Trial - Ross Harris #5

[Hope4More]

No, we don't know if it was hostility or not. So we have to take it into context with his actions and behavior, imo.

I think his behavior shows me that he disrespected and dishonored his son, routinely. He is lying next to him in bed, while sexting a 15 yr old. :no:

I've been thinking more about whether or not the sexting might be significant, thanks to y'all who are taking the time to present arguments why it might, not just opinions that it did; I need the "hooks" of facts to anchor thinking, and these arguments have challenged me to reconsider.


On this example-- that RH "disrespected and dishonored his son" by sexting (with anyone) next to his son. IMO, the fact of RH sexting next to Cooper does not indicate any "disrespect" towards Cooper, nor does it dishonor Cooper (though I'm not sure exactly what that means?).

Cooper didn't have any way of knowing what his daddy was typing on his phone, and whatever dishonor there was belonged solely to RH, imo.

But what seems significant, imo, is the objective fact that RH found it possible to have his son nearby (one life) as he sexted ("double life"). What does that say that's directly relevant to the 18th, if anything?

1. That RH could compartmentalize so well that he wasn't aware of Cooper when he was actively sexting, even with Cooper right next to him? Which is not about not loving Cooper, but being able flip a switch and be entirely focused on his online activities.

2. That he could be aware of Cooper in some vague way, as in, know he was there, but not to the extent he was focusing on him whatsoever, making it more possible to forget him, plain vanilla or FBS?

Still thinking this over.......

 

[Hope4More]

Confused me as well. Definitely had the impression it was 37 which was mind boggling. Glad that was cleared up.

I've pulled up the trial video to rewatch that part. It's possible that Stoddard's count of 36 was the total number of women also replying to the Whisper meme(s) RH was "chatting on."

Kinda like on a forum, maybe? For example , if there were 36 folks posting on this thread right now, I suppose it's technically accurate to say we are all having a conversation with 35 other people, but that's not really the case.

The State didn't make clear the exact extent of RH's texting/sexting that day, and I don't think the DT wanted to dwell too much on the subject, for obvious reasons.

 

[minor4th]

He's been charged with 11 counts related to sexting MINORS. If he had been reported by a teen who got mad at him or a parent who found his D pic on their daughters phone....Cooper could have been removed from the home and placed in foster care while authorities investigated

Definitely bad behavior that is cause for alarm - and could lead to his child being removed from him. But that's not what led to Cooper's death.

 

[minor4th]

I've been thinking more about whether or not the sexting might be significant, thanks to y'all who are taking the time to present arguments why it might, not just opinions that it did; I need the "hooks" of facts to anchor thinking, and these arguments have challenged me to reconsider.


On this example-- that RH "disrespected and dishonored his son" by sexting (with anyone) next to his son. IMO, the fact of RH sexting next to Cooper does not indicate any "disrespect" towards Cooper, nor does it dishonor Cooper (though I'm not sure exactly what that means?).

Cooper didn't have any way of knowing what his daddy was typing on his phone, and whatever dishonor there was belonged solely to RH, imo.

But what seems significant, imo, is the objective fact that RH found it possible to have his son nearby (one life) as he sexted ("double life"). What does that say that's directly relevant to the 18th, if anything?

1. That RH could compartmentalize so well that he wasn't aware of Cooper when he was actively sexting, even with Cooper right next to him? Which is not about not loving Cooper, but being able flip a switch and be entirely focused on his online activities.

2. That he could be aware of Cooper in some vague way, as in, know he was there, but not to the extent he was focusing on him whatsoever, making it more possible to forget him, plain vanilla or FBS?

Still thinking this over.......

To me that would have more validity if there were any evidence that the texting and sexting had caused any decline in Cooper's care in the past. We have not seen that he neglected his son so that he could keep texting.

We do have instances of him ending phone calls so he could go pick up Cooper. That is about the only linkage to the two that we have heard that I can recall.

