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Day 6: Lawyers question potential jurors in Ross Harris trial

GLYNN COUNTY, Ga. — Lawyers have begun a second week of juror questioning in the murder trial of Ross Harris, a Cobb County father accused of leaving his 2-year-old son, Cooper, in a hot SUV in 2014.

[WATCH LIVE: Ross Harris trial jury selection]

  • 36 potential jurors questioned in week one; 23 added to the pool
  • A minimum of 42 jurors must be qualified before the trial starts. Court officials want at least 48 jurors in the pool. 
  • Experts say jury selection should wrap up this week.

Attorneys are questioning a second panel of 36 jurors collectively Monday. %

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The group will then be broken down into panels of 12 for more individual questioning if necessary.

Lawyers are trying to find out how much the potential jurors know about the case, and whether or not they have formed an opinion.

One potential juror said she'd been following the case closely. Another potential juror said she was living in Atlanta at the time and knows a lot about it.

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A judge moved the trial from Cobb County to Glynn County in order to find an impartial jury.

On Monday, 21 of the 36 potential jurors told lawyers they had already formed an opinion over Harris' guilt or innocence. However, like the first panel of 36 interviewed last week, court administrator Tom Charron says he believes those opinions are not as deep as those jurors in Cobb County. %

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"It was clear that most of those jurors had really just read a story about or heard something about the case and formed an initial opinion and could side it aside and be a fair juror," Charron said.

Channel 2's legal analyst, Esther Panitch, says it will be up to the lawyers, especially the prosecution, to get into the jurors' heads.

"They have not been questioned individually yet, so they haven't been asked by the state if they could put their opinions aside and only listen to the evidence that's brought out in the trial," she said.

Last week, 23 of the first 36 went into the pool for the trial leaving court officials optimistic about this week.

"We're hoping for a like number this week, which would put us at 46 getting up to as many as 50, so right now we're still on track," Charron said.

The trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 3.