Trial - Ross Harris #5

[dizzychick]

I recall this happening in Dallas Texas in the late 80's maybe. Seems like the parent worked for the post office corporate it may have been the father, I just cant remember but they just called it a tragic accident and let them go, no charges. This was ofcourse before cell phones. Seems like we have more charges for things like this that were once called accidents

 

[Nana46]

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.

This interesting......I still find it strange (maybe wrong word,lol) that he spent so much time on his phone/computers whatever....surely that played into his marriage troubles somewhat........I still don't understand how he even did his job if he did.....no clock in time, no clock out time,etc. free to go to lunch for however long......I still suspect there was big trouble in his marriage and there is no way we can ever verify that.....I feel that is ex-wife is going to testify for him when she comes to trial.....I don't understand that and I don't have to I guess.....he is still despicable to me and always will be. IMO.

 

[SuperTmo]

I wonder how the State is going to handle LH on cross. They will get to question her too, right? If so, are they only limited to what the DT brings up? If that is the case I wonder if the DT will severely limit what they ask her about. I assume the State will have to be gentle with her so they don't upset her because I think that would look bad to the jury.

 

[DeDee]

I agree. That wet diaper baked in the car with the sweat and the odor would have been strong, imo. And the car seat was inches away from the drivers seat. It's really hard for me to believe it did not smell in that hot car.

We have no way of knowing whether or not JRH rolled down all four windows as he departed work. He could have left them down until he nears the point where he wheels into Akers Mill and slams on the brakes to a squealing stop.

My gut tells me this happened: JRH did roll down the windows for a couple of minutes but rolled them up again prior to stopping his vehicle after 'discovering' Cooper.

 

[Safeguard]

Just an interesting picorial, ( if a little OT), about how disconnected from our families we have become...

Removed: Photographer Removes Phones From His Photos To Show How Terribly Addicted We’ve Become:







http://www.boredpanda.com/portraits-holding-devices-removed-eric-pickersgill/

 

[Rocco]

I don't think the smell was relevant to the SW. Everyone knew he was dead. I don't think the car smelled, I think Cooper smelled. Once he was not in the car and the door was standing open, why would it stink in there? Whether it stunk or not is not an issue for me because RH would have absolutely seen Cooper when he got in his car and put his stuff on the passenger side. There is no way he wouldn't have seen him.

I actually have a Chicco infant seat in my garage and I drive a Honda CRV. I'm only 4'10.5" so my view would be different but I'm tempted to go install it and see what I see.

Yes, the man who did CPR on Cooper said there was a bad odor 'like a dirty diaper or something'. But we know from the autopsy he did not have a dirty diaper. If he could smell the odor out in the open, so could RH who was right next to him in the vehicle.

 

[SouthernSleuther]

Did RH usually text his wife to ask when she would pick up Cooper from daycare? If not, this is suspicious and could be seen as him supporting his "false memory" of already having dropped off Cooper. Too bad he explained to police that "Cooper must have fallen asleep" in the car since that supports a forgotten baby situation. Is he trying to use both scenarios?

I would love to know this as well, because for me, this points to a planning of the timing for discovery of Cooper in the car.

 

[minor4th]

No mention of death odor in SW's obtained on the 18th.

No mention in the police reports either until more than a year after the fact.

 

[Hope4More]

No mention in the police reports either until more than a year after the fact.

Not the basis for SW on the 18th, (charge: child cruelty in the 1st degrees, felony murder): no odor, limited or no evidence of sexting (supposedly, since Whisper and Kix apps were "hidden" in weather app), much less with minors; no info relating to CFA; no trip to the car to drop off lightbulbs; no evidence that car seat was "too small."

Asserted basis for SW: RH barely attempted CPR; RH didn't call 911 (others did, and RH said he saw them calling); RH was on the phone, talking to someone (false) and was noncompliant when ordered to get off (true); RH's behavior was odd, screaming one moment and calm the next.

RH admitted to researching children dying in hot cars and hot it had to be (false), and said he feared that could happen to his child.

 

[Threeplus1]

No mention in the police reports either until more than a year after the fact.

The PIO talked about the smell at the initial press conference, but there's no proof of that now, unfortunately.

 

[RANCH]

No mention in the police reports either until more than a year after the fact.

