The Grand Jury & Trial

[Magdalyn]

While many of us say we would never forget our children in a hot car, more than 500 have died just that way since the beginning of this century according to the advocacy group Kids And Cars.

And director Amber Rollins said there has never been a case where someone intentionally left their child in a car to die.

http://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/i-team/121080400-story

RSBM:

I wonder, out of those 500-ish cases, how many of those 500-ish caregivers searched the internet for hot car deaths and what the temperature needs to be for that to occur AND how to survive in prison just prior to the actual hot car death. :thinking:

 

[Magdalyn]

IIRC, JRH backed in at work, and had no rear camera, so should have seen the car seat and Cooper's head inches from his face.

Has this been asked and answered: Did he always back his car into a space? Did he park where he usually does? If he parked in a different than usual spot, did he park where it was unlikely anyone nearby would notice a toddler still strapped in all day long? If he didn't always back in to a space, could he have premeditated/chosen to back in that day so that when he left in the afternoon for the movie, he had no reason to look behind him and 'see' Cooper before he left the lot?

 

[eileenhawkeye]

I'm going to make a prediction about the national media coverage of this case:

Outside of possibly HLN, I don't think the trial is going to get the amount of coverage trials like Zimmerman, Anthony, or Peterson got. I don't think you'll see daily updates by the national media, such as GMA talking about the case every day for six weeks. If they do, it will be blink and you'll miss it. However, I think the verdict is going to get huge amounts of attention. I predict the national media will highly exaggerate how much coverage they gave the trial after the verdict comes in. I think this trial will be considered one of the "trials of the decade" regardless of how much media coverage it really gets.

What is everyone else's prediction?


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[BrownRice]

Re: the "separation"

I think it could mean they have been separated (physically) from the day this happened. He has been in jail and she later filed for divorce. So, for all intents and purposes, they have been separated since this happened. It is not being reported that she filed for a separation that day.

 

[BrownRice]

On another note, I find the jury selection fascinating with the overwhelming number of people saying they think he is guilty.

 

[eileenhawkeye]

On another note, I find the jury selection fascinating with the overwhelming number of people saying they think he is guilty.

They should have moved the trial out of Cobb County. His lawyer's claims for a change of venue were really bad though. If I remember correctly, one example he used was that three random Twitter users replied to a news tweet saying Ross is guilty. He could have sent out a questionnaire or done a poll asking people if they knew about the case, their opinion, etc. I have to wonder why such little effort was made convincing the judge to get a change of venue. Future appeal possibility?

 

[gngr~snap]

Cobb RARELY allows for a change of venue. Lynn Turner is the only one I can remember right now.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynn_Turner_(murderer)

Maybe Fred Tokars?
Anyway it doesn't happen often, but in this case, IMO it needs a change of venue!


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[Jinkasaurus]

There is one detail that sticks out the most in my mind on this case- the fact that he went to breakfast, took the child out of the car and into the restaurant, ate breakfast with him, put him back in the car seat, and then drove just a short distance to his office.

Here is a good article that features Dr. Diamond's research on this topic, as well as several cases where people forgot children in cars. Its a good read for anyone interested in this case: https://www.washingtonpost.com/life...e0fe3a-f580-11e3-a3a5-42be35962a52_story.html

 

[magnolia]

There is one detail that sticks out the most in my mind on this case- the fact that he went to breakfast, took the child out of the car and into the restaurant, ate breakfast with him, put him back in the car seat, and then drove just a short distance to his office.

Here is a good article that features Dr. Diamond's research on this topic, as well as several cases where people forgot children in cars. Its a good read for anyone interested in this case: https://www.washingtonpost.com/life...e0fe3a-f580-11e3-a3a5-42be35962a52_story.html

Thanks, I just briefly browsed through the article. Will read all when I have more time. I gasped when I ran across this. I cannot imagine.

Several people -- including Mary Parks of Blacksburg -- have driven from their workplace to the day-care center to pick up the child they’d thought they’d dropped off, never noticing the corpse in the back seat.

 

[Chelly]

Hello old friends. I just saw on the news that this trial is starting - so I'm going to catch up on reading the threads.

Will this be televised?

Welcome back Minor4th.

 

[AlwaysShocked]

"While many of us say we would never forget our children in a hot car, more than 500 have died just that way since the beginning of this century according to the advocacy group Kids And Cars.

And director Amber Rollins said there has never been a case where someone intentionally left their child in a car to die."

And Amber Rollins knows this how?

She might have been better off to say there has never been a case where someone was convicted of intentionally leaving their child in a car to die".
Hopefully this case will change that. There have been a few cases I've read about over the years where it appeared the situation should have been looked into much more closely. One that I can remember was a male judge.

In this case, the internet research is just plain blatant.

 

[eileenhawkeye]

I read an article saying they are averaging an hour of questioning per juror.

