Harris’ attorneys said they did not believe an impartial jury could be found northwest of Atlanta were the trial was set to take place.
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“While the case was certainly covered across the state and across the country, I don’t think it has been as saturated elsewhere as it has been in Cobb County”, he said.
Defense attorneys argue that too numerous jurors have already made up their mind on the case.
The arguments came during a hearing on a defense motion to move the trial away from the metro Atlanta county where the child died.
Judge Mary Staley said the attorneys will have the afternoon to decide on whether they want the motion to move forward and, if they aren’t able to reach a decision, she would decide.
Many said they believed Harris was guilty.
All the potential jurors have been sent home for the day because of the request and court stands in recess. “If there was a net loss, if everyone said they couldn’t be fair or impartial, I could see his point”.
It’s not surprising the judge chose to move the trial, Pate said.
“Regardless of what the end result is, I think that’s to your credit”, Staley said. When they returned, the attorneys were unable to reach an agreement. All of those are false, Lumpkin said.
Prosecutor Chuck Boring called the attempt to move the trial nothing but defense strategy.
Cooper remained in Harris’ auto throughout the workday in June 2014, officials said. He likened the defense request to that of a child who wants to start a game over because things aren’t going his way.
Justin Ross Harris listens in court Monday, May 2, 2016, in Marietta, Ga.
Harris moved to Georgia from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in 2012. The judge in the trial Harris, a man accused of intentionally leaving his toddler son in a hot SUV to die, has granted a defense request to move the trial.
Harris, accused of intentionally leaving his 22-month-old son Cooper inside a hot vehicle to die, is charged with malice murder, two counts of felony murder, cruelty to children in the first and second degree, criminal attempt to commit a felony and dissemination of harmful materials to minors.
She said while reviewing the defense’s request over the weekend, she at first thought the change of venue motion was straightforward, until seeing the request to move to another jurisdiction and select a jury, which would then likely entail bussing those jurors to Cobb, putting them in a hotel and trying the case with them.
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Some of the charges in Harris’ indictment stemmed not from Cooper’s death, but from Harris’ alleged habit of sending sexual text messages to underage girls.
