Is there anyone that believes Ross is innocent?

[katydid23]

Pretty much. Which makes Dr. Diamond's willingness to help with RH's defense all the more remarkable.

This case aside, I wish best of luck to the advocates, including Dr. Diamond, who are pushing for car manufacturer legislation to prevent hot car deaths. How much better it would be to prevent these senseless, terrible deaths than to write new laws to more harshly punish parents after the fact.

Yes, let's shift the blame to the car manufacturers instead. :no:

 

[katydid23]

It wasn't just Dr Diamond who failed to testify, the psychiatrist who had interviewed RH did too. The two expert witnesses who had talked to RH were both pulled at the last minute. I really doubt that they both just suddenly decided that RH was guilty after all and decided not to testify at the last minute.

But why did the Defense pull the 2 experts at the very last minute ? One of them literally minutes before he was to testify? I still do not understand that.

They had to know that their presentation was lacking and had little momentum. It seems like they ended with a whimper. Kilgore looked depressed and broken at the end. Not a good look for an attorney during a trial.

Before lunch the defense said they were setting up the equipment for the 50 upcoming slides.....after lunch---NO WITNESS, no slides.....what happened?

 

[Deleted member 182072]

...I'm not convinced Ross is innocent, but what's the motive? Boring made a big deal about not having to prove motive. If we have a defendant saying he was never there and didn't shoot anyone, yet we have finger prints and a ballistics match, sure I don't need a motive. If the defendant admits to killing someone but says it was an accident, someone has to explain why it wasn't an accident, which includes a reason the defendant wanted the victim dead. If we subtract the salacious components of this case, all you're left with is a dad that adored his son by all accounts and is now accused of killing him. Not one witness ever indicated Cooper was a drag on what Ross wanted to do. Including the mother of the dead boy....

The life insurance has been mentioned before. Ross did complain how that "joker just drains my paycheck" and child support in GA is generally 20% gross income of the non-custodial parent so that could have been a motive. It's unlikely that Leanna would have been awarded alimony if there wasn't a child involved and they had few assets to split.

Ross also told Janie Meadows he would have left Leanna if Cooper were not in the picture. Of course on the day Cooper died, Ross mentioned how he needed an escape from his son.

The real crux for me was Ross posting on that hot car video five days before Cooper died in a hot car how he "would hate for that to happen to my son" and how he was already talking about becoming an advocate hours after Cooper's death. If he had posted that about his wife a few days before she died due to his actions, would anyone still believe in his innocence?

 

[Hope4More]

Personally, I think there should be legislation holding parents/caregivers responsible, accidental or not. There is no more excuses because now we all know the severity of the problem. It is no longer a surprise that people can forget their baby inside a hot car. There is no excuse for not taking any of the very simple, inexpensive precautions available. You can get a 'car seat to driver' mirror to clip above the visor or rear view mirror, for about 20 bucks. Impossible to forget your baby if you see the baby's face every time you looked in the rear view mirror.

If your child falls into the pool, we do not allow the parents to say 'oops, I forgot .' We legislated that the responsibility was the pool owners to have locked gates and/or covered pools and there would be charges brought if precautions not followed.

I think we should do the same thing here. No more excuses allowed. If you do not use an alarm system, or a mirror, or a method of putting your purse in the back seat, then it is your own fault and you cannot say 'oops. I forgot.' jmo

Yes, let's shift the blame to the car manufacturers instead. :no:

What objection do you have to legislation requiring car manufacturers to install an child alert system in new cars? That has nothing in the world to do with "blaming" car manufacturers, and everything to do with trying to prevent these deaths.


As far as children falling into pools: as far as I know, no parent has ever been charged with felony murder for not taking appropriate precautions.

I have no problem whatsoever with parents being charged for negligence if they can't manage to keep their children alive. I do have a big problem with parents bring charged with murder without any proof of intent.


Have to say I think you're wrong, though, that all parents "know" about the dangers/possibility of accidentally leaving their children in a hot car. I've read too many times, here and elsewhere, the opinion of many that it is impossible to accidentally leave a child in a car.

BTW. We disagree on a lot, Katy, but have to say I've enjoyed our exchanges throughout this trial. Happy Thanksgiving.

 

[TexMex]

Motive = double life

Boring began by walking jurors through a timeline of the day Cooper died, including the texts he sent just minutes before leaving Cooper in the car.

"There's no way he missed that child," Boring said.

Boring told jurors that an accident doesn't apply in this case.

"Accident only applies if there is no criminal negligence. Accident does not apply in this case," Boring tells jurors. "But ladies and gentlemen, this was not negligence, this was intentional."

Boring said Harris was so good at hiding his double life, that no one in his life knew all the things he was doing. The defense argued that witness after witness talked about how much Harris loved his son, but they didn't know his other side.

