CONVICTION OVERTURNED GA - Ross Harris Trial Appeal, hot car death of son, Cooper

[Laughing]

Hi, Mom. The car seat didn't stick out in between the 2 front seats. Grimstead, a prosecution witness, measured the gap between the back edge of the car seat and the top edge of the driver's seat. It was about 3 1/2". They were on a different plane, too, of course. Here's a photo of the car seat in relation to the driver's seat. Speaking of photos, can anyone tell me how to post a regular-size photo instead of thumbnails? Sheesh, I've spent hours trying to figure this out and no luck.

Yup -- right where your elbow belongs while backing up!

Cooper was slightly taller than the recommendations for that particular car seat. His head & hair extended past the edge of the car seat.

You've quoted a post by @momrids6 . That post contains 6 separate facts. THe image you've linked actually supports the post.

Please address any of the other facts, with evidence presented at trial?

@Mary456, who exactly do you intend to convince?

 

[Mary456]

I'm just going to say this and that's all.

I've heard this argument over and over and over again about criminal cases:

Why did they do it that way if they wanted to kill them?
Wouldn't they have done it a smarter/different way if they wanted to kill them?
Why would they have made that dumb mistake?
That part of the plan is inconsistent with really planning to kill them.
Answer:
They have never killed anyone before so they're not very good at it.
There are a lot of parts and pieces and details to a murder plan, and they made a mistake.
They got a lot right but not everything.

So, IMO, the argument that the parking spot was inconsistent doesn't work for me.
JMO

Seems to me that if you wanted to kill your child quickly, before anyone could discover him, you'd back into one of the spaces along the wood line, where no one could walk behind the car & see Cooper through the window. But ok, we can put that aside. How do you feel about all the sexts and graphic photos he left on his computer and phone? He not only left them there for the police to find, he added to the sexts and photos that very day.

 

[Mary456]

I'm just going to say this and that's all.

I've heard this argument over and over and over again about criminal cases:

Why did they do it that way if they wanted to kill them?
Wouldn't they have done it a smarter/different way if they wanted to kill them?
Why would they have made that dumb mistake?
That part of the plan is inconsistent with really planning to kill them.
Answer:
They have never killed anyone before so they're not very good at it.
There are a lot of parts and pieces and details to a murder plan, and they made a mistake.
They got a lot right but not everything.

So, IMO, the argument that the parking spot was inconsistent doesn't work for me.
JMO

Seems to me that if you wanted to kill your child quickly, before anyone could discover him, you'd back into one of the spaces along the wood line, where no one could walk behind the car & see Cooper through the window. But ok, we can put that aside. How do you feel about all the sexts and graphic photos he left on his computer and phone? He not only left them there for the police to find, he added to the sexts and photos that very day.

 

[Clair Louise]

Seems to me that if you wanted to kill your child quickly, before anyone could discover him, you'd back into one of the spaces along the wood line, where no one could walk behind the car & see Cooper through the window. But ok, we can put that aside. How do you feel about all the sexts and graphic photos he left on his computer and phone? He not only left them there for the police to find, he added to the sexts and photos that very day.

About his phone, I think he thought that his story would be taken at face value and they would never have searched his devices.

 

[ReadySet]

IMO, that's just a variation of the "If he was going to commit a crime, why didn't he do it in a smarter way?"

Because he got a lot of details right but not all of them. (Think of the dozens? hundreds? of details he would have had to get right to be successful.)

Because, like many criminals, he thought he wouldn't get caught. IMO he is a narcissist, among other things, and had an entitled point of view. After all, he had gotten away with cheating online, then cheating in person, and was taking bigger and bigger risks. That enabled him to think he could get away with this.

Seems to me that if you wanted to kill your child quickly, before anyone could discover him, you'd back into one of the spaces along the wood line, where no one could walk behind the car & see Cooper through the window. But ok, we can put that aside. How do you feel about all the sexts and graphic photos he left on his computer and phone? He not only left them there for the police to find, he added to the sexts and photos that very day.

 

[Laughing]

Premeditation.

 

[momrids6]

Hi, Mom. The car seat didn't stick out in between the 2 front seats. Grimstead, a prosecution witness, measured the gap between the back edge of the car seat and the top edge of the driver's seat. It was about 3 1/2". They were on a different plane, too, of course. Here's a photo of the car seat in relation to the driver's seat. Speaking of photos, can anyone tell me how to post a regular-size photo instead of thumbnails? Sheesh, I've spent hours trying to figure this out and no luck.

The back of my hand is 3 1/2 inches across at its widest
...My office is in Brunswick where they had the trial...

 

[momrids6]

Oh- and my husband is not quite as big as Ross. Way back we did a re-enactment using the neighbor's SUV- which is the same model. It was like Cooper was in the middle of the car- awkward and impossible to miss

 

[Laughing]

Oh- and my husband is not quite as big as Ross. Way back we did a re-enactment using the neighbor's SUV- which is the same model. It was like Cooper was in the middle of the car- awkward and impossible to miss

Thanks so much for arranging a re-enactment for us here at WS!!!

