Is there anyone that believes Ross is innocent?

[Inthedetails]

Yes, I should've done that: http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?250138-The-Grand-Jury-amp-Trial

Just reading through that link and it looks like Beach (WS admin) will be opening a new trial thread on Monday. We'll find each other!

 

[magnolia]

that could take a while to get jury that has not heard about this and can be fair....as for the sexting...this guy does not present like he could make any strategic moves at all except to further his own pleasure. His attorneys will have to work hard to get past the creep factor and it will take more than a preppy vest which I saw him wearing for a hearing. Wonder what role the now ex wife will play in this...are they using her and have decided to pursue against her...that is what I know so far.

I answered the BBM on the Leanna thread.

Leanna (Mom) #2

 

[magnolia]

Is this selection going to be shown via live stream?

Also what exactly are the charges? Are they going for first degree murder? If so based on this thread alone wonder if that is wise? Of course we will see the evidence but this is one case I want to see them win ...he would not want me on the jury but I think there is something less to charge this ignorant guy of and be sure to get a conviction. I assume they are not going for DP or are they?

BBM

http://ftpcontent3.worldnow.com/waga...nts/Harris.pdf

 

[DaleTray]

I just listened to podcast #3. I'm trying to keep my mind open from all angles and keep my contempt for JRH from making my decision. I think at this point we had a mom that totally loved her son attempting to mature an immature dad that loved his son. JRH becoming educated, moving for career sort of lends itself at his weaker than optimal attempt to mature and provide. I personally would like to hear from their friends. I believe strongly that LH loved her son and would proclaim loudly if she thought JRH capable of harm. I don't think LH and their (JRH/LH) friends would ally together to protect JRH if they considered him guilty or capable of harm. I want to hear from neighbors and friends that have witnessed JRH/CH interactions. Biased family testimony is probably the norm but when a baby is involved I don't think their friends would offer complicit testimony. JRH being charged with 8 counts. He is guilty of at least 4 of the 8 in my eyes at this point prior to hearing any testimony. IMOO

 

[magnolia]

I just listened to podcast #3. I'm trying to keep my mind open from all angles and keep my contempt for JRH from making my decision. I think at this point we had a mom that totally loved her son attempting to mature an immature dad that loved his son. JRH becoming educated, moving for career sort of lends itself at his weaker than optimal attempt to mature and provide. I personally would like to hear from their friends. I believe strongly that LH loved her son and would proclaim loudly if she thought JRH capable of harm. I don't think LH and their (JRH/LH) friends would ally together to protect JRH if they considered him guilty or capable of harm. I want to hear from neighbors and friends that have witnessed JRH/CH interactions. Biased family testimony is probably the norm but when a baby is involved I don't think their friends would offer complicit testimony. JRH being charged with 8 counts. He is guilty of at least 4 of the 8 in my eyes at this point prior to hearing any testimony. IMOO

BBM-- I tend to agree with that. I would not want to be a Juror in this case.

From all I have read and heard JRH loved Cooper as well. I think Leanna testifying as an Ex, will benefit the defense more than testimony from a wife.

 

[Threeplus1]

Thinking out loud...
All friends and family can testify to is what they know of his character--which isn't the real JRH and makes their testimony lacking, imo. I'm sure none of them knew this supposedly loving family man was sexting underage girls or sending private parts pics via text. I'd think a first year law student could easily dismantle that testimony.
Did you know the defendant?
Did you know he was doing all these things?
Then how well did you really know him?
And those questions apply to his now ex wife, too.
Friends and family were quick to defend him in the beginning, but have dropped out of sight since all the nasty stuff came out.

 

[MzOpinion8d]

I just listened to podcast #3. I'm trying to keep my mind open from all angles and keep my contempt for JRH from making my decision. I think at this point we had a mom that totally loved her son attempting to mature an immature dad that loved his son. JRH becoming educated, moving for career sort of lends itself at his weaker than optimal attempt to mature and provide. I personally would like to hear from their friends. I believe strongly that LH loved her son and would proclaim loudly if she thought JRH capable of harm. I don't think LH and their (JRH/LH) friends would ally together to protect JRH if they considered him guilty or capable of harm. I want to hear from neighbors and friends that have witnessed JRH/CH interactions. Biased family testimony is probably the norm but when a baby is involved I don't think their friends would offer complicit testimony. JRH being charged with 8 counts. He is guilty of at least 4 of the 8 in my eyes at this point prior to hearing any testimony. IMOO

I don't think LH was that strong. She was a follower, not a leader in that household. If she was, she wouldn't have spent the majority of her funeral speech praising what a great father JRH was, and would be to their future children, instead of properly eulogizing her dead son.

My impression of LH is that she was a sheltered religious girl who found herself married to an idiot who mistreated her and had no idea what to do because she had been raised with conservative views about marital roles and divorce.

