The Sidebar - Harris Trial #2

[NCTeacher]

How am I going to get through the weekend????????????????????????????????

 

[minor4th]

He is purposely trying to not look in that car. Maybe he wants to be on the camera in his own twisted way cuz he thinks it shows himself being normal not realizing how crazy he actually appears

It would look a whole lot more normal if he didn't go to his car at lunch time on the day his son died in that car - if he were trying to make himself look normal.

 

[Magdalyn]

Ok suppose he wanted to kill his kid so he could be "child free" or get divorced or pursue a carefree life of sexting or pursue the hand of Ms Meadows or avoid paying for orthodontics in 10 years ....or whatever other crazy motive you might buy into - why would he do it in a way that will almost certainly get him arrested and likely convicted of a felony?

This would be a really stupid way to plan and carry out a murder if you were actually trying to get away with it.

You mean unlike the really 'smart' way Jodi Arias carried out Travis's murder? Or the super smart way Ganesh Ramsaran carried out the murder of his wife Jennifer? (And the 'smart' way he attempted to bribe a guard to help him escape after being found guilty of murder?)

I was under the impression the murderers who tend to get caught are the ones who are actually less smart about pulling off their crime...though if you ask them, they are super smart! "No jury will EVER convict me!" :happydance:

Re BBM: A little condescending to imply the motives you don't subscribe to are crazy, no? :fence:

 

[Hope4More]

For the “he’s guilty of malice” (majority) crowd here—

One of the main reasons folks seem to believe malice is based on the belief that there is NO WAY Ross could have forgotten Cooper in the short time between strapping him in and reaching the UTurn, right?

Question for you. RH didn’t tell Leanna (during the day) that he’d taken Cooper to CFA, but he freely told LE that he had. A more basic point. He not only took Cooper to CFA, he went inside, knowing he was being videotaped, and then for good measure introduced Cooper to a manager who “knew” Ross well enough to most certainly remember Ross, even without reviewing the videotape.

If Ross was knowledgable about hot car deaths and wanted to stage a FBS scenario, he couldn’t possibly have chosen a less believable scenario, precisely given that exceedingly short window for forgetting.

As I’ve said before, the easiest possible thing for him to have done that morning if he wanted to kill Cooper and claim FBS was simply to drive straight to work. He didn’t. Puzzle me that.

 

[monkeypants]

Ok suppose he wanted to kill his kid so he could be "child free" or get divorced or pursue a carefree life of sexting or pursue the hand of Ms Meadows or avoid paying for orthodontics in 10 years ....or whatever other crazy motive you might buy into - why would he do it in a way that will almost certainly get him arrested and likely convicted of a felony?

This would be a really stupid way to plan and carry out a murder if you were actually trying to get away with it.

Because no one ever really gets in trouble for it. How else does he do it in a handsfree way? No muss no fuss , innocent mistake like "that guy just like me that's an advocate". Like LH said, it's no different if he crawled into a pool and drowned

 

[LyndyLoo]

why? I think that's him actually being honest. After watching the vet video he had it in his mind how cooper would look. And we know he lies in his description to her as well. I see zero correlation

Agree~~ Because why would have Ross used the passed tense saying He "was afraid what Cooper looked like"? He really should have said..I was amazed after watching pet video how at peace my buddy looked~~ Often using a past/present tense speaks volumes when someone makes excited utterances!! I do believe this one exposed his afore knowledge that "His Buddy" was inside that small hot space where he left him intentionally!!

Sometimes, the actual truth comes out..even with people who have thought thru how they would deal with the aftermath of their actions!! It's called a gaff or an honest thought or feeling coming out..unintentionally!!

Previous post of mine thought Ross had hesitated before going to his car..Sorry..That parking lot video showed a lot of activities..and this I did see one guy hesitate..It wasn't Ross..as he came from the right side..while the guy I watched went extreme left..walked down the line infront of car going right... I never saw the trial video originally but only the one posted showing him stop..look back etc.. Apologized for confusion :blushing:

 

[monkeypants]

For the “he’s guilty of malice” (majority) crowd here—

One of the main reasons folks seem to believe malice is based on the belief that there is NO WAY Ross could have forgotten Cooper in the short time between strapping him in and reaching the UTurn, right?

Question for you. RH didn’t tell Leanna (during the day) that he’d taken Cooper to CFA, but he freely told LE that he had. A more basic point. He not only took Cooper to CFA, he went inside, knowing he was being videotaped, and then for good measure introduced Cooper to a manager who “knew” Ross well enough to most certainly remember Ross, even without reviewing the videotape.

If Ross was knowledgable about hot car deaths and wanted to stage a FBS scenario, he couldn’t possibly have chosen a less believable scenario, precisely given that exceedingly short window for forgetting.

As I’ve said before, the easiest possible thing for him to have done that morning if he wanted to kill Cooper and claim FBS was simply to drive straight to work. He didn’t. Puzzle me that.

I have to go do an hoa budget meeting so I'm marking this spot...I'll puzzle ya!

 

[Hatfield]

He is purposely trying to not look in that car. Maybe he wants to be on the camera in his own twisted way cuz he thinks it shows himself being normal not realizing how crazy he actually appears

The thing that struck me is as she was driving off it seemed to me that he waited and looked up at her to make sure she left before he opens the door. I may be stretching some to think that. It was far away and hard to tell but that is what it seemed like to me.

