“Because of extensive publicity so that it would not be just to try the case in Cobb County so I grant the defendants motion 26 for change of venue”, Superior Court Judge Mary Staley said.
Advertisement
The judge overseeing the trial of a Georgia man accused of intentionally leaving his toddler son in a hot SUV to die agreed Monday that the trial should be moved because pretrial publicity has made it impossible to find an impartial jury.
Prosecutors argued jurors could be found who would be impartial and dismissed the request to move the trial as a defense strategy.
The judge has not announced a new location or time frame for the selection process to start over.
“While we’re certainly disappointed, we understand and respect the court’s ruling”, Cobb County District Attorney Vic Reynolds said in an emailed statement. Staley said she and the court administrator will talk to courts in other parts of the state about hosting the trial and will consult with the lawyers for both sides. “If you can figure out a way to move it out of Cobb County, you do that”, Pate said.
Defense attorney Bryan Lumpkin argued Monday that even though many potential jurors said they would like to be fair and impartial, they also said they were leaning toward thinking Harris is guilty.
“As one juror said, ‘If you live in Cobb County, you’ve heard about this case, ‘” said Lumpkin.
Though they had hoped to find a fair and impartial jury in Cobb County, the defense has concluded that it’s simply not possible, Lumpkin said. Most recently, he said, the defense released to the media the March indictment against Harris which alleged additional charges of explicit communications with three females under the age of 18. Instead, she granted the defense motion to completely move the venue to another courthouse.
“We are talking about the likelihood we will end up in possibly a rural community with very limited amenities, away from our support system”, she said.
Cooper remained in Harris’ auto throughout the workday in June 2014, officials said. Now that the trial has begun, we plan weekly updates that will be available at ajcbreakdown.com or on iTunes or Stitcher (for Android devices) by midday each Monday.
While 41 jurors had qualified through Friday, attorneys on Monday agreed to strike one, bringing the number of potential jurors down to 40.
Advertisement
Roughly 250 potential jurors filled out a 17-page questionnaire that included questions about what they knew about the case.