 

[rob]

I just listened to podcast #3. I'm trying to keep my mind open from all angles and keep my contempt for JRH from making my decision. I think at this point we had a mom that totally loved her son attempting to mature an immature dad that loved his son. JRH becoming educated, moving for career sort of lends itself at his weaker than optimal attempt to mature and provide. I personally would like to hear from their friends. I believe strongly that LH loved her son and would proclaim loudly if she thought JRH capable of harm. I don't think LH and their (JRH/LH) friends would ally together to protect JRH if they considered him guilty or capable of harm. I want to hear from neighbors and friends that have witnessed JRH/CH interactions. Biased family testimony is probably the norm but when a baby is involved I don't think their friends would offer complicit testimony. JRH being charged with 8 counts. He is guilty of at least 4 of the 8 in my eyes at this point prior to hearing any testimony. IMOO

LH, friends and family also didn't think he was capable of all the OTHER activities he was involved in either.
Do you ever really know what a person is capable of, till they do it?

 

[LinasK]

Should be a very interesting trial. The divorce may or may not be a strategic defense maneuver. I don't know enough just yet to have an opinion if the wife was involved but thus far I don't think she was involved in any way. I don't want to think the dad so badly wanted to be single and fatherless that he killed his son. The facts thus far sure don't look good for his defense. I have read some opinion where maybe he lunched w friends and purchased light bulbs and maybe that was when he had planned to find the body. I just find it difficult to believe he would involve 2 good friends in his scheme. I don't want to sound perverted in the sense that I look forward to testimony in a child's death but hey, there is going to be a trial and testimony presented and I intend to watch as much of it as I can.

BBM. Sadly it is enough motive in some cases. Look at Scott Peterson who killed his 9-mo. pregnant wife so that he didn't have to be a father. He was a cheater too. Immature selfish guys who have no business getting married in the first place.

 

[LinasK]

I could be wrong about this, but I think it is a lot easier to believe the guy made a horrible mistake if you haven't watched several weeks of Nancy Grace's coverage. I haven't, so I'm not sure, but I have this nagging suspicion.

Coastal, no I rarely watch Nancy Grace and I still think this was intentional. He's either too stupid or too much of an arrogant sociopath to think he'd get caught. He tried to stage it in front of witnesses when he found him. He wanted to be childless and have his freedom, just like Scott Peterson, only Scott didn't wait for the baby to be born and chose a more active way of killing.

 

[Hope4More]

I think RH is 100% responsible for his son's death, but I do not think it was premeditated.

My hunch (reserving the right to change my mind) is that he knew Cooper was in the car at HD parking lot. He left him there "just for short time" while he made an appearance at work, and he fully intended to return within a safe period and bring Cooper to daycare. I think he has done something similar in the past either at work or elsewhere.

I came to this conclusion by considering RH's personality and behavior. He's lazy, takes risks, lives in the moment, is selfish and immature, likes to be with people, doesn't have a good work ethic or ambition, avoids problems with distractions rather than taking action to solve problems. I do not think it crossed his mind to murder his child. If he did want out of the marriage, he would do so (and was doing so) in a passive-agressive way by being a selfish jerk whose wife either put up with him or left.

I also don't see where he makes any goals and then actually does anything to achieve them. He wants to be VP at HD, but shows up late, leaves early and sexts on the job. He wants a start-up business but he and his buddies go to the afternoon movies rather than busting butt to get the company off the ground. He wants a new house, but spends money rather than saves it.

I really don't think he has it him to want to murder his child or to actually make a plan and follow it.

What I do think is that he got distracted by his dingaling at work and forgot his child was in the car. I think he knew either before lunch or at lunch, but - in his problem-avoiding way - neglected to do anything about it. I think his "discovery" was fake and when he walked away to talk on the phone, it was once again his passive problem avoiding characteristic showing. The guy can't face up to any responsibility.

But he didn't plan it this way. He did, however, let it happen. It was his inaction rather than his action that caused the death of his child.

JMO, all speculation and hunches.

That or another similar scenario sounds entirely possible.

(adding....I think if suspicious Web searches equate with motive and or guilt , many here on WS would be convicted of whatever crimes we were charged with.

Mine have included searches about surviving in prison, not because I was thinking about committing a crime but because of an interest in how particular personality types fare in prison.

 

[MzOpinion8d]

That or another similar scenario sounds entirely possible.

(adding....I think if suspicious Web searches equate with motive and or guilt , many here on WS would be convicted of whatever crimes we were charged with.

Mine have included searches about surviving in prison, not because I was thinking about committing a crime but because of an interest in how particular personality types fare in prison.

It's all about context. He was watching videos about leaving pets in hot cars, watching programs about remembering your child in the back seat, visiting child-free lifestyle forums, carrying on numerous extramarital affairs, and researching how to survive in prison.

The random stuff websleuthsers look at can all be traced back to cases they were reading about.

 

[Hope4More]

It's all about context. He was watching videos about leaving pets in hot cars, watching programs about remembering your child in the back seat, visiting child-free lifestyle forums, carrying on numerous extramarital affairs, and researching how to survive in prison.

The random stuff websleuthsers look at can all be traced back to cases they were reading about.

