer basis). She still has a landline... no cell.

ETA - That was juror 23.

She was amazing. Not sure if she will make it or not.
I don't know if they will be concerned that she is practically a pro juror or if they will see it as a plus. Either way I would like to hear more from her!

 

[borndem]

From yesterday:

Three jurors — a self-described “retired housewife,” a high school English teacher from St. Simons and a mother of three from Brunswick — said they could not put aside their belief that Harris was guilty.

Juror No. 4, who was dismissed for cause, said, “I don’t think there’s any excuse for leaving a child in a car. There’s no excuse for that. … That’s murder.”

Cobb County prosecutor Chuck Boring successfully got Staley Clark to strike Juror No. 6 because he’d failed to disclose a 1989 felony conviction. That in and of itself disqualified him from being able to serve on the jury. Moreover, the man — a contractor and father of four — also showed up to court “with an odor of marijuana about him,” Boring said. On top of that, he fell asleep for at least 15 minutes in the jury box as others were being questioned. “Let him go find himself some sleep somewhere,” Staley Clark said, when dismissing Juror No. 6.

Juror No. 1 was struck for cause over the prosecution’s objection. Juror No. 1 said he believed Harris was “not innocent” — an opinion solidified, he said, by the long list of charges against the former Home Depot web developer.

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/hot-car-murder-trial-3-reasons-potential-jurors-we/nsYWF/

Great recap! Thanks, JGirl -- I'm late to the party, but will do better tomorrow!

 

[eileenhawkeye]

Wow just realized this trial is not really active here.
I thought this thread would be hopping...

I don't think we can really judge until it starts. But I would be very surprised if the trial is as publicized and has as much interest as there was back in July 2014.

 

[borndem]

I think we should have a number of Sleuthers on this trial when it starts. One good thing, even if WS'ers aren't keeping up with the jury-seating right now -- because of the availability of seeing the seating, our folks will be in the know for when the actual trial starts. It may be that many of us are trying to get to a good slowing-down point with other cases so that we can watch this trial every day exclusively.

I think a lot of our buds will be here!!

 

[JerseyGirl]

I am not sure what juror is currently being interviewed, but I really like her. She is at least 30 minutes into her interview. Her father was LE killed in the line of duty. Her ex-husband cheated on her and was kicked to the curb. She has served on 4 juries and reached a verdict on one occasion. She has worked with kids (both professionally and on a volunteer basis). She still has a landline... no cell.

ETA - That was juror 23.

more MSM updates:

Seventeen prospective jurors have now been added to the pool. If the current pace is maintained jury questioning should be completed by Sept. 23 as planned.

It is expected that 42 jurors must survive initial challenges for cause — meaning they can sit as fair and impartial jurors. After that, both the prosecution and the defense begin exercising their strikes, believed to be 13 for each side, to get down to 12 jurors and four alternates. Six potential jurors were qualified Wednesday.

___

The two sides disagreed on one juror, No. 19, whom the defense wanted struck for cause because they feared she was “too emotional” to serve on the jury and her inclusion could result in a mistrial. The judge sided with the prosecution.

___

Juror 20 seems made for the Harris trial:
She had an affair, as did the defendant. “When I realize how hurt (my husband) was it broke my heart,” said the woman, now remarried to a man she met online. She lost a child at a young age. Because of cases like this one, she keeps her purse and her children’s diaper bag in the back seat of her car. “I kept hearing, ‘It can happen to anyone, it can happen to anyone.’ … I was very afraid it could happen to me.” She expressed a longstanding interest in the human condition. “Sometimes we forget that everyone has humanity,” she said. Speaking about notorious criminals like Ted Bundy, she said, “I don’t believe you can be sane and do certain things. Are they born that way or do circumstances cause that?”
She was questioned for nearly an hour and was chosen even though she testified she didn’t think she could handle looking at pictures of a dead child, as will be required of jurors in the Harris trial.

___

“I’m old school. If it wasn’t for my son, I wouldn’t have a cell phone,” Juror 23, asked about her familiarity with social media.

http://www.myajc.com/news/news/brea...en-book-as-selection-continues-in-just/nsYry/

 

[JerseyGirl]

Juror No. 16, becoming the only juror struck for cause in the second dozen questioned, is a woman who answers customer service sales calls and has a 16-year-old son, said she could not sit in judgment of another person because she’s a Jehovah’s Witness. “I’m not God, I’m not Jehovah,” she said.