Did he spend too much time on his phone? It's hard to say since we have not heard that it caused problems in his marriage or job or with his community relationships. Of course sexting with minors and even other ladies is not healthy behavior when someone is married (and criminal in the instances of sexting minors) ...but we haven't heard any evidence that Leanna had made an issue of him spending too much time on the phone or that he was disciplined or reprimanded at work for failing in his job. Nor have we heard any concerns about him not paying enough attention to Cooper or neglecting him in any way.

Perhaps that is where this was all heading, but as of the time Cooper died, it doesn't seem like all the phone time was affecting major areas of his life.

 

[minor4th]

Is there a screen capture somewhere of Ross' phone activity for the whole day that Cooper died?

The State has rested, and I still don't feel like I have a good understanding about just how much Ross was on his phone that day - especially in the morning until the time he got to work.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[SuperTmo]

I am soooo sorry that happened to you and your little girl. It is serious and it stays with you forever. Nothing can take the memory of being exposed to something like that away from you. You were a good mom and did the right thing. You got yourself and your daughter away from him. Hugs to both of you.

Thanks. I am grateful that she was too young to recall the reasons why her visits stopped suddenly. She just knows she doesn't like going over there at all, ever. He is such an awful person. I see a lot of him in RH, which is scary. I wouldn't be surprised one bit if he was aggressive with LH in order to get his way.

 

[dizzychick]

How will the defense explain away the foul smell of death in the car ? Seems like Ross would have smelled that as soon as he got into the car???

 

[Hope4More]

Is there a screen capture somewhere of Ross' phone activity for the whole day that Cooper died?

The State has rested, and I still don't feel like I have a good understanding about just how much Ross was on his phone that day - especially in the morning until the time he got to work.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Not for the whole day.

 

[minor4th]

How will the defense explain away the foul smell of death in the car ? Seems like Ross would have smelled that as soon as he got into the car???

That's going to be a non-issue IMO because several witnesses on the scene didn't smell anything either.

 

[minor4th]

Not for the whole day.

For any part of the day? If like to see what's available so I can make some sort of timeline.

 

[minor4th]

Although we may not have been given a log of all phone activity that day, the State has implied that Ross was literally texting and chatting constantly without interruption.

I bought into it but now I'm wondering if that is really accurate. If it were true, you would think the State would have presented something showing a log of all the activity.

We have several people on here referring to his texting as "obsessive" but is there actually evidence to support that? Not being argumentative - I would really like to know.

 

[SuperTmo]

I've been thinking more about whether or not the sexting might be significant, thanks to y'all who are taking the time to present arguments why it might, not just opinions that it did; I need the "hooks" of facts to anchor thinking, and these arguments have challenged me to reconsider.


On this example-- that RH "disrespected and dishonored his son" by sexting (with anyone) next to his son. IMO, the fact of RH sexting next to Cooper does not indicate any "disrespect" towards Cooper, nor does it dishonor Cooper (though I'm not sure exactly what that means?).

Cooper didn't have any way of knowing what his daddy was typing on his phone, and whatever dishonor there was belonged solely to RH, imo.

But what seems significant, imo, is the objective fact that RH found it possible to have his son nearby (one life) as he sexted ("double life"). What does that say that's directly relevant to the 18th, if anything?

1. That RH could compartmentalize so well that he wasn't aware of Cooper when he was actively sexting, even with Cooper right next to him? Which is not about not loving Cooper, but being able flip a switch and be entirely focused on his online activities.

2. That he could be aware of Cooper in some vague way, as in, know he was there, but not to the extent he was focusing on him whatsoever, making it more possible to forget him, plain vanilla or FBS?

Still thinking this over.......

Didn't he take a picture of his wang while Cooper was sleeping on the bed with him? Or was that Anthony Weiner? It's hard to keep all the perverts straight. If he did so this I would say that is disrespectful to Cooper.

