The first round of questions for potential jurors in the case against Justin Ross Harris revealed a fairly technologically savvy pool, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, (http://bit.ly/2cXbMtV) reported.
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Harris is a father accused of intentionally leaving his toddler son in a hot auto while he went to work. In May, efforts to select an impartial jury in Cobb County ended in a stalemate after roughly three weeks.
On May 3, Superior Court Judge Mary Staley Clark granted a defence request to relocate the trial.
Harris is accused of intentionally leaving his 22-month-old son Cooper strapped into a auto seat in Harris’ vehicle on June 18, 2014, in Cobb County, resulting in the boy’s death from hyperthermia.
The judge granted each of those possible jurors time to attend to affairs away from the courthouse, where jury selection could take two weeks. Of those, 27 said they had previously seen news stories or other information about Harris’ case.
Essentially, 19 of the first 36 potential jurors – more than half – signaled to the court they already formed opinions on the matter before them. There were 34 who asked to be excused.
Harris will now be tried in Glynn County, located on the coast about 60 miles south of Savannah. The total size of the jury pool was not known.
However, when asked by the judge to stand if they were biased against Harris or did not feel “perfectly impartial” between prosecutors and defense attorneys in the case, all of the 36 possible jurors remained seated. They all got time off, but must return to the courthouse before jury selection is finished. Almost three weeks of jury selection revealed media coverage left many potential jurors with strong opinions about Harris, who moved to Georgia in 2012 from Alabama.
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Police say on the morning of Cooper’s death, Harris told women in online chats that he would leave his wife if not for the boy and that they both needed an escape.