I've done numerous car-seat checks as a Child Passenger Safety Technician, but don't take pictures.

Welcome! | National CPS Certification

To have your assessment of this vehicle and a rear-facing car seat fits in nicely with the court case and the decision reached by the jury.

JMPO YMMV LRR

 

[Kittybunny]

It's astonishing to me that anyone could think that this was an accident. Do accidental hot car deaths happen? Absolutely and they are horribly tragic and heartbreaking. But this was instead a horribly cruel and agonizing premeditated murder.

I find him utterly repugnant. And that's without even adding his Sexting activities.

 

[momrids6]

Hi, Mom. The car seat didn't stick out in between the 2 front seats. Grimstead, a prosecution witness, measured the gap between the back edge of the car seat and the top edge of the driver's seat. It was about 3 1/2". They were on a different plane, too, of course. Here's a photo of the car seat in relation to the driver's seat. Speaking of photos, can anyone tell me how to post a regular-size photo instead of thumbnails? Sheesh, I've spent hours trying to figure this out and no luck.

Car seat was not right behind him in actual photos from the scene- in the reenactment they have it too close to the door (If you click on the picture it will get bigger)

 

[momrids6]

and another view - seat was in middle of backseat

 

[momrids6]

Police photographer describes the scene of hot-car death of 22-month-old Cooper to jury | Daily Mail Online

 

[momrids6]

• Shumpert's graphic images showed Cooper's legs that seemed frozen in a bent position from sitting in a car seat inside the hot and locked car
  
  Look at how that seat was . His legs and feet would have to be up on the back of the seats or he sat frog legged strapped way too tightly in a seat meant for infants. Who does this to their child?
• Not someone who gave a ----
  
  

 

[Mary456]

he would have needed to back up [at CFA] unless he always backed into parking spots, which the work video doesn't show.

What work videos are you referring to? Home Depot retained parking lot surveillance videos for only 30 days, and Ross had worked there for 2 years. Also, what evidence do you have that people who back into parking spaces always back into parking spaces? I don't get that, unless I'm misunderstanding you.

 

[Mary456]

Yup -- right where your elbow belongs while backing up!

Cooper was slightly taller than the recommendations for that particular car seat. His head & hair extended past the edge of the car seat.

You've quoted a post by @momrids6 . That post contains 6 separate facts. THe image you've linked actually supports the post.

Please address any of the other facts, with evidence presented at trial?

Yup -- right where your elbow belongs while backing up!

Cooper was slightly taller than the recommendations for that particular car seat. His head & hair extended past the edge of the car seat.

You've quoted a post by @momrids6 . That post contains 6 separate facts. THe image you've linked actually supports the post.

Please address any of the other facts, with evidence presented at trial?

@Mary456, who exactly do you intend to convince?

Just making the rounds. It's astounding, four years after the trial ended, how much misinformation is still out there. In the last few weeks alone I've heard:
Harris laid Cooper down and NEVER TRIED A DAMN THING TO HELP HIM.
He never went back to Coopers side, he never even tried.
Ross had joined a Reddit thread regarding hot car deaths.
Both Ross and Leanna researched hot car deaths.
Part of the car seat stuck out in between the two front seats.
Ross backed into his parking space that morning.

I believe that, regardless of our take on guilt or innocence, we should all be proponents of the facts, that's all.

 

[momrids6]

Ok- Cooper's head was between the 2 front seats. Better?

 

[Jewels53]

Ok- Cooper's head was between the 2 front seats. Better?

Thank You momrids6! I appreciate all you doing to present the facts.

I just don't feel like I owe anyone an explanation why I think Ross is guilty. Just listen to the trial and all of the facts presented.

Ross's attitude when Cooper was found tells me he could have cared less about his sons death.

 

[Laughing]

Thank You momrids6! I appreciate all you doing to present the facts.

I just don't feel like I owe anyone an explanation why I think Ross is guilty. Just listen to the trial and all of the facts presented.

Ross's attitude when Cooper was found tells me he could have cared less about his sons death.

Yup, yup, yup.

 

[Mary456]

From the same article above.

"Harris’ lawyers insisted their client left the son he loved in the car by mistake."

If you believe that it was a mistake then he gets a new trial I guess. I don't know how they are going to prove it and if so why didn't they prove that during the regular trial.

jmo imo moo

Ross's Motion for a New Trial is online if you're interested. I think there's a good chance that he won't win this appeal, but if he does, I can guarantee you that the State will not retry him. There's no way they'd ever win again, because the public is much more knowledgeable about the brain glitch/false memory that causes these tragedies. When I began discussing this case four years ago, very few people understood hot car deaths, but I've seen a huge change in attitude since then.