Judge grants change of venue in hot-car death case
The judge in the Ross Harris case this afternoon granted a defense motion to change the venue of the hot-car murder trial. The decision could delay the trial for months, even though jury selection in Cobb County Superior Court was almost complete.
Court administrator Tom Charron, a former Cobb district attorney, said earlier Monday that if the trial were moved, it would likely be delayed until fall and could cost the county an additional $100,000.
Whether that will be the outcome of today's ruling is not yet clear.
The attorneys for the two sides were unable to compromise as Cobb Superior Court Judge Mary Staley had hoped. The defense had complained that Staley qualified five jurors who were biased against their client. After the judge asked the two sides to collaborate on a solution, the state agreed to strike two of the five disputed jurors. The defense, feeling confident, insisted all on five.
The judge said that forced her hand. Media coverage has been "persistent, pervasive" and ultimately colored the prospective jurors opinions, Staley said.
Cobb District Attorney Vic Reynolds said, "While we're certainly disappointed, we understand and respect the court?s ruling. Whenever and wherever this case is set for trial, the state will be ready."
From earlier today:
The "perfect example" of the bias Cobb County citizens hold against Ross Harris, his lawyers argued Monday, may have been the prospective juror who told the court, "Even if I know it's unintentional, I'm still going to convict."
Harris, accused of intentionally leaving his son inside a hot car to die, faces malice and felony murder charges in a case his attorneys say cannot be fairly tried in Cobb. Defense lawyer Bryan Lumpkin asked Superior Court Judge Mary Staley to "err on the side of caution" by granting their motion for a change of venue, saying at least half of the jurors stated a bias against the former Home Depot web developer.
Noting the defense's doubts that an impartial jury can be found in Cobb, prosecutor Chuck Boring said, "We've already done it."
Lumpkin, invoking the death of Cooper Harris, said, "What we're trying to do is prevent another tragedy from happening."
Like the defense, the prosecution also cited numbers, particularly the 34 jurors the defense agreed were qualified. The state denied the defense's contention that police abnd prosecutors had deliberately inflamed public opinion in the case, saying the defense did its share to raise the profile of the case.
Forty-one jurors have been qualified by Staley. One more is needed to seat a 12-person jury, plus four alternates.
If the motion to change the venue is granted, the process would start anew, using another jury pool chosen from outside the metro Atlanta area. Once a pool of (presumably) 42 jurors are found they would be bused to Cobb for a trial.
"Simply put, I don't see how the court can be satisfied that these jurors, giving these opinions, these answers ... it's too much to ask Cobb County jurors to hope they can put their bias aside," Lumpkin said.
Before making her ruling, Staley asked for an exact calculation of how many challenges she didn't grant the defense and prosecution. She also agreed to review three of the jury questionnaires.
Originally Posted by bowieluva
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