Trial - Ross Harris #4

[Zoobiegirl]

What I'm wondering now is if it was Stoddard's call to detain RH at the scene, without leaving his fingerprints on that decision. IMO it's quite likely.

The man refuses to see what doesn't conform to his beliefs. He thought, on the 18th, that RH was on the phone talking to a "partner in crime," to paraphrase something Stoddard said in pretrial. He thought that was suspicious enough, along with little else but RH's demeanor, to keep him detained and away from his son's dead body, and to haul him in for questioning.

He knew when he received the call records that RH wasn't on the phone for 6 minutes, if he made that call at all. He KNEW that, yet still went after the terrified daycare teacher Ms. Gray, trying to get her to say RH spoke with her. And he knew it when he testified in court. What does that make him?

I am very angry at the way Ms. Grey was treated by Stoddard. She could have lost her job! and then had difficulty finding another! I was wondering if she has recourse now to file a libel/slander case?

 

[Rocco]

For me it is 3 main things, maybe 4.

1. the extremely short time span. 30 seconds later he believes he dropped off the baby? Hard for me to accept that he got so deeply in thought that he totally forgot his baby was there in that 30 seconds...

2. The closeness of the baby seat to the drivers seat. It protrudes so far from the back seat that it was just inches away from the drivers seat.

3. His statements about hot cars being his and his wife's greatest fear. And his posting about that online---how terrible it would be if his kid was in a hot car accidentally.

4. His whining and complaining about his child blocking his ability divorce and his saying the joker drained his paycheck.

So the sexting is just icing on the cake, imo.

The 'greatest fear' statement is so phony. The simple solution is: men, put your briefcase in the back seat next to the car seat; women, put your purse in the back seat next to the car seat. And if you want to get high tech for about $75, there are 2 piece devices that can be used, one hooks on to the car seat strap and the other clips on to your key chain. If those 2 devices are separated by 15 feet, an alarm goes off. One would think for all the time he spent online, he would have come across that information---being how he was so fearful and all.

 

[Zoobiegirl]

I guess I am falling behind here......I really would like to read what charge and sentence you guys think is applicable here....specifically if you believe RH forgot him.......seriously....I am trying to wrap my head around this....at the end of the day he should be held accountable for something.....so what? If you think LE is not/was not doing their job, a child still died so isn't RH responsible? Please somebody help me out....if you think he has been overcharged by whomever then what is your answer? I really really am sincere....help me out here. I think LE from the onset knew something was hinky here...and I don't know how/what they knew but it had to be big for them to take him in as soon as they did.....maybe I trust LE too much I don't know....but I just am not seeing RH being railroaded here...his child his dead....that is a fact.

I understand your feelings. However, the state still needs to prove guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. We may think he is a for the sexting. We may think he was a lousy husband. Neither of those changes the burden of proof for the state to prove the charges. That is what protects all of us from a corrupt police state.

 

[Zoobiegirl]

I believe that is a term that this "expert" has concocted and is profiting from his testimony. In this case the sexting behavior ties in with his personality, his motivation, and his selfishness. Someone asked if we believed JRH would have forgotten his cell phone in his car? Can we all agree with a resounding *NO*? That kind of sums it up and shows his true priorities in my opinion.

In fact that is one of the things they suggest parents do to avoid leaving a child in a car----put your phone in the back too. Had he done so it would have prevented an accident (not Cooper's death if it were intent of course). I really don't understand the "look twice" public service ads. It seems far more useful to me to put the cell phone in the back. People say we only had these cases after car seats were mandated to go in the back but I think a far greater issue is how cell phones distract us. Of course that is only MO.

 

[katydid23]

Quote Originally Posted by arkansasmimi View Post
JMHO, his demeanor was same as in the other Hearing I watch. He got carried away trying to "explain" a few times and finally caught himself. He was Lead Det and had this HIGH Profile case, that from every single Hearing and now trial, he responds "I don't recall" or I don't remember"

Something kinda funny to me today was when Stoddard gave him the call log from the iPhone5 extraction and the State exhibit. First Stoddard said they were similar but not the same. Stoddard said they better be the same or going to have to shut court down as there a huge problem.