I agree context is everything, including the timing of whatever internet searches. Still catching up, but from what I've been reading it sounds like initial reporting about his internet searches was (and still is) incomplete and not entirely accurate. I look forward to that testimony in particular.

 

[ms madge]

Someone theorised that he had done this before - "it's only for an hour" or "he was asleep so i left him in the car" - and LH found out and did the research on deaths in hot cars, and forced JRH to watch/read it. Which would not have convinced him of its danger, he just would have rolled his eyes and thought to himself "what does she know, I know what I'm doing".

I don't want this guy given any mercy. I don't actually care if it was pre-meditated or if he was careless and then tried to mitigate his responsibility. Reading about the injuries this baby had, thinking about the way he died, I want JRH to have to pay for this, for a very long time.

 

[JerseyGirl]

"I love my son and all," Harris wrote, "but we both need escapes." - morning of June 18, 2014

He put Cooper into his car seat, he "always gives him a kiss in case he gets into a car accident and dies,” so in less than a minute, Harris would have gone from kissing his son to forgetting to drop him off at day care. From the Chik-Fil-A to preschool, It was about 0.6 miles and took 30-40 seconds.

__

GUILTY!

 

[DaleTray]

It's all about context. He was watching videos about leaving pets in hot cars, watching programs about remembering your child in the back seat, visiting child-free lifestyle forums, carrying on numerous extramarital affairs, and researching how to survive in prison.

The random stuff websleuthsers look at can all be traced back to cases they were reading about.

 

[CanSleuth]

He has to be guilty of some charges, but I have often wondered if Cooper's death was premeditated, why did he bother stopping at the restaurant which was so close to work? I think a lot of us are baffled how he could forget about his son so soon after eating with him and taking him in and out of the car. Had he driven from home directly to work without stopping I might believe his story...tired, stressed, change in routine, maybe late for work so in a rush etc. Besides, RH seems so selfish, why spend money on food for a child you intend to kill, plus food in his stomach would make Cooper throw up and mess/stink up the car as he suffered.

 

[MzOpinion8d]

He has to be guilty of some charges, but I have often wondered if Cooper's death was premeditated, why did he bother stopping at the restaurant which was so close to work? I think a lot of us are baffled how he could forget about his son so soon after eating with him and taking him in and out of the car. Had he driven from home directly to work without stopping I might believe his story...tired, stressed, change in routine, maybe late for work so in a rush etc. Besides, RH seems so selfish, why spend money on food for a child you intend to kill, plus food in his stomach would make Cooper throw up and mess/stink up the car as he suffered.

My speculation is that he may have thought that would constitute enough of a "change in routine" to blame for him forgetting.

 

[DaleTray]

I don't want this guy given any mercy. I don't actually care if it was pre-meditated or if he was careless and then tried to mitigate his responsibility. Reading about the injuries this baby had, thinking about the way he died, I want JRH to have to pay for this, for a very long time.

If someone premeditates a murder I think we could all agree said person needs to go away for a long time. If someone is careless and by accident someone dies (no matter how gruesome or ugly the death) it still remains an accident. If this is the case here( I know it's a big if) but if, I dont think the dad needs to go away for a long time. If he loved his son, and it truly was an accident, he is guilty of being careless and guilty of being one of the worst husbands on record, but he will be paying dearly for the rest of his life. Again, I am not defending this jerk. If guilty send him away for a long time. But please dont let emotions and the love of children send an innocent man to prison without evidence. BTW, I would be so,so,so,so embarrassed it someone could look up my online search history. Maybe I would be sent away for a long time on assumption of my character and potential of what I may have done in my past or what potentially may do in the future. I have read how some f us think LH raised conservative religious and how she stands by her man, wanting to keep her man, etc. I want to see the woman who now knows her man was visiting prostitutes, sexting minors, leaving the baby she carried for 9 months in her womb alone inside a hot car, the man she now has divorced get on witness stand and profess JH love for his son. How maybe CH was sick in middle of night and the dad says something like "stay in bed, I will go take care of him" or "I will go change the diaper" if this EX-wife still loudly proclaims witnessing many strong father attributes that will weigh heavily for me. That wouldnt be circumstantial or biased or subjective. It would be a fact. If friends and neighbors say the say thing that would solidify leaning toward innocent. I doubt anyone wants to claim the jerk as a friend now but if they can and will still testify to witnessing strong fatherly love (while being embarrassed to testify), that would be strong.

 

[LinasK]

He has to be guilty of some charges, but I have often wondered if Cooper's death was premeditated, why did he bother stopping at the restaurant which was so close to work? I think a lot of us are baffled how he could forget about his son so soon after eating with him and taking him in and out of the car. Had he driven from home directly to work without stopping I might believe his story...tired, stressed, change in routine, maybe late for work so in a rush etc. Besides, RH seems so selfish, why spend money on food for a child you intend to kill, plus food in his stomach would make Cooper throw up and mess/stink up the car as he suffered.

Guilty conscience- last meal kinda thing, jut like Jodi Arias having sex with her victim one last time...I don't think smell/mess were an issue for Ross. He had to have known it was going to be a suffering death either way, he researched it.