"He also allegedly loved Leanna and we see how that went, how he treated her," Boring said.

Boring said all the evidence, along with common sense show that Harris is guilty.

"This case is about justice and it's about that little boy, Cooper Harris. Today that boy would be 4 years old ... but he's not. He's not here with us because that defendant took him, that defendant took his life for his own selfish, obsessed reasons. That little boys never gonna get that chance and those chances he would have had," Boring told jurors.

He then told jurors the chance to get justice for Cooper is up to them.

"Who's gonna speak for Cooper?" Boring asked. "The evidence speaks for Cooper. It can't bring him back, but what can be done is justice and you as a jury have the opportunity to do that justice."

 

[MrX]

Ross also told Janie Meadows he would have left Leanna if Cooper were not in the picture. Of course on the day Cooper died, Ross mentioned how he needed an escape from his son.

The real crux for me was Ross posting on that hot car video five days before Cooper died in a hot car how he "would hate for that to happen to my son" and how he was already talking about becoming an advocate hours after Cooper's death. If he had posted that about his wife a few days before she died due to his actions, would anyone still believe in his innocence?

These are all examples of why Ross should add "ineffective assistance of counsel" to his appeal (although it sounds like Kilgore is handling appeal.) Everything you say was fabricated or misrepresented by Mr.Boring, and Mr. Kilgore never countered:

1) Ross was lying to Miss Meadows, just like everyone else. It was obvious that the first she heard that Ross was "cheating" on her was on the stand. She was a confused kid and he used Cooper as an excuse for not just dumping Leanna. So this is actually a point for the defense - Cooper was a great excuse to keep his flings from becoming millstones.

2) Kilgore's biggest failure, in my opinion, was not constantly correcting Mr. Boring on the "escape" text. Given the context, he his clearly saying that he loves his family but all parents need "adult time." Ross's "escape" meant time to have a drink with his business partners without Leanna nagging him because she was bored.

3) Unless I have a serious blind-spot, Ross never talks about becoming an advocate - that was totally made up by Mr. Boring. The exchange in question with Det. Stoddard is just Ross-being-Ross, talking too much about something he had seen.

It still seems like none of this mattered to this jury - they were never willing to believe anyone could forget a child. Mr Kilgore appears to believe his case was lost when the phone and computer evidence were admitted. I suspect his appeal will focus almost exclusively on re-fighting that battle.

 

[Elley Mae]

No, guilty as chared. He was guilty to me from day one. Jmo

 

[Harry Seaward]

The life insurance has been mentioned before.

Was the life insurance policy made known to the jury?

 

[Harry Seaward]

Boring told jurors that an accident doesn't apply in this case.

Boring told jurors lots of things. Many of them weren't true. If we just assume something because Boring said so, we don't need jury trials. Or courts or judges.

 

[Deleted member 182072]

These are all examples of why Ross should add "ineffective assistance of counsel" to his appeal (although it sounds like Kilgore is handling appeal.) Everything you say was fabricated or misrepresented by Mr.Boring, and Mr. Kilgore never countered:

1) Ross was lying to Miss Meadows, just like everyone else. It was obvious that the first she heard that Ross was "cheating" on her was on the stand. She was a confused kid and he used Cooper as an excuse for not just dumping Leanna. So this is actually a point for the defense - Cooper was a great excuse to keep his flings from becoming millstones.

2) Kilgore's biggest failure, in my opinion, was not constantly correcting Mr. Boring on the "escape" text. Given the context, he his clearly saying that he loves his family but all parents need "adult time." Ross's "escape" meant time to have a drink with his business partners without Leanna nagging him because she was bored.

3) Unless I have a serious blind-spot, Ross never talks about becoming an advocate - that was totally made up by Mr. Boring. The exchange in question with Det. Stoddard is just Ross-being-Ross, talking too much about something he had seen.

It still seems like none of this mattered to this jury - they were never willing to believe anyone could forget a child. Mr Kilgore appears to believe his case was lost when the phone and computer evidence were admitted. I suspect his appeal will focus almost exclusively on re-fighting that battle.

I was addressing his motive rather than the effectiveness of his counsel.

Ross visited a divorce checklist on his internal employer website.

If Ross commented on a fire/poisoning/drowning/falling off a cliff video about how he would hate for that to happen to his wife and then a few days later she died in that exact way, would anyone still give him the benefit of the doubt?

Having to split their measly assets in a divorce would have been considered a motive to murder her, yet the big financial burden on Ross in the event of divorce would have been child support for Cooper.

 

[katydid23]

What objection do you have to legislation requiring car manufacturers to install an child alert system in new cars? That has nothing in the world to do with "blaming" car manufacturers, and everything to do with trying to prevent these deaths.


