Judge Grants Change of Venue for Ross Harris

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watching this hearing...I think the defense has argument for change but this should have been done long ago....this judge is in a real bad situation...because of this hearing any juror picked that is not able to be struck by the defense will be cause of appeal if they do not vote how the defense wants. I recall that one juror in Jodi Arias ...after watching voir dire clearly no one really understands why Juan let her on...if this judge denies motion to strike of defense this will be appealed on that....on and on. So she has to weigh...get a jury from another area and start over with all the financial costs that entails or keep going and risk further issues. The principle of someone leaving a child this long in a car seems pretty universal and really juror reaction probably universal so maybe no difference in the next voir dire...so then what? Also if from out of town they would need to be sequestered something no court wants to do these days. This whole trial is already a mess and ask Mr. Harris marches in with his shirt and tie I am very concerned about how this is all going to end.

I watched a trial where the jury was brought in from a neighboring county. Every day during the trial, a county bus met them at their county courthouse, and the bus took them to the county where the trial was being held. In the afternoon, the bus took them back to their county courthouse. When jury selection was done, the county bus brought in the individuals from the county who were sent a jury duty notice and took them back in the afternoon as well. Since the jurors were only 30--40 miles away, they did not have to stay overnight, and the judge was very diligent in getting them out of the jury box every day no later than 5:00pm.
 
Doesn't have to be a similar county, per Georgia code. The law states the transfer can be to "any" county agreed upon by first the DT & State, then by the trial judge.

I am sorry that I wasn't more clear in my original statement. I was attempting to say that a new county will not be a good reflection of Cobb County. While I am sure that they can find a new location, it won't be representative of the place where Cooper's death occurred.

I also wonder how the change of venue will affect the prosecution's motion for field trips. If jurors are able to see the locations of JRH's movements on the day of Cooper's death, I think that JRH will be found guilty. JMO
 
I think Judge Staley made the right decision, but I am sure surprised by it.
 
I watched a trial where the jury was brought in from a neighboring county. Every day during the trial, a county bus met them at their county courthouse, and the bus took them to the county where the trial was being held. In the afternoon, the bus took them back to their county courthouse. When jury selection was done, the county bus brought in the individuals from the county who were sent a jury duty notice and took them back in the afternoon as well. Since the jurors were only 30--40 miles away, they did not have to stay overnight, and the judge was very diligent in getting them out of the jury box every day no later than 5:00pm.

In order to get out of the Atlanta media market, which is what the DT requested, the new trial will be at least 80+ miles from Atlanta.
 
What a waste of everyone's time.


Less time wasted than if RH was found guilty and won on appeal later, which given what we've heard from prospective jurors, and Staley's ruling on the COV, might well have been the case.
 
"The judge in the Ross Harris case this afternoon granted a defense motion to change the venue of the hot-car murder trial. Jury selection was almost complete, so this development throws the next step in the case into question.
Court administrator Tom Charron, a former Cobb district attorney, said earlier Monday that if the trial were moved, it would likely be delayed until fall and could cost the county an additional $100,000."
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/fair-trial-possible-in-hot-car-murder-case-judge-t/nrFq7/

Not a surprise. It seemed like almost all potential jurors were problematic for one side or the other.
 
so they are MOVING the trial as opposed to bussing in jurors??
 
Not a surprise. It seemed like almost all potential jurors were problematic for one side or the other.


Not so much a surprise on the merits, but seemingly very much a surprise given this particular judge, up through her comments and tone with the DT today. Really, IMO, all the more reason to applaud her decision.
 
[video]http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/02/us/justin-ross-harris-trial-venue-change/index.html?adkey=bn[/video]
 
In order to get out of the Atlanta media market, which is what the DT requested, the new trial will be at least 80+ miles from Atlanta.

Any ideas where they could move it to? Macon?
 
Wild's livestream can still be viewed, and is worth watching in entirety. It wasn't even a close decision. She checked with the attys on their progress after an hour plus. They predictably said they were at an impasse. The State would concede 2 of 6 contested jurors and no more, the DT could accept no fewer than all 6.

Staley indicated that she wouldn't have been able to accept any agreement they made anyway. That the DT had met its burden of demonstrating both that pre-trial publicity had been pervasive, and that the publicity had clearly tainted the jury pool--deeply. She also seemed to call into question the reliability of what jurors had testified to ---that some who said on questionnaires they could be unbiased came into court and said they could not be, and some who said in questionnaires they were biased also said otherwise in court. And last, she said that the "cold" record didn't begin to reflect the depth of sentiment against RH she had witnessed for herself.

Not even close.

BTW- in discussing venues, she referred to the trial lasting between 2-4 months, not weeks.
 
How long do you think it will be before we know the new venue?
 
Wild's livestream can still be viewed, and is worth watching in entirety. It wasn't even a close decision. She checked with the attys on their progress after an hour plus. They predictably said they were at an impasse. The State would concede 2 of 6 contested jurors and no more, the DT could accept no fewer than all 6.

Staley indicated that she wouldn't have been able to accept any agreement they made anyway. That the DT had met its burden of demonstrating both that pre-trial publicity had been pervasive, and that the publicity had clearly tainted the jury pool--deeply. She also seemed to call into question the reliability of what jurors had testified to ---that some who said on questionnaires they could be unbiased came into court and said they could not, and some who said in questionnaires they were biased also said otherwise in court. And last, she said that the "cold" record didn't begin to reflect the depth of sentiment against RH she had witnessed for herself.

Not even close.

Do you have a link to the livestream? I would love to watch the whole thing.

I wonder how much more warmly JRH will be received elsewhere in Georgia. He is a very unlikeable defendent.
 
Do you have a link to the livestream? I would love to watch the whole thing.

I wonder how much more warmly JRH will be received elsewhere in Georgia. He is a very unlikeable defendent.





Judge agrees to move hot SUV death trial. #JustinRossHarris #HotCarDeath Watch video replay here: http://www.wildabouttrial.com/judge-agrees-to-move-hot-suv-death-trial/ …


After the first part, there's a loooooong stretch of just seal, then it picks up again around 1:30 in, iirc.
 
Do you have a link to the livestream? I would love to watch the whole thing.

I wonder how much more warmly JRH will be received elsewhere in Georgia. He is a very unlikeable defendent.

He's very unlikable, and people are likely to be resentful of a trial like this being imposed upon their county.
 
And last, she said that the "cold" record didn't begin to reflect the depth of sentiment against RH she had witnessed for herself.

Not even close.

BTW- in discussing venues, she referred to the trial lasting between 2-4 months, not weeks.

What does cold record mean?
 
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