Witnesses: Quotes, statements, interviews, testimony and video *No Discussion*

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tlcya

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I figured we might need a thread to keep track of the varied witness statements.

Please provide links and direct quotes whenever possible.

Thanks.

video of witness Dale Hamilton speaking to reporters onscene

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/child-dies-after-being-left-car-near-cumberland-ma/ngNc4/

Raw video

http://www.wsbtv.com/videos/news/raw-sound-witness-describes-fathers-reaction-to/vCfQ4N/

Hamilton on Nancy Grace http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/21/us/toddler-car-death-probe/

“Laid his son on the ground, started doing CPR trying to resuscitate him. Apparently the child wasn’t responding,” Hamilton told the station.

SNIP

Added Hamilton, “He kept saying, ‘What have I done? What have I done?’ And that’s all that I could ascertain that he was saying.”

http://wgntv.com/2014/06/25/tragic-accident-or-murder-in-hot-car-toddler-death/

‘He was in the same position as if he were sitting in the carseat,’ witness Dale Hamilton of the toddler boy who died in this hot car while his father worked at a Georgia mall.

SNIP

"He was lifeless, he was in the same position as if he were sitting in the carseat," witness Dale Hamilton told the newspaper. "It's something that I'll remember for a long time."http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/ga-man-charged-murder-baby-dies-hot-car-article-1.1836144

sorry for size and bolds, they are carrying over from the linked material, and not added by me for emphasis
 
Eyewitness Edward Cockerham, 49, told MailOnline: 'I was interviewed by the police last night and I told them I thought the guy was acting, he was really over-reacting to the situation.

'I know he had lost his baby but he was acting up more than he should have been. It seemed like acting to me. When he pulled in and people started asking him what had happened, he said that the baby had just started choking.

'But the baby didn't look like it had been choking, it looked like it had been sweating, like it had been in a swimming pool, his hair was all wet.

'I think the dad knew all along that his baby was dead because he’d been left in the car, I think he was looking round for a place where there was people so he could make it look like the baby had choked and it wasn’t his fault'
- witness Edward Cockerham

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...t-car-toddler-son-died-way.html#ixzz37MYlycNj
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
 
Not sure what the problem is but both links are for the "One Decision" video (dramatization of child left in vehicle while mom goes into store...).
 
Another witness, bartender Artiyka Eastland, 25, of Smyrna, also thought Harris' behavior was bizarre.


SNIP


Artiyka told MailOnline: 'I saw him (Harris) immediately jump out of the car, very quickly, very frantically.


'He pulled the baby out of its child seat and on to the floor, but I didn't realize the baby was lifeless at that point, I thought maybe he was choking. He put the baby on the ground and started to give him CPR, there was one other person there with him helping.


'I didn't want to get too close. I was emotional, it was crazy. He was shouting "What have I done, oh my God I've killed my son."'


But Artiyka said after that something wasn't quite right about Harris' demeanor.


She recalled: 'He was frantic as you'd expect, but when someone else came over to help with the baby he stepped away and he was acting like this is not happening type of thing.


'Something didn't seem right, I thought he was going through these weird spurts of being frantic and then being very calm.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...t-car-toddler-son-died-way.html#ixzz37MYwBqub
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
 
'The police put him in the cop car and he was talking to one of the detectives and he would be very calm, but then very crazy, crying. I saw him looking back trying to work out what was going on, but he wasn't looking back in concern for his son, he was looking back to see who the police were talking to.

'I can't imagine what it's like to lose a child but his body language in the back of the car was very odd.



'I felt like he was worrying about something, it was strange behavior, he was back and forth between crying and looking around.'


Artiyka also believes the baby had been dead for many hours before Harris pulled the child out of the car.


'The baby was a grey/blue color, not its natural color. I know he was in the car seat but when the dad placed him on the ground his legs stayed in the same sitting position, as if he was laying on the ground with his knees up in the air stiff. It wasn't natural.

'It's so so sad that a little baby has died like this.'



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...t-car-toddler-son-died-way.html#ixzz37MZfkn7a
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
 
Edward, a chef at pizza restaurant Uncle Maddio’s in the Akers Mill shopping complex, was one of the first on the scene.


‘I had just pulled up to work and I heard tires screech and I turned round expecting to see a wreck when I saw a car in it with a guy and a baby.

‘The guy jumped out and was screaming, “What have I done, what have I done”, and he was yelling at me to call 911.


‘He had the back door open and this other guy came over and helped him get the baby out.


‘The other guy started doing chest compressions on the baby but the father was just running around saying, “What have I done?”'.