That's when Kilgore asked him about what happens when you call LAA.. then
Stoddard says you have to put in extension number..
Kilgore... and if you don't put in that number?
Stoddard: the call just sits there

Then Kilgore get the CAD from 911 calls, and makes Stoddard realize that the last call RH made was made again (butt call kind of thing) but RH didn't make it, he was already in the rear of Piper Patrol Car. Stoddard has already interviewed Michelle Gray, twice, accused her of lying and yesterday even stated he still thinks she took the call from RH.
If truth be known, he probably still thinks so tonight. But there is no way RH spoke to anyone at that number at that time. Fact.
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I agree that was a very bad portion of cross for Stoddard. He did look inept for missing the timing on that call. Not a good look for him at all.

But I totally disagree that he was LYING about it. A detective would know better than to lie in court about something so easily disproven. It was a stupid error on his part. He never looked closely at the times of the calls compared to the time taken into custody. Really STUPID on his part. But I do not believe it was perjury or a matter of framing anyone. jmo

 

[ReadyorNot]

I believe that is a term that this "expert" has concocted and is profiting from his testimony. In this case the sexting behavior ties in with his personality, his motivation, and his selfishness. Someone asked if we believed JRH would have forgotten his cell phone in his car? Can we all agree with a resounding *NO*? That kind of sums it up and shows his true priorities in my opinion.

I wonder how the defense will spin forgetting your baby but remembering something as trivial as lightbulbs? For me, that is when forgotten baby syndrome goes out the window.

 

[ReadyorNot]

In fact that is one of the things they suggest parents do to avoid leaving a child in a car----put your phone in the back too. Had he done so it would have prevented an accident (not Cooper's death if it were intent of course). I really don't understand the "look twice" public service ads. It seems far more useful to me to put the cell phone in the back. People say we only had these cases after car seats were mandated to go in the back but I think a far greater issue is how cell phones distract us. Of course that is only MO.

That will only work assuming you don't want your kid to die. Every action has a consequence so if that is not a deterrent in itself nothing else will be. I was in Texas this summer and all over the State were nothing but large flashing hot car warnings... Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, and everywhere in between. I havent been to Georgia lately but I am betting they do too.

 

[leelee114]

If Ross planned this, why do you think he swore at Officer Piper?

He's been around LEO. Presumably, he knew it's a bad idea to curse at people in authority--especially authority that can cuff and detain you.

Presumably he also knew adultery was wrong and sexting minors was illegal yet knowledge doesn't seem to link to action with Ross.

Agitation after the fact doesn't negate premeditation. Plenty of cases have a guilty party who reacts negatively towards those with authority and IMO it appears in the moment it dawns on a narcissicist that they are at risk of being unmasked and their plan could be exposed.It can even happen in court where you would assume the accused knows to be on their best behavior but they just can't help themselves.

 

[catpatrol]

I agree completely about the "expert." He had an idea and is making money off being charismatic for defense attorneys.

It's crazy to me that Ross watching a YouTube video was enough to be considered research, but a man with a PhD in Neurobiology and decades of experience studying the brain just has "an idea".

Gravity is a scientific theory too. A theory in science is much more than just an idea. Just because Dr. Diamond's research is considered theory is not a reason to discount it.

 

[catpatrol]

I am very angry at the way Ms. Grey was treated by Stoddard. She could have lost her job! and then had difficulty finding another! I was wondering if she has recourse now to file a libel/slander case?

Same here. That questioning was very disturbing but eye opening to the idea that Stoddard is unwilling to consider anything other than his first assumption. Although he did later admit that it's possible Ross talked to no one. I'm not sure the whole time stamp of the call vs time stamp of RH being detained fully registered with him while he was on the stand.

 

[ilovewings]

My question is: how could he forget his child in only a few minutes from the time they left Chic Fil A to the time he got to Home Depot? what was it? 2 minutes? that just does not seem possible to me. Also, when he got in the car after work, the smell must have been overwhelming, why did he drive for a bit and then stop at a shopping center? why didn't he immediately get out of the car in the Home Depot Parking Lot - those things just don't make sense to me. Let me add, as far as all the sexting goes I think this could back fire on the prosecution: it begins to look like he was distracted by all of that rather than intentionally leaving his baby in the car. I hope they have a charge of negligent homicide.

 

[leelee114]

I understand your feelings. However, the state still needs to prove guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. We may think he is a for the sexting. We may think he was a lousy husband. Neither of those changes the burden of proof for the state to prove the charges. That is what protects all of us from a corrupt police state.

