GLYNN COUNTY, Ga. — More than two years after 22-month-old Cooper Harris died inside a hot car outside a Cobb County office building, the murder trial for his father, Ross Harris, finally began Monday.
Harris is facing eight charges, including malice murder and felony murder.
- Jury of 16 selected to serve; 12 primary and four alternates
- Judge denied pretrial motion; prostitute will be allowed to testify
- Prosecution makes opening statement
- ADA says Ross Harris "chose the worst imaginable death for (a) child"
- Defense will make opening statement Tuesday morning
He is accused of intentionally leaving his son inside the car for nearly eight hours on June 18, 2014. Temperatures that day reached the low 90s.
Channel 2’s Ross Cavitt and Carl Willis are in Brunswick, where the trial is being held. They will have updates from inside the courtroom all day long on Channel 2 Action News.
Monday, lawyers began by seating a 16-person jury.
The jury consists of eight women and eight men. Four of them will be alternates. The alternates will not know that they're alternates until the end of testimony.
Eleven of the jurors have children.
Earlier this year the trial was moved from Cobb County to Glynn County after lawyers had a tough time finding enough impartial jurors.
The judge then moved to a pretrial motion about a prostitute who met with Harris a month before his son’s death.
During that motion, the defense and prosecutors questioned Cobb County Detective Ralph Escomillo.
The defense argued that Escomillo did not follow the rules when showing the woman a photo of Harris, but the judge disagreed and denied the motion.
The prostitute will be allowed to testify for the prosecution.
After a lunch break, the prosecution made its opening statement.
Assistant District Attorney Chuck Boring described Cooper’s death as “the worst imaginable death for (a) child."
"An innocent child versus a father who abandoned his responsibilities,” Boring said to jurors.
Boring recounted Cooper Harris' final hours as Ross Harris sat feet away looking pained and frowning. %
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Boring said it was Harris' desire to escape his wife and life as a father that led him to murder Cooper. He says it was evident in a chat that he'd sent to another woman the morning Cooper died, saying “I love my son and all but we both need escapes.”
That message became Boring's theme of how Harris planned to leave his son inside the family's SUV while he went to work.
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Boring claims the evidence will show Harris messaged 30 other women that day, including asking for lewd pictures from an underage girl as his son died in his car.
“Messaging on the morning of the murder that he needed an escape from his son, five minutes before getting just that,” Boring said.
Boring promised jurors video will show that Cooper was awake when Ross loaded him into the SUV .6 miles from his workplace.
Then later when Cooper was found dead at a nearby shopping mall, Harris, prosecutors told jurors, did not call 911, yelled at a cop and did not appear to be a grieving father.
“No tears. As we described, kind of like Will Ferrell screaming, ‘Oh what have I done? What have I done?’ then he's calm. As people who don't even know this child don't give up and try to save his life,” Boring said.
Boring then told jurors that as Harris was arrested that night, he complained about how hot it was in the back of the patrol car.
“What does he complain about? Is he screaming, ‘Can I see my son? What’s going on?’ No. You know what he does. He complains that it’s hot in the back of the car,” Boring said.
Boring closed his statements by saying, “Death, deception and a double life. On June 18, 2014 the defendant killed Cooper. When the defendant killed, he committed murder and the evidence will prove this beyond a reasonable doubt.”
After the prosecution wrapped up its opening statements, the defense planned to make its opening statement after a short break. The break, which was expected to last 10 minutes, dragged on for more than an hour, however, and the judge decided to dismiss the jury for the day.
The defense will make its opening statement at 9 a.m. Tuesday. Defense Attorney Maddox Kilgore says he'll speak to jurors for about an hour and 45 minutes. Kilgore maintains that Cooper's death was a tragic accident.
When it became apparent Harris' team wouldn't address jurors until Tuesday, Lawrence Zimmerman, a Marietta-based defense attorney, told Channel 2's Ross Cavitt he's confident Maddox Kilgore will have answers to what was a "character assassination."
"Right now its out of context. It sounds like the state has a great case but I've tried a lot of cases. Openings always sound like that. It's the evidence, that's why the judge says the openings are not evidence," Zimmerman said.
After the defense's opening statement, Cobb County Officer Jacquelyn Piper is expected to take the stand as a witness for the state. She was the first person to encounter Harris on the scene of his son’s death and previously testified he was acting violent toward the police and refused to get off the phone. Later he tried to chat her up in a squad car, behavior she considered strange given the circumstances.
You can watch the entire trial LIVE on WSBTV.com/Ross-Harris-Trial. We will have minute-by-minute coverage as well as a daily summary from the courtroom each day. Like Ross Harris Updates on Facebook and follow @RossHarrisTrial on Twitter for updates throughout the trial.
Cox Media Group
