Ross Harris trial: Police interrogation video
ATLANTA - Testimony ended Friday in the Ross Harris murder trial with the prosecution playing the police interrogation video.
During the more than 2 hour police video Harris openly wept when police were not in the room and kept asking, “What have I done?”
Phil Stoddard, the lead detective in the case, told jurors Harris gave police a voluntary statement and said he would waive his right to have a lawyer present.
The Cobb County father explained that he normally takes Cooper to daycare first and then goes to Chick-fil-A. He said he decided to take Cooper with him to breakfast on June 18 and forgot the child was in the car seat.
Detective Stoddard told Harris he would have to charge him with cruelty to children because Harris’ actions lead to Cooper's death.
That's when Harris said he disagreed with police and wanted to stop the interview and get a lawyer.
Prosecutors also showed the police interrogation video when Harris' then wife Leanna finally got to see him. The two embraced and Leanna told Ross she still loved him.
“I don't hate you. I know this was an accident. We will get through this,” she said.
Expect a vigorous cross examination of Detective Stoddard by the defense next week.
Friday began with the state asking that the live feed stop for the first witness of the day, a 19-year-old who was a minor at the time of Cooper Harris' death. She said she was 16 when she started sexting with Ross Harris and told the jury the two were sexting the day Cooper died.
The witness said she was a junior in high school when she met Harris on Whisper. She posted on Whisper that she wanted a relationship out of the book, “Fifty Shades of Grey.” The book is an erotic romantic novel.
The two sexted from late August of 2013 to May 18 of 2014. The minor told jurors Harris requested repeated pictures of her genitals, but she refused and would only send him breast pictures.
During cross examination, that witness told jurors Harris told her he would never leave his wife and loved Cooper very much.
Earlier in the week, the prosecution introduced a number of women to jurors that Ross Harris was sexting on the day Cooper died in Harris' SUV. Thursday, Alexandra Swindell told jurors she was a student at the University of Alabama when she met Harris on the app Skout. She said in late 2012 Harris picked her up from her dorm room and they two drove to an area where they first started kissing, but she ended up performing oral sex on Harris.
Swindell was followed by Molly Sims who said she talked to Harris nearly every day and the two quickly started sexting. She also told jurors Harris said he had been caught cheating by his wife Leanna. Sims says Harris asked her to meet him in person several times over their two year relationship, but she never did.
Elizabeth Smart was 2-years-old when she met Harris on Whisper. She said Harris asked her to perform sexual acts on him the same day Cooper died.
The final witness was 21-year-old Jaynie Meadows who set she met Harris when she was 18, but her relationship seemed to be different.
"I fell in love with him and he told me he loved me," the 21-year-old said. She said the two met on the dating app Skout and Harris did not indicate he was married with a child.
Meadows said Harris told her his marriage with Leanna was falling apart.
"They had financial problem obviously. Their families didn't get along and they were arguing about a lot of knit-picking stuff." Meadows said.
Meadows said Harris talked about how much he loved his son and he would never do anything to harm him.
In an unusual twist, Meadows said she was never a fan of the sexual stuff and would get angry with Harris when he would send his private parts to her.
Meadows said she found a boyfriend in March of 2014 and didn't talk to Harris as much. She told juror he did message her on June 18 at 5:46 in the morning.
During cross examination defense attorney Maddox Kilgore got Meadows to admit he would not end his marriage with Leanna because he loved Cooper too much.
Meadows concluded her testimony by saying Harris got frustrated at times because he could not go out and had to keep Cooper at home. Defense attorneys pointed out that Meadows, who they theorize is mad at Harris because he was sexting so many women, had never mentioned that Harris was frustrated about keeping Cooper until Thursday in court.
Wednesday was another shocking day of testimonies about Harris' alleged graphic "sexting" with women and how he complained about the rigors of family life and yearned for an escape.
Dr. David Brani was the first witness called to the stand. Brani, a thermal test and heat transfer scientist, conducted the heat study inside Harris’ car.
Brandi said internal temperatures in Harris’ car gradually increased on the day Cooper died, peaking at 125 degrees around 1 p.m.
Around 11:35 a.m., Brani said his test shows temperatures near the car seat and on the exterior of the vehicle at 88 degrees. Then around 12:24 p.m., he said temperatures near the car seat were at 98 degrees while temperatures outside remained at 88 degrees.
Brani’s test findings supported the prosecution’s theory that Cooper was still alive when Harris returned to his SUV at lunch time.
During cross examinations, defense attorneys pointed out that Brani had been paid $24,000, $295 per hour, to conduct the heat study. They also suggested that had air entered the car through the air vents.
The defense questioned the validity of Brani’s heat study, citing that he didn’t account for various factors, including humidity, whether a child was in the car and other factors.
To which, Brandi replied that even if a child were inside the car when he conducted his test, the temperatures in the vehicle wouldn’t have been significantly different.