It's hard for me to come to a definite conclusion about any possible smells using the evidence that we have. That makes it impossible for me to say with any degree of certainty that RH must have experienced an overwhelming odor when he got into his car. JMO

 

[Hope4More]

It's hard for me to come to a definite conclusion about any possible smells using the evidence that we have. That makes it impossible for me to say with any degree of certainty that RH must have experienced an overwhelming odor when he got into his car. JMO

There was no odor of decomp. Cooper had sweated. Cooper's diaper had urine, no feces in it. Cooper's diaper wasn't loose in the car, it was on his body, covered by shorts, and Cooper was sitting in a car seat, which meant even less circulation of the odor of a dirty diaper.

What odor?

 

[TexMex]

The jurors are allowed to use their own common sense and real-world experience to decide if one version of events is more plausible than another.
IMO they will be able to decide among them if a dead body that's been in a 120 degree car for five hours would have smelled enough to alert a driver inches away from it.

 

[minor4th]

It's hard for me to come to a definite conclusion about any possible smells using the evidence that we have. That makes it impossible for me to say with any degree of certainty that RH must have experienced an overwhelming odor when he got into his car. JMO

Exactly. If some didn't smell it, it's possible Ross didn't smell anything either. One of the detectives even testified as much.

 

[Rocco]

The jurors are allowed to use their own common sense and real-world experience to decide if one version of events is more plausible than another.
IMO they will be able to decide among them if a dead body that's been in a 120 degree car for five hours would have smelled enough to alert a driver inches away from it.

And if the good Samaritan, who did CPR and was so distraught over the death of the victim that he immediately left the scene, lied when testifying in court.

 

[matou]

If Cooper didn't stink of death it could be because he had only been dead for less than 4 hours. JMO

 

[TexMex]

And if the good Samaritan, who did CPR and was so distraught over the death of the victim that he immediately left the scene, lied when testifying in court.

Along with two police officers, Ferrell and Grimstead

http://www.ajc.com/news/local/anoth...ell-death-hot-car-suv/2Rslytv7ny6DpezAETrT8K/

“Normally, I’d associate (the smell) with death,” Carey Grimstead, a former crime scene investigator, told jurors.

Grimstead said he detected the “sickly” smell when he processed the car more than six hours after Harris pulled into the Akers Mill Square shopping center and said he’d just realized he’d left Cooper inside his hot car for hours that day.


James Ferrell, preceded Grimstead on the witness stand Wednesday. Ferrell said he noticed an odor at the shopping center parking lot when standing close to the opened driver’s side door. He then stuck his head in and took a sniff.

“It was a combination of smells,” Ferrell testified. “It smelled like sweat. It smelled like a diaper. And then it smelled like the odor of death.”

 

[minor4th]

I just read that the Defense only plans to call two more witnesses and Leanna will be called tomorrow. Not sure if this is true - it was an Atlanta reporter on Twitter.

 

[ScotAng]

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've quoted the wrong post, but you also wonder about activity on the 18th, around morning onwards, I think?

On State's direct with Smith, there's an Activity Log page on screen. Easiest way to get the clearest picture of the communication level is by stopping after the first eight names. I stopped before Stonerbaby.

In the interests of fairness, exclude the bamaxh blocks (4 user names, - Jaynie) as there's around 1,200 exchanges between them over a (mistaken) period of time. Keep in mind there is activity between them on the 18th, as testified and evidenced in trial.

Leaving out overnight activity here. From 7.23.17am to 2.07.56pm there are 85 exchanges between RH and the other seven. Start/end activity is to the right of the log.

DT's cross of Smith is where you'll find names of others he 'conversed' with on that date. Some pages scroll through too quickly to freeze. It's obviously not a complete log, but should give you an indicator of sorts.

 

[Rocco]

If Cooper didn't stink of death it could be because he had only been dead for less than 4 hours. JMO

Decomposition starts immediately. The intestines have micro-organisms that don't die with the person. They start the decomposition process immediately by breaking down the dead cells of the intestine. The first signs of the bacteria eating through the gut is a green coloration on the stomach. Seems to me Cooper had that green coloration on his stomach in the autopsy report. Anyone have the link handy to the autopsy report? TIA