Jury selection continues in Ross Harris murder trial
COBB COUNTY, Ga. - Jury selection is underway in the murder trial of a Cobb County father accused of leaving his young son in a hot car to die.
Justin Ross Harris faces multiple charges including child cruelty after investigators said he went in to work on June 18, 2014 and left 22-month-old Cooper Harris in his car seat.
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Harris claimed that he had simply forgotten to drop the toddler off at daycare nearby. Police, however, said after seizing Harris' phone and computer they found evidence that the father had searched online for information on hot car deaths and surviving prison.
Cobb County Superior Court Judge Mary Staley heard from potential jurors with hardships Monday. Eleven of the 370 jurors notified the judge of possible conflicts. Some jurors had plane tickets for out of town trips, including one man who said he and his wife had invested quite a bit of money into a 14-day 40th anniversary trip to Paris. Both sides agreed to dismiss that juror.
Jury selection is expected to be quite laborious and will began Tuesday morning with a 17-page questionnaire.
The trial began Monday at the Cobb County Courthouse.
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THE MOTIVE
Cobb County Police initially faced some criticism for filing charges against Harris in Cooper's death, but that all changed after a court hearing in July 2014 revealed Harris had been sexting with multiple women, including at least one teenager, while his son suffered in the back of the Harris family SUV.
Investigators testified that Harris had vented to one woman that his wife, Leanna, complained when he wanted to go out with friends.
"I love my son and all, but we both need escapes," Detective Phil Stoddard testified that Harris wrote in a social media message.
Statements Leanna Harris made also stoked suspicion from investigators.
"Did you say too much?" she reportedly asked her husband.
Investigators have not charged Leanna with anything in connection to her son's death.
Defense attorneys have argued that testimony about Harris' sex life did not have any baring on the murder trial, but Cobb County Judge Mary Staley ruled it was admissable in the trial.
THE DIVORCE
Leanna Harris publicly stood by her husband in the days following their son's death.
"Ross is, was and will be a good father if we ever have children again," Mrs. Harris told the crowd gathered at her son's funeral in Alabama.
She said she was not mad at her husband for what happened.
She quietly, however, filed for legal separation the day of Cooper's death. Leanna Harris filed for divorce in February 2016, writing in her petition that the couple's marriage was "irretrievably broken."
The Harrises finalized their divorce at the end of March, just days before the murder trial was set to begin.