Next, the state called their second witness, Lauren Jamar, to the stand. Jamar is the director of content operations at the anonymous messaging app, Whisper.
Jamar was quickly questioned about the Whisper app and how it's used before court dismissed for a lunch break.
Following the break, the prosecution called Caitlin Floyd, who met Harris via the Whisper app, to the stand. Floyd told the jury she exchanged sexual messages with Harris on the Whisper and Kik apps in the weeks leading up to and on the day of Cooper’s death.
Floyd said she knew Harris was married, but he never told her he had a child. The prosecution pointed out a specific conversation they had on the day Cooper died, where Floyd asked Harris if he had a conscious, to which, he replied ‘no.’
During another Whisper conversation, Floyd asked Harris whether he was alone and he replied ‘no’ and ‘I like risky.”
The couple sexted for nearly three weeks, sending each other naked pictures of themselves. The prosecution said Harris sent Floyd two pictures of his private parts and told her he had engaged in oral sex in a park a week prior to Cooper’s death.
Five days before Cooper’s death, Floyd said Harris messaged her ‘I am so horny.’ He also told her that Harris said he was happily married with the exception of sex, she said.
Floyd said Harris asked her to send him a picture of her breasts on the same day Cooper was slowly dying in his car. She sent the picture as he asked, but Floyd said she declined his request to have sex with Harris in a public place because she said she didn't want to be arrested.
The next witness to the stand was Detective Ronson Bridges Smith, who testified about cellphone data and surveillance video he retrieved during the investigation. Smith, a 25-year veteran of the Cobb County Police Department, works in their hi-tech unit.
Smith said he secured surveillance video from the Chick-fil-A, which showed Harris holding Cooper around 8:30 a.m. that day. Smith also said he pulled data from Harris’ iPhone.
During his testimony, the prosecution drew attention to a surprising image retrieved from Harris’ cellphone, which showed the text “I hate being married with kids. The novelty has worn off and I have nothing to show for it.”
In another conversation taken from Harris’ phone, prosecutors said Harris sent “I love my son and all but we both need escapes," around 9:15 a.m. the morning of his son's death.
During cross examinations, defense attorneys showed Harris’ web search history, revealing that Harris had searched the keywords “passport fees” because he was planning a vacation with his family.
Ahead of a break, defense attorney’s described Harris’ search history as random implying that he had no intention of killing his son.
Tuesday's testimony began with Cobb County Medical Examiner Investigator Martin Jackson, who evaluated Cooper's body at the scene. During his examination, Jackson said he noticed abrasions throughout Cooper's body and a light green discoloration on his abdomen. The child smelled of urine and his diaper appeared to be full, Jackson said.
Jackson told the jury that Cooper's mother Leanna was not cooperative in giving him her son's medical records, citing that she had already given them to another official.
Jurors also heard from Dr. Brian Frist, the Cobb County Chief Medical Examiner who performed Cooper's autopsy.
Ross Harris wept profusely as Dr. Frist explained how Cooper likely suffered during what he described as a "slow death." Dr. Frist said it was possible that Cooper was still alive when Harris returned to his car for lunch around Noon that day.
Harris continued sobbing as Dr. Frist detailed how Cooper's organs shut down as he sat in the sweltering heat. Dr. Frist told jurors that the autopsy confirmed that Cooper died of hypothermia due to someone's else actions, which he considered a homicide.
Next, prosecutors called Greg Sanders, Home Depot's global security operations manager, to the stand. Sanders told the jury he pulled the surveillance video of when Harris entered and exited his work the day Cooper died. During the trial, defense attorneys questioned Sanders about the video that showed when Harris parked, left and returned to his vehicle. Prosecutors pointed out that, during some portions of the video, Harris could be seen looking back at his vehicle as he walked away from it.
The video also showed several people unknowingly walking near Harris' vehicle, including one person who got into a car directly parked to the right of Harris' SUV.
The state called two toxicology experts with the Georgia Bureau Of Investigation to the stand. Together, Larry Lewellen and Kasey Wilson, ruled out drugs, alcohol or carboxyhemoglobin as factors in Cooper's death.
The state's fifth and final witness of the day was Mark Wilson, the owner of a piano moving company. Wilson told the jury he and Harris met in the holding area of Cobb County jail. Wilson said Harris didn't appear to be sad as the two of them chatted for 2-3 hours at the jail.
Wilson elaborated further saying that he and Harris engaged in small talk and that Harris' behavior was not consistent with someone who had just lost a child.
Wilson, who had been arrested for a DUI, told his story about talking to Harris in jail to the National Enquirer for $2,000 upon his release from jail, he said.
Ahead of the break Tuesday, the prosecution showed video of Wilson and Harris talking in the jail, in which, Harris appeared to have his arm propped up on a chair.
Monday, prosecutors used two young women to prove the Cobb County father was living a double life and was unfaithful to his wife.