Once the jury left the room for lunch:
Staley Clark then says she'll hear a defense motion. Carlos Rodriguez speaks for the defense team. The motion concerns the prosecution's plan to use 3D computer animation of Harris's SUV. The prosecution's Jesse Evans argues that the judge has already ruled on most of the issues connected to the animation, but Rodriguez strongly disputes that.
Rodriguez notes that the 3D animation in question was a second (or later) iteration that was made after the trial had begun.
Evan says the rescan was of the interior of the vehicle and the changes from the first iteration were "negligible." And he notes that Staley Clark has already signed off on use of the animation.
Staley Clark says additional testimony from the police about why the scan was redone is necessary. She then asks for argument on the question of when the new evidence was handed over.
Rodriguez: "This was based on how the trial ... it was apparently brought to the attention of the state through cross-examination of the state's witness that they had not accurately measured the distance between the car seat" and another point in the vehicle.
"They should be stuck with that," Rodriguez says, and not be permitted to make up for the mistake after the trial begins. He notes that the state was required to turn over evidence at least 10 days before trial, absent a specific exemption from the judge.
"This was not done," Rodriguez says.
Prosecutor Evans cites several examples of case law in which evidence was introduced after the start of a trial.
Rodriguez says the prosecution asserted that the scans were 100 percent accurate as presented to the defense before the trial. He asks whether the animation is now more than 100 percent accurate.
"There hasn't been a single witness to testify to the recreation that you're going to see," he says.
Staley Clark says, "Trials are not static by nature. They're dynamic by nature." She rules that there was no discovery violation. "Defense motion 29 is denied in that regard," she says. But she relents on the defense suggestion that the prosecution must call a witness to explain the new animation scan, admonishing that she wants that testimony and the questions surrounding it to be very narrowly focused.
She then asks the parties about her "charge" regarding where Harris's SUV will be placed outside the courthouse and how the jury will be permitted to view it tomorrow morning. The prosecution says it's acceptable. The defense says it needs further refinement, specifically, regarding the distance from which the jury may view the vehicle and the length of time the display will take.
Staley Clark tells the parties to work out those issues among themselves and suggests that they get to it right away.
The six attorneys, three for each side, now stand in a tight circle and confer quietly.
http://www.ajc.com/news/local/minute-minute-the-justin-ross-harris-trial-oct/zCtR2UTSpDjvLHUznmDZ7H/