Seemed a little unnatural the way he walked from her car to his also.

 

[Rayemonde]

Because no one ever really gets in trouble for it. How else does he do it in a handsfree way? No muss no fuss , innocent mistake like "that guy just like me that's an advocate". Like LH said, it's no different if he crawled into a pool and drowned

What makes you think that no one ever really gets into trouble for it? IIRC more than half of the people who leave their kids in hot cars like this are charged with a crime.

 

[Hatfield]

It would look a whole lot more normal if he didn't go to his car at lunch time on the day his son died in that car - if he were trying to make himself look normal.

Maybe he didnt know there was a camera

 

[monkeypants]

What makes you think that no one ever really gets into trouble for it? IIRC more than half of the people who leave their kids in hot cars like this are charged with a crime.

Assuming that's true, I have no time to check. That's a 50/50 chance and he's smarter than anyone.

 

[minor4th]

You mean unlike the really 'smart' way Jodi Arias carried out Travis's murder? Or the super smart way Ganesh Ramsaran carried out the murder of his wife Jennifer? (And the 'smart' way he attempted to bribe a guard to help him escape after being found guilty of murder?)

I was under the impression the murderers who tend to get caught are the ones who are actually less smart about pulling off their crime...though if you ask them, they are super smart! "No jury will EVER convict me!" :happydance:

Re BBM: A little condescending to imply the motives you don't subscribe to are crazy, no? :fence:

Big difference between the two. Jodi was crazy and her motive was crazy too. It's not like she tried to make it look like an accident.

Cooper's death was not the result of an emotional meltdown that had been building for months like Jodi did. It's the kind of death that has happened hundreds of times by accident. If the jury is going to find him guilty of murder, it's going to have to make sense to them. None of those motives make sense, and none of the surrounding actions and circumstances look like a guilty man trying to hide his crime.

 

[chevysgirl]

For the “he’s guilty of malice” (majority) crowd here—

One of the main reasons folks seem to believe malice is based on the belief that there is NO WAY Ross could have forgotten Cooper in the short time between strapping him in and reaching the UTurn, right?

Question for you. RH didn’t tell Leanna (during the day) that he’d taken Cooper to CFA, but he freely told LE that he had. A more basic point. He not only took Cooper to CFA, he went inside, knowing he was being videotaped, and then for good measure introduced Cooper to a manager who “knew” Ross well enough to most certainly remember Ross, even without reviewing the videotape.

If Ross was knowledgable about hot car deaths and wanted to stage a FBS scenario, he couldn’t possibly have chosen a less believable scenario, precisely given that exceedingly short window for forgetting.

As I’ve said before, the easiest possible thing for him to have done that morning if he wanted to kill Cooper and claim FBS was simply to drive straight to work. He didn’t. Puzzle me that.

I don't disagree with you. However, I think you may be brighter than he is......

 

[Rayemonde]

Agree~~ Because why would have Ross used the passed tense saying He "was afraid what Cooper looked like"? He really should have said..I was amazed after watching pet video how at peace my buddy looked~~ Often using a past/present tense speaks volumes when someone makes excited utterances!! I do believe this one exposed his afore knowledge that "His Buddy" was inside that small hot space where he left him intentionally!!
:

Because he was talking about something that had happened in the past. He was afraid of what he would look like. It would have made no sense if he'd told his wife "I am afraid of what he looks like" or "I am afraid of what he will look like."

 

[minor4th]

Maybe he didnt know there was a camera

That still leaves two witnesses though.

 

[Hope4More]

Not true, the ME said parking under the tree means he could have still been alive at that point.

Personally I think the ME was most likely wrong about that, especially since he based his conclusions in part on a very flawed recreation of the temps inside RH’s car.

But what the ME thought isn’t relevant to what I’m saying.

What RH might have thought is what matters. He supposedly knew a great deal about hot car deaths. Almost all the general articles on hot car deaths that I’ve read repeat the same set of facts, likely from the same source (Highway Admin statistics)—that the temps in a car can go up over 20 odd degrees within 15 minutes, even with outside temps as low as 70, and even with windows cracked; that inside a hot car, the internal temps of young children rise 5 times faster than those of adults; and that in at least some hot car cases children have died within times as short as 1 or 2 hours.

Ross the researcher would have had to read a single article to get that info. And the vet video. What was on that, since I can’t bear to watch it? Didn’t folks here post that the vet said living things can die (do die?) incredibly quickly in hot cars?

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

I wouldn't have wanted to view photos of deceased Cooper and don't know what was shown to jury or could be seen on live stream. That said, I was flabbergasted when I heard Ross tell Leanna that their dead son "looked peaceful". Based on descriptions of the death scene and the state of little Cooper's body, how could anyone possibly describe the dead child's appearance as "peaceful"? Dying "peacefully" is usually said about people who have suffered a long term illness and are pain-free upon death. Or, the deceased prepared for viewing in a funeral home are said to look "peaceful". I find absolutely nothing "peaceful" about a barely-two-year-old child who died in a car that was like an oven. I cringe thinking about what little Cooper looked like, and the