Highlights Trial Day 20
Defense expert Dr. Gene Brewer testifies about memory
Only 1 witness took the stand yesterday, the defense called
Dr. Gene Brewer who is an expert in human memory and attention.
Brewer talked about how memory works &
what can effect a persons memory- like distractions, stress & fatigue. He talked about
slipping into 'auto pilot' when a routine is very familiar (he gave the example of zoning out while driving a daily route)
He talked about certain cues that would help a person remember- intentional & indirect cues. If Harris had a 'memory failure' & truly believed he had dropped his son off at daycare,
that text from Leanna about Cooper would be an 'indirect cue' and not as likely to make him remember as an 'intentional cue' would-(an example would be if the daycare had called & told him Cooper was not there)
Brewer testified that
'memory failure' can occur, even when a task is important (he gave the example of an airplane pilot forgetting to put the landing gear down) And that bc driving to his work was more familiar to Harris then driving to the daycare,
in his opinion it is possible that a distracted Harris could have forgotten his son in a matter of seconds.
Upon cross examination by the prosecutor,
Brewer admitted that it would be less likely to forget something as vitally important as your own child in the car & that there were
several 'cues' that day that could have reminded Harris that he had left his son in the car.
Brewer had to concede that
according to Harris's own statements to police that day, he was not stressed, not distracted while driving that day & had actually slept in that morning. He also agreed i
t is possible that Harris was simply lying when he says he forgot that he left his son in the car.
Court adjourned early with no additional defense witnesses available for the day.
Coming up for day 21- We should see 1 more witness for the defense & 1 rebuttal witness for the prosecution.
Closing arguments are expected to begin Monday!
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Update: Defense just rested its case- without putting Harris on the stand.
The prosecution has 1 rebuttal witness coming up after the lunchbreak
Watch live: http://www.wsbtv.com/ross-harris-trial
[doublepost=1478279043][/doublepost]So there was a break in the trial today where the camera sat on Harris for a few mins- so far during the proceeding he's been pretty stone-faced (aside from the occasional fake crying!)
But for some reason today, in that few mins of camera time, he went through like a range of emotions from laughing to serious & everything in between- I thought it was so funny/weird that I made it into a little collage:
May I present.......The Many Faces of Justin Ross Harris
(and before you ask, Yes, I do have too much time on my hands- I'm pregnant & stuck off my feet for a while)
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Highlights Trial day 22: Closing Arguments!
Prosecution:
Cooper's carseat clearly visible in Harris's car
"I love my son, but we all need escapes": The prosecution began their closing arguments today by quoting that text Harris sent just minutes before leaving his son in the car to die.
Prosecutor Boring said that Harris's own words prove his guilt, that the womanizing, cheating 'other Ross Harris' decided to get rid of the son that was holding him back from the life he fantasized about. That Harris believed he would get away with it & even become an advocate. Harris's reaction after killing his son was to selfishly complain about going to jail.
Prosecutor Boring then went count by count explaining Harris's guilt:
Counts 8 & 7: dissemination of harmful material- Harris sent pics of his genitals to a 16yo girl & 'coached her how to perform oral sex'.
Count 6: sexual exploitation of a minor- Harris asked a 16yo girl to send her a picture of her vagina.
Counts 5 & 3: felony murder & cruelty to a child in 2nd degree- Harris's own statements prove these charges, that his negligence caused his son's death (intent & malice are not required for this charge)
Counts 4 & 2: felony murder and cruelty to a child in the 1st degree- these charges require the jury to find that there was malice (but not necessarily intent) in the death of Cooper.
Count 1: Malice murder- that Harris killed Cooper without justification or excuse and with malice. Boring said that Harris did not hate his son, he just loved himself more- that his 'double life' had been slowly taking over until
Harris made the decision to leave his son "to burn up in that car".
Boring told the jury to use their own common sense to find that the defense's case does not point to an accident & that there is enough evidence (both direct & circumstantial) to find Harris guilty of all charges. The prosecutor left off with a picture of the interior of Harris's car with Cooper's carseat clearly visible, saying
"It all comes down to this, if that is the way Cooper's carseat looked on that day, Harris is guilty of all charges".
Defense:
the defense's theory of an accident
The defense started their closing by saying that the detectives on this case decided Harris was guilty before an investigation was done. Atty Kilgore said that this case is the result of an accident & not a crime. That in Harris's own words, he is
guilty of nothing more than forgetting to drop his son at daycare- not a crime.
He then went through a few of the counts:
Counts 5 & 3- Harris is not guilty bc he did not realize his actions were causing his son's death.
Counts 4 & 2- not guilty bc Harris did not intend to harm his son.
Kilgore then pointed to Leanna's testimony (as I predicted he would) to say
'he ruined that woman's life, do you really think she's going to come in here & lie for him?"
He asks the jury not to judge Harris bc of his 'different reaction' to the tragedy, that everyone grieves in their own way- even Leanna's reaction was not emotional. But that Harris loved his son.
Kilgore stresses that investigators had a 1 track mind & only collected evidence that fit their theory & that
the prosectution did not prove that this wasn't an accident.
The defense lastly talks about the carseat being visable to the jurors when they were allowed to view Harris's car, saying they may have been able to see the carseat bc they were looking for it, Harris would not have been.
They showed a video of Cooper & then said that Harris had
'nothing to gain by Cooper's death'. They ended by saying to the jury
'we trust you'.
Back to the Prosecution
Victim Cooper Harris
Boring stated Harris lived a double life & that everyone who testified that he was a loving father
also admitted they had no idea about his double life.
Boring then goes slide-by-slide over the defense's closing & dismantles each one!
Via slides, he went back over the states case & witness's testimony.
Boring ended with the Latin saying
"Let justice be done, though the skies may fall" and saying
"Justice for Cooper in this case is holding the defendant responsible"
Coming up for day 23- the jury will begin deliberating