She was the only juror struck for cause from the second batch of a dozen prospective jurors.

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/more-jurors-express-their-feelings-about-ross-harr/nsYrm/

___

Of the second panel of 12 jurors considered, both sides agreed to let 10 jurors return — Nos. 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23 and 24, while consenting to strike Juror No. 16 for cause and debating the merits of leaving Juror No. 19 in the pool.

__

Juror No. 19, a middle school teacher, recounted in the semi-private questioning period known as sequestered voir dire that “the human side of me as a mom” would make it difficult for her to render a decision on the merits of what was presented in court, though she would if it were asked of her.

more info on Juror No. 19: http://www.mdjonline.com/news/jury-...cle_b7a5dcc4-7bb1-11e6-9969-8b8b85355254.html

 

[JerseyGirl]

Heartbreaking. Potential juror 15 says he and his wife have had three stillborn children #RossHarris #hotcardeath

— Duffie Dixon 11Alive (@DuffieDixon) September 15, 2016

http://lawnewz.com/high-profile/pot...ve-questions-before-justin-ross-harris-trial/

 

[JerseyGirl]

The third panel of potential jurors this week will be questioned Friday.

Lawyers are asking potential jurors questions about their personal lives in order to find out how they might handle the case.

Experts said the slow, methodical questioning is necessary to ensure a fair trial.

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/ross-harr...d-to-jury-pool-in-ross-harris-trial/446627940

 

[JerseyGirl]

“It’s hard for me to understand how someone, who’s supposed to be an adult, wouldn’t step up and take notice,” Juror #18 said, when questioned individually about Cooper Harris’ hot-car death in June 2014. This juror, who buys and sells collectibles, comic books and video games on the Internet, said the Harris case made him think of a jarring incident he experienced when he was 10 or 11 years old and living in California. One day, he said, he looked out his bedroom window and saw a child in diapers walking along the street.

He said he ran downstairs and grabbed the child and later learned the child had walked 17 blocks away from home.

“It’s hard for me to how that could happen,” he said.

But as regards to Harris’ guilt or innocence, Juror #18 said he could sit as a fair and impartial juror and decide the case based on the facts and the evidence presented in court.

Juror #18 was declared eligible to serve.

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/more-jurors-express-their-feelings-about-ross-harr/nsYrm/

 

[JerseyGirl]

Juror #25, the first person questioned (Friday morning), disclosed her brother had died earlier this year and that her brother-in-law was once imprisoned for molesting a child. The brother-in-law’s conviction was particularly shocking because he’d been so good to her sister, she said. “It broke my heart.”

The soft-spoken woman, who’s semi-retired, worked for years as a domestic housekeeper on Sea Island. She also said she’s rarely missed a church service over the past three decades. During questioning, she said she had twice been pulled over for speeding, and the first occasion happened on one of her birthdays. But the officer paid her son no mind when he told him he should let her off because of her birthday, she said.

The second time, she was pulled over while “sailing” along on the way to church one evening. “The police car came out of nowhere,” she said. This time, she was given a courtesy warning. The officer, she said with a wide grin, “asked for me to pray for him in church.”

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/jurors-an-open-book-during-ross-harris-jury-select/nsZD9/

 

[JerseyGirl]

Juror 1 - Nothing out of the ordinary, grandfather

Juror No. 1 is an older white male. Kilgore noted that during questioning, Juror No. 1 raised his hand to indicate he expressed an opinion before jury selection, later telling the court he told his wife, “(Harris) probably did something, so he’s not innocent,” in regard to stories that emerged after the discovery of the death of Harris’ 22-month-old son, Cooper.

Kilgore added that he was troubled by a juror playing semantics in regard to Harris’ presumption of innocence while telling the court in another instance that, while he stands by his opinions, he could set them aside to judge the case on the evidence and the law presented in the courtroom.