SNIP


‘I can’t believe that when he got back into his car after work he didn’t see the baby, it just doesn’t add up to me,’ said Edward. ‘He had a lot of time to look in his mirror or look round to see the baby.

‘I think he was worried about how it might look and he came up with this story to make it look like an accident.

‘It makes me mad to think that that baby had been dead for hours and the father tried to make out the child had just died. A lot of people have come out to support him but they need to know the whole story.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ake-supporters-think-twice.html#ixzz37MaxMQo6
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
 
Fellow chef at Uncle Maddio’s, Rodney Smith, agrees with his colleagues version of events.


Rodney, 24, also said Harris was behaving ‘suspiciously’ after he pulled to a halt outside the restaurant where passers-by desperately tried to revive little Cooper.


He confirmed Harris had said his son had been choking and said the frantic dad was pacing in circles and pulling on the branches of nearby trees.


Rodney says Harris was then handcuffed by police officers after he became irate during a heart-breaking phone call to his wife Leanna during which he told her ‘our baby is dead’.


Rodney said: ‘He was going crazy and the police cuffed him. He was trying to tell his wife what was going on but he didn't get much out because he was really - I guess you would say - in drama shock.


'A police officer said to him, "Calm down and explain to your wife what's going on". I didn't hear what he said because I was going back in but then whatever he said triggered the police officer to say, "You need to watch your mouth" and then they put the handcuffs on him.


'I don't know what he said to the wife - the only thing I heard was that he told her that her son was dead after that I couldn't hear.’


Rodney added: 'He seemed suspicious. I got a child the same age and I know how it would feel it's devastating but at the same time it was more drama than in shock he was more acting out than he was in shock.


'When you go in shock everything pauses in your brain and you don't know what to do.


‘It was more like he was putting on a show - that's pretty much what I got from it and I'm pretty sure everyone else felt the same way.'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ake-supporters-think-twice.html#ixzz37MbjcdQK
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
 
http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1407/03/wolf.02.html TRANSCRIPT PT 1 PROBABLE CAUSE PORTION
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1407/03/cnr.05.html TRANSCRIPT PT 2 PROBABLE CAUSE PORTION

I can find no transcript of the bond portion of the hearing. If anyone finds one please add to the thread.

video of PCH (cameras focused on prosecutor and defendant not witnesses or judge)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9u--A2TwZg pt 1 (Stoddard and prosecutor during first portion of hearing - probable cause section of hearing)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ff6SR0oHFQ8 pt 2 (starts with cross by defense attorney of Stoddard re lightbulbs, Madden testifies at about 29:00)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9QIKX9JE4Q pt 3 (starts with testimony by Winston Milling friend and coworker of RH)
 
1:59 p.m. ET: Leanna Harris, the mom, went to pick up Cooper from daycare that day. They told her he was never dropped off. On her way out, she told witnesses: “Ross must have left him in the car… there’s no other explanation. Ross must have left him in the car.” Stoddard says they tried to console her but, “She’s like, ‘No.’”

http://www.hlntv.com/article/2014/07/03/justin-ross-harris-cooper-toddler-hot-car-death-live-blog

bbm
 
1:41 p.m. ET: When Harris pulled into a parking lot after leaving work, witnesses described seeing him pull in at a high rate of speed, tires squealing.

"He seemed upset, his behavior was considered erratic," Stoddard said. "He would be yelling and screaming, 'Oh my god what have I done, my child is dead.' And then he would stop and he’d just have a blank look on his face."

A bystander started CPR on the toddler and described Harris as "messing around."

http://www.hlntv.com/article/2014/07/03/justin-ross-harris-cooper-toddler-hot-car-death-live-blog

Victor Blackwell CNN ✔ @VictorCNN

Stoddard: witnesses at scene did not all tell the same story. Some said he was hysterical, dazed and screaming.

Stoddard: some witnesses at scene saw Harris attempting CPR and some did not.
 
4:35 p.m. ET: The defense has called Penny Harrison, a children’s pastor at Harris' church, to the witness stand. She says she has known Harris and his wife for about two years.

“I knew him to be at typical, loving father of a toddler,” Harrison said. She says he has support at church and that she believes he would show up for court if he were released on bail.

The prosecution asks her if she knows he was sexting with other women. She says no and that "I know him in a church setting and that's all."

View attachment 54788

http://www.hlntv.com/article/2014/07/03/justin-ross-harris-cooper-toddler-hot-car-death-live-blog
 
4:30 p.m. ET: The defense calls Randy Michael Baygents, Harris’ brother, to the witness stand.