As far as children falling into pools: as far as I know, no parent has ever been charged with felony murder for not taking appropriate precautions.

I have no problem whatsoever with parents being charged for negligence if they can't manage to keep their children alive. I do have a big problem with parents bring charged with murder without any proof of intent.


Have to say I think you're wrong, though, that all parents "know" about the dangers/possibility of accidentally leaving their children in a hot car. I've read too many times, here and elsewhere, the opinion of many that it is impossible to accidentally leave a child in a car.

BTW. We disagree on a lot, Katy, but have to say I've enjoyed our exchanges throughout this trial. Happy Thanksgiving.

I have no problems with car manufacturers trying to make an alarm system. But that will not solve the problem for many years. Not everyone drives a brand new car. By the time EVERYONE has an alarm system, hundreds of babies will probably die. I'd rather put the onus where it really belongs, imo.

I am not saying a parent has been charged with felony murder for not taking precautions against drowning. But they have been charged with crimes when a child has died in their pool and it had no fences or barriers. And parents have been charged with criminal neglect and/or manslaughter when kids fell ion the pool while on their watch---usually if the parent was drunk or playing video games etc.

Twelve jurors agreed that they saw proof of intent here. I am not going to find fault with their verdict. If they had acquitted I would have stood by that too.

and yes...:autumn: :thanksgiving: to you and yours too....

 

[LinasK]

Was the life insurance policy made known to the jury?

No it wasn't

 

[Rayemonde]

If Ross commented on a fire/poisoning/drowning/falling off a cliff video about how he would hate for that to happen to his wife and then a few days later she died in that exact way, would anyone still give him the benefit of the doubt?

Yeah, apparently he never posted that on the video though. He watched the video once and never commented on it.

 

[Deleted member 182072]

Yeah, apparently he never posted that on the video though. He watched the video once and never commented on it.

According to Stoddard, he did:

"Stoddard says during his interview, Harris told them he had recently seen a video about hot cars that was made by veterinarian. Through internet records, they found that Harris had come across the video on the site Reddit.

Stoddard: Harris commented on video about leaving animal in hot car. "That would be terrible if my son was in the car. I would hate that."

 

[Deleted member 182072]

Yeah, apparently he never posted that on the video though. He watched the video once and never commented on it.

I could have said even if he had just viewed the video without commenting, the point would be the same.

 

[TexMex]

Boring told jurors lots of things. Many of them weren't true. If we just assume something because Boring said so, we don't need jury trials. Or courts or judges.

You asked what the states motive was IIRC (even though they don't have to provide one). I posted it.

What did he tell the jury that was not true?

 

[DexterMorgan]

Since the judge was happy and laughed after Ross was found guilty on all charges;

Tells us that an appeal will be coming. Because the judge blocked the defense every way possible. And then laughed at the outcome. Jmo

 

[Noname12345]

For those who still believes that there was "reasonable doubt" that this was an accident, please consider this: which decision is more natural when dropping off something at your car without the intention of getting into the car and driving away?

1) Drop off the items at the back.
2) Drop off the items at the front, which means you'd either have to TOSS your items across to the passenger seat, or inconvenience yourself later by putting your items on the driver's seat.

It is inconceivable for anyone who drives regularly to choose option 2 when dropping off something in the car (with no intention of getting into the car) unless there was a compelling reason not to use the back seat. In this case, I don't think it's too hard to figure out what RH's compelling reason not to drop off his bulbs at the back seat was.

 

[katydid23]

Since the judge was happy and laughed after Ross was found guilty on all charges;

Tells us that an appeal will be coming. Because the judge blocked the defense every way possible. And then laughed at the outcome. Jmo

I didn't interpret that as a laugh about the GUILTY verdict. I thought she was acting quirky and upbeat, just like she was throughout the entire trial.

I thought she was smiling because they reached a verdict and did not hang.

We all knew an appeal was coming because Kilgore is primarily an appeals attorney. But Judge Staley is very experienced and used to be the chief Justice of the Cobb County Superior Court. I think she knew very well what she could do and not do to avoid being reversed. JMO

:judge:

 

[RANCH]

Pretty much. Which makes Dr. Diamond's willingness to help with RH's defense all the more remarkable.

This case aside, I wish best of luck to the advocates, including Dr. Diamond, who are pushing for car manufacturer legislation to prevent hot car deaths. How much better it would be to prevent these senseless, terrible deaths than to write new laws to more harshly punish parents after the fact.

I think that the emphasis going forward should be on prevention and not punishment.

I'm not saying that parents who leave their kids in a hot car who then die shouldn't be punished, just that prevention is the more productive route to go on in order to stop these kinds of deaths from happening in the future. JMO