 

[Safeguard]

To me that would have more validity if there were any evidence that the texting and sexting had caused any decline in Cooper's care in the past. We have not seen that he neglected his son so that he could keep texting.

We do have instances of him ending phone calls so he could go pick up Cooper. That is about the only linkage to the two that we have heard that I can recall.

Did he spend too much time on his phone? It's hard to say since we have not heard that it caused problems in his marriage or job or with his community relationships. Of course sexting with minors and even other ladies is not healthy behavior when someone is married (and criminal in the instances of sexting minors) ...but we haven't heard any evidence that Leanna had made an issue of him spending too much time on the phone or that he was disciplined or reprimanded at work for failing in his job. Nor have we heard any concerns about him not paying enough attention to Cooper or neglecting him in any way.

Perhaps that is where this was all heading, but as of the time Cooper died, it doesn't seem like all the phone time was affecting major areas of his life.

If spending too much time on one's phone/pc was an indication parental hostility, indifference... neglect or other dangerous parental mental state, there would be a whole world of people who potentially, don't care about/love their kids.

I see it all the time; people texting while driving, at school funtions, at parks and playgrounds, while shopping...

I am often amazed/alarmed at the situations... I see so many potentially nasty things that could happen, in a split second, (at the train station, I've often seen cell use with kids right on the platform, which is just insane if you ask me!),

I've seen many a parent look up from a screen, in the nick of time, to "parent"... a curious child!

Yet it doesn't appear to signify poor parenting or lack of love to the population in general, because it is incredibly common and people are doing it everwhere, all the time.

 

[SuperTmo]

That's going to be a non-issue IMO because several witnesses on the scene didn't smell anything either.

The door was opened for awhile when other people had the opportunity to get a whiff of that car. When Ross got in it was totally closed up and hot as hell. There had to be at a minimum the distinct smells of toddler sweat and a wet diaper. I would think that would be strong inna tiny space but would have aired out quickly once Cooper was out of the car.

 

[katydid23]

I've been thinking more about whether or not the sexting might be significant, thanks to y'all who are taking the time to present arguments why it might, not just opinions that it did; I need the "hooks" of facts to anchor thinking, and these arguments have challenged me to reconsider.


On this example-- that RH "disrespected and dishonored his son" by sexting (with anyone) next to his son. IMO, the fact of RH sexting next to Cooper does not indicate any "disrespect" towards Cooper, nor does it dishonor Cooper (though I'm not sure exactly what that means?).

Cooper didn't have any way of knowing what his daddy was typing on his phone, and whatever dishonor there was belonged solely to RH, imo.

But what seems significant, imo, is the objective fact that RH found it possible to have his son nearby (one life) as he sexted ("double life"). What does that say that's directly relevant to the 18th, if anything?

1. That RH could compartmentalize so well that he wasn't aware of Cooper when he was actively sexting, even with Cooper right next to him? Which is not about not loving Cooper, but being able flip a switch and be entirely focused on his online activities.

2. That he could be aware of Cooper in some vague way, as in, know he was there, but not to the extent he was focusing on him whatsoever, making it more possible to forget him, plain vanilla or FBS?

Still thinking this over.......

Here is why I think it is disrespectful and dishonors his son, when he is sexting minors while his boy is laying next to him----

You say that the boy does not know what his dad is doing. But that is not the point, imo. I think that a parent is supposed to be loving, caring, and connected with their toddler. The child only can relate by mutual nonverbal interactions. A child has complete trust in Daddy and wants to feel total emotional connection. So it is deceitful and twisted, in my opinion, to be laying next to your child, while sending pictures of your junk to a 14 yr old. That has to mess up the child because it will feel weird and phony, not sincere and genuine with the parent.

And I don't understand how it wouldn't dishonor their child. Dad is doing something that could send him to jail and/or get the child removed from the home. How does it not disrespect/dishonor the child to willfully do that, while laying right beside him in bed?