“He was a loving father,” Baygents said about his brother, getting emotional. “He loved his son very much. We went on family vacations together and he was a good dad.” Harris wipes his eyes.

The prosecution says that Harris has been breaking the law by sexting with underage girls. Baygents says he didn't know about this but still believes his brother wouldn't commit a crime if released on bail.

View attachment 54789

http://www.hlntv.com/article/2014/07/03/justin-ross-harris-cooper-toddler-hot-car-death-live-blog
 
3:26 p.m. ET: The defense has called a witness to the stand, Leonard Madden.

"When I got closer, I thought it was a doll. And about three or four feet away, I noticed it was the body of a toddler. Right then my heart dropped because I saw this precious boy laying there lifeless," Madden said. "The father, Mr. Ross, had just given his child CPR and about two other people came near to assist. As I got closer, you could just hear his cries and his desperate for his son to be revived. He was saying, 'Oh my god, oh my god. My son is dead. Oh my god, my son is dead.' It sounded as if he was saying it out of hurt and disappointment, desperation. He was yelling, he was hollering, he was screaming."

3:28 p.m. ET: An officer told Harris to step back, according to Madden. Harris allegedly told the officer to "shut up." The officers put Harris in handcuffs

3:29 p.m. ET: "I felt his pain. I even wept and mourned his son and I’ve never even met him," Madden said, describing Harris' reaction as "genuine" and "organic." The prosecution is now cross-examining the witness.

3:34 p.m. ET: Madden admits that he has watched media coverage of the case before testifying. He also said it took police 20-30 minutes to arrive but the prosecution says police arrived immediately. No one else has questions for this witness and the judge excuses him.

3:36 p.m. ET: Harris has leaned over three times during Madden's testimony to wipe his eyes.



View attachment 54790

http://www.hlntv.com/article/2014/07/03/justin-ross-harris-cooper-toddler-hot-car-death-live-blog
 
3:39 p.m. ET: The defense has called another witness to the stand, James Alex Hall. He works with Harris, the two went to college together and they also own a business together. Hall drove to lunch with Harris on the day his son died. When asked how Harris was acting that day: "I wouldn’t say abnormal in any way. I’d say normal as you can be. Nothing stuck out, nothing was weird."

3:41 p.m. ET: They bought light bulbs during lunch and Harris dropped them off at the car before returning to work.

“I drove as close as you would reasonably to drop somebody off at their car,” Hall said.

3:45 p.m. ET: “He said he loved his son all the time. He said his son was very important to him,” Hall said. The prosecution begins its cross-examination and asks Hall if he knew that Harris was sexting women all day. Hall says no.

"You don’t know everything about Mr. Harris, do you?" Hall shrugs.




View attachment 54792

http://www.hlntv.com/article/2014/07/03/justin-ross-harris-cooper-toddler-hot-car-death-live-blog
 
4:00 p.m. ET: The defense has called another one of Harris’ friends, Winston Milling, to the stand. He also went to lunch with Harris on the day his son died and says everything appeared normal.

“He loved showing Cooper off to everybody. He liked picking him up, bringing him around. He was always happy, Cooper was always smiling,” Milling said.

When asked about Harris’ deafness in his right ear: “I always have to go to the other side of his head to talk to him.”

winston-milling.jpg

http://www.hlntv.com/article/2014/07/03/justin-ross-harris-cooper-toddler-hot-car-death-live-blog
 
“Everything was going right for this couple,” said Joe Saini, who rents the family their condo on Wynnes Ridge Circle in Marietta. He said the family was actively shopping for a house. “They wanted to buy a house so they could have some space for their child to run around the backyard.”

Saini said Harris had been excited recently about a promotion and pay raise and was planning with his wife to begin house-hunting in East Cobb.

Saini, the landlord, said he last spoke with Harris on Sunday, and that Harris, who goes by the name Ross, was happily looking toward the future. He was anticipating a promotion and raise at Home Depot, which would enable Harris to buy a house in a nice neighborhood. Harris and his wife were already scouting out houses on the Internet, favoring the East Cobb area because of its good schools. They expected to start visiting them in a few weeks.

Saini said the Harrises were perfect tenants. When the air-conditioner recently broke down, Harris didn’t get angry about it. Most often, they paid their rent one day early. He said Cooper’s room was filled with toys.

Even when Harris was arrested Wednesday, he made sure to have a family member call the landlord to tell him what happened.

Saini said it is absurd to even consider that Harris would hurt his child.

“We know him. He’s not that kind of character,” he said.

He called the charges “cruel and unusual punishment.”

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2014/jun/20/ga-man-charged-murder/
 
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