Boring told the judge he felt Juror No. 1’s insistence on his own objectivity was genuine, noting that other attorneys attempted to split similar hairs during other instances of jury selection. However, Staley Clark said the juror’s admission wouldn’t change his opinion on the presumption of innocence was disqualifying and granted Kilgore’s motion to strike for cause.

http://goldenisles.news/news/local_...cle_76db5a7a-e3a7-5350-ab08-048cf2816de9.html

 

[JerseyGirl]

Veronica Waters ‏@MissVWaters 2m2 minutes ago
#RossHarris Juror #3's opinion: "There is no excuse for that...there's just no way you could do this. If you did, that's murder." @wsbradio

Christian Boone ‏@ReporterJCB 2m2 minutes ago Brunswick, GA
"I don't think there's any excuse fur leaving a child in a car" Juror 3 #RossHarris #hotcardeath

Veronica Waters ‏@MissVWaters 49s49 seconds ago
#RossHarris judge tells Juror #3 to return 10/3. Now, I'm now rethinking tweets about what "Come back Oct 3" really means @wsbradio

Juror No. 3, an older white female, told the court during questioning that after sitting through two days of selection, hearing questions from the attorneys and “being a mom,” she didn’t “see any excuse for leaving a child unattended.”

Under further questioning, she admitted she believed Harris, 35, was guilty and she wouldn’t be changing her mind.

In addition to Juror No. 6, others struck for cause by agreement between the state and defense were Jurors No. 3, 8, and 9.

http://goldenisles.news/news/local_...cle_76db5a7a-e3a7-5350-ab08-048cf2816de9.html

 

[JerseyGirl]

Cathy ‏@courtchatter 57s58 seconds ago
#RossHarris - Juror #8 - Woman says he's guilty and she can't put her opinion aside.
And yet, she's coming back Oct. 3rd.

Juror No. 8, a younger white female, told the court, “Honestly, I don’t know that I could” maintain the presumption of innocence. She said that as a student at the University of Georgia, she worked at a daycare in Athens and during the next two semesters worked in metro Atlanta and found herself heavily exposed to news coverage of the child’s death and the subsequent investigation.

She also admitted that she, too, believed Harris guilty and was solid in her opinion.

http://goldenisles.news/news/local_...cle_76db5a7a-e3a7-5350-ab08-048cf2816de9.html

In addition to Juror No. 6, others struck for cause by agreement between the state and defense were Jurors No. 3, 8, and 9.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Veronica Waters ‏@MissVWaters 14m14 minutes ago
#RossHarris Juror #9's opinion: Not sure she can set it aside. "As a parent...it's just unfathomable." @wsbradio

Cathy ‏@courtchatter 13m13 minutes ago
#RossHarris - Juror #9 has a "fixed" opinion that is he is guilty. AND she'll be back Oct 3rd.

Juror No. 9, also a younger white female, said she wasn’t sure she could be impartial and called the alleged crime “unfathomable.”

Under questioning by Kilgore, she also said she believed Harris was guilty.

In addition to Juror No. 6, others struck for cause by agreement between the state and defense were Jurors No. 3, 8, and 9.

 

[DexterMorgan]

Imo. The big question is was this a accident. Now him texting other women while accidentally killing his wife is one thing. But why kill the child which is his only son?

So imo. He would have killed the wife and used the son to obtain more benefits like tax credit and other welfare benefits, while finding a woman that loves kids to help take care of his son.

Jmo.

His wife would be more in the way than his son.

So maybe this was an accident.

Unless he found out that the child wasn't his. Jmo

 

[just the facts pls]

Thanks everyone for keeping us all up to date (and posting links!) with regards to jury selection.

I am just tuning in now, and they are at lunch.

 

[Nymeria]

___

Juror 20 seems made for the Harris trial:
She had an affair, as did the defendant. “When I realize how hurt (my husband) was it broke my heart,” said the woman, now remarried to a man she met online. She lost a child at a young age. Because of cases like this one, she keeps her purse and her children’s diaper bag in the back seat of her car. “I kept hearing, ‘It can happen to anyone, it can happen to anyone.’ … I was very afraid it could happen to me.” She expressed a longstanding interest in the human condition. “Sometimes we forget that everyone has humanity,” she said. Speaking about notorious criminals like Ted Bundy, she said, “I don’t believe you can be sane and do certain things. Are they born that way or do circumstances cause that?”
She was questioned for nearly an hour and was chosen even though she testified she didn’t think she could handle looking at pictures of a dead child, as will be required of jurors in the Harris trial.

___[/url]

THIS is the lady I was talking about in my first post.
She really put it all out there!