For a lot of the potential jurors, it was not just that they've heard about the case on the news, but many said that they discussed the case with family and friends.

Georgia is a big state...They should have moved it to another city. While the case did get national coverage, I think it's different when it happens in the county you live in. It's normal to be interested in a case that happens in your backyard than one that happens hundreds miles away. The case is local, it's getting a lot of publicity, it's horrific, it's unusual...Of course people are going to discuss it with those they know.

With that said, it seems like they have questioned about 10 jurors in total so far, so you could argue that it isn't a big enough sample size for us to say that they should have definitely moved the trial.\

Each side only has 9 strikes that they can use against jurors, unless the judge grants more.

 

[rob]

Does your opinion apply to State expert testimony as well?

I think the expert testimony of Dr. David Diamond might be interesting. For me, it will depend on how impressive his studies are.

For me personally, the problem is, the defense expert gets up and states his case. Then the state expert gets up and states the exact opposite. And they are both experts. Seems to cancel each other out.

(I remember the experts in the Jodi Arias case made me want to scream.)

 

[rob]

"quoting one woman with whom Harris was involved. That same woman said Harris told her he’d never get a divorce because he “wouldn’t want to mess up Cooper’s life.”

http://www.myajc.com/news/news/crime-law/prosecutors-offer-revealing-glimpse-into-case-agai/nqWPR/

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IMO, this is how Coopers death came about." I don't want to mess up his life, I don't want him to be a child of divorce, I don't want to be separated from him, not knowing how he is doing". But I WANT/NEED more out of life. And the Harris family were religious, so what better remedy to the situation than to send him to heaven, into the care of God?
People justify their actions. Pedophiles are just 'loving' the children, embezzlers deserved more than they got, serial killer is on a mission to rid the world of prostitutes, etc... Cooper is better off in heaven.

I do believe it is possible to forget the child. I am thankful that in the '80s when I had a baby, we still had the car seat in the front passenger seat, with my rear view mirror trained on his face. But if it was now, and I was concerned enough to research it, I would have made changes to assure it could never happen to me. Place my purse in the back seat by the car seat, have a sign taped to the steering wheel, whatever it took that it couldn't happen.
RH's own actions is what makes me feel that he is guilty, not the fact that it happened.
All MOO

 

[eileenhawkeye]

Looks like today they are getting more jurors who can be impartial:

11Alive NewsVerified account ‏@11AliveNews 17m17 minutes ago
RT @DuffieDixon Young man who's a rehab aide says he has no bias or opinion about #RossHarris #11alive #hotcardeath

Bill Rankin ‏@ajccourts 36m36 minutes ago
Juror #9 in #RossHarris trial says he can be impartial; he has prior arrests and has son facing murder charge in Douglas County.

Bill Rankin ‏@ajccourts 1h1 hour ago
2d #RossHarris juror - single woman, part-time student and cashier, says she can be fair and impartial.

Duffie Dixon 11AliveVerified account ‏@DuffieDixon 1h1 hour ago
Female juror, part time student, says she has not formed any opinion about guilt or innocence of #RossHarris #11alive

Duffie Dixon 11AliveVerified account ‏@DuffieDixon 2h2 hours ago
Questioning of Juror 7 in #RossHarris murder trial. A Bartow County clerk who says she can be impartial #11alive

11Alive NewsVerified account ‏@11AliveNews 4h4 hours ago
First potential jurors excused for guilty bias in #RossHarris case: http://on.11alive.com/1Sc0Ggk

 

[eileenhawkeye]

Jury selection seems to be going better today. My guess is they read some of the questionaires and eliminated a lot of people based on that.

 

[Irisha]

If my memory serves me correctly, she was a minor and he played the guitar for her at a park in Cherokee County.
About 25 miles away from his home
(It's not like he could bring her home or that he could go to her home if this was a mnor)
I also believe there were at least 3 minors involved, but not much has been reported on that. We may hear more in trial.
*AND my memory could be wrong! It would NOT be the first time!

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Could this be a seperate trial because this victim was a minor?:moo:

 

[gngr~snap]

Could this be a seperate trial because this victim was a minor?:moo:

From what I've read there will be another trial for that.
I am looking for where I read that.
I know judge Staley refused to seperate the 8 indictments from the murder trial, so maybe they will have to rule on that as well.
Here is some more details of his communication with minors. Yuk!
He is so gross to have done this.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/12/us/georgia-hot-car-death-sexting-charges/
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[Laughing]

I hope the prosecution arranges for a car, same made & model, equipped with a car seat, same make & model, with Cooper-sized doll strapped in.

Each juror required to back said car into parking space...to see how close their elbow is to Cooper's head.

 

[gngr~snap]

http://www.wpxi.com/news/trending-n...the-hot-car-death-of-his-son-cooper/208551354

"The eight-count indictment includes two counts of sexual exploitation of children and six of disseminating harmful material to a minor. (He will be tried later on these charges.)"



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