But what do you think he should be charged with?

 

[catpatrol]

I wonder how the defense will spin forgetting your baby but remembering something as trivial as lightbulbs? For me, that is when forgotten baby syndrome goes out the window.

Does the Forgotten Baby Syndrome say that by forgetting one thing, you will thereby forget everything else? Or is it more of a break in habit, leading to forgetting something in your routine?

 

[JudyBolton]

Does the Forgotten Baby Syndrome say that by forgetting one thing, you will thereby forget everything else? Or is it more of a break in habit, leading to forgetting something in your routine?

It is whatever the good Dr. says it is. After all, he is the expert...we're just regular old people with common sense. It seems if some expert can come up with a theory, a compelling name, and a published paper, almost any bad behavior can be explained and minimized.

My common sense still asks this simple question....Would JRH have "forgotten" his cell phone in his car that day? Is there a "Forgotten Cell Phone Syndrome?"

 

[matou]

I'm not sure that science understands how memory even works so not sure about a "forgotten baby syndrome" JMO

 

[leelee114]

It's crazy to me that Ross watching a YouTube video was enough to be considered research, but a man with a PhD in Neurobiology and decades of experience studying the brain just has "an idea".

Gravity is a scientific theory too. A theory in science is much more than just an idea. Just because Dr. Diamond's research is considered theory is not a reason to discount it.

Just because forgotten baby syndrome may exist doesn't mean Ross suffered from it. And oddly enough in an academic piece Diamond wrote he gave a benign example of what can happen when the basal ganglia dominates the HC-PFC. That example was forgetting to go to the grocery store on the way home from work. Ross's ability to remember the light bulbs and inexplicably notify people in the office of his movie plans suggests he wasn't the victim of his basal ganglia that day. Or in other words it was a day full of unique happenings and the only new thing Ross "forgot" was his son. The other option Diamond believes this can occur is when there is a sudden extremely stressful event or crisis which wasn't the case on the day Cooper died.

And I certainly wouldn't compare Diamond's theory to the theory of gravity as gravity is in fact a law and theories surrounding it are meant to explain why it happens. Instead I would compare it to the research that looks into the relation between frontal lobe issues and violent behavior. That research is increasingly being used as a defense these days but unfortunately for the defense teams there comes that moment where the prosector gets the expert to admit that a majority of people with damaged frontal lobes don't turn into violent predators.

 

[catpatrol]

It is whatever the good Dr. says it is. After all, he is the expert...

Well, no, that's not how science works.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Great to see some new faces!

I'll be monitoring some tweets again today as soon as the sites become active.

Is the jury inspecting the car this morning?

Even the youtube link to live streaming is on hold:

[video=youtube;PgYeporTUvs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgYeporTUvs[/video]

 

[catpatrol]

Just because forgotten baby syndrome may exist doesn't mean Ross suffered from it. And oddly enough in an academic piece Diamond wrote he gave a benign example of what can happen when the basal ganglia dominates the HC-PFC. That example was forgetting to go to the grocery store on the way home from work. Ross's ability to remember the light bulbs and inexplicably notify people in the office of his movie plans suggests he wasn't the victim of his basal ganglia that day. Or in other words it was a day full of unique happenings and the only new thing Ross "forgot" was his son. The other option Diamond believes this can occur is when there is a sudden extremely stressful event or crisis which wasn't the case on the day Cooper died.

And I certainly wouldn't compare Diamond's theory to the theory of gravity as gravity is in fact a law and theories surrounding it are meant to explain why it happens. Instead I would compare it to the research that looks into the relation between frontal lobe issues and violent behavior. That research is increasingly being used as a defense these days but unfortunately for the defense teams there comes that moment where the prosector gets the expert to admit that a majority of people with damaged frontal lobes don't turn into violent predators.

You are correct. Gravity itself is a law because we can see it happen. But the explanation of gravity is a theory. Point being, FBS should not be discounted because it will never be a law. It will always be a theory as we cannot observe the mechanism behind it. I think I will wait for Dr. Diamond's testimony rather than rely on the 1 page synopsis that you quoted from.

 

[arkansasmimi]

So on Rh SUV, how does that work as far as the State keeping it. I guessing the bank writes it off but does getting the search warrant give them rights to keep it or is another order done? Just curious. Anyone know how that works?