 

[katydid23]

Although we may not have been given a log of all phone activity that day, the State has implied that Ross was literally texting and chatting constantly without interruption.

I bought into it but now I'm wondering if that is really accurate. If it were true, you would think the State would have presented something showing a log of all the activity.

We have several people on here referring to his texting as "obsessive" but is there actually evidence to support that? Not being argumentative - I would really like to know.

I say it is obsessive because he sexted until 3 am, then began sexting again at 5:30 am. That seems out of control, imo. That gave him less than 3 hours of sleep. I would say that was a hobby that turned into an obsession.

 

[Hope4More]

About that carseat.

I missed this part of Stoddard's direct. Stoddard read through a text exchange between Leanna and Ross dated May 12, 2014, in the AM.

RH hadn't heard back from CFA about his application and was worried that meant he'd been rejected. Leanna told him it didn't mean anything he hadn't heard, not to worry.

The texting began, though, with Leanna telling him to get in touch with her ASAP about the carseat. She had driven off with the rear facing seat in her car, and said it would take her an hour to return it, she was on her way to a work site. She apologized profusely for taking the seat accidentally, but did venture that she thought perhaps Cooper was old enough now for the front facing seat.

Ross clearly disagreed, and (imo) guilted her for "forcing" him to use the front facing seat that day. (Something along the lines of, [either he or another dad] had used a front facing seat to take son to a football game without disaster, and it looked like he would have to take Cooper to daycare in the front facing, given she hadn't left him any choice). More apologies by Leanna.

RH told her he was just depressed by not hearing from CFA, hungry, and frustrated by (something to do with Cooper's clothes), and "now the car seat."

If nothing else, looks like Leanna may have taken the big boy seat to Alabama because she thought it better, and Ross didn't switch it back out afterwards because he disagreed.

 

[katydid23]

Definitely bad behavior that is cause for alarm - and could lead to his child being removed from him. But that's not what led to Cooper's death.

According to what seems to be the defense theory, it might have been the contributing factor. FBS is triggered by fatigue. His fatigue was cause by his staying up all night sexting---and only getting 2 and a half hours of sleep. If so, sexting minors was a major cause of the tragic death, imo.

 

[Threeplus1]

The door was opened for awhile when other people had the opportunity to get a whiff of that car. When Ross got in it was totally closed up and hot as hell. There had to be at a minimum the distinct smells of toddler sweat and a wet diaper. I would think that would be strong inna tiny space but would have aired out quickly once Cooper was out of the car.

When this story first broke, there were initial reports of an odor from the vehicle. I distinctly recall because I posted about it here and was told I was mistaken and that there were not reports of an odor. I had seen it on television and read it in msm. By the time I went back to link the exact article that said there was an odor, it had been updated and condensed and no longer referenced reports of an odor. I believe another poster here confirmed that they read it, too, though. In any event, someone definitely did report an odor when this story broke. Whether everyone else smelled anything or reported on it, at least one officer did from the beginning.

 

[katydid23]

If spending too much time on one's phone/pc was an indication parental hostility, indifference... neglect or other dangerous parental mental state, there would be a whole world of people who potentially, don't care about/love their kids.

I see it all the time; people texting while driving, at school funtions, at parks and playgrounds, while shopping...

I am often amazed/alarmed at the situations... I see so many potentially nasty things that could happen, in a split second, (at the train station, I've often seen cell use with kids right on the platform, which is just insane if you ask me!),

I've see many a parent look up from a screen, in the nick of time, to "parent"... a curious child!

Yet it doesn't appear to signify poor parenting or lack of love to the population in general, because it is incredibly common and people are doing it everwhere, all the time.

But most of those parents are looking at their phone to see sports scores or stock exchange data or their FB comments, or look at instagram etc.

How many of them are sexting minors or setting up appointments with prostitutes or afternoon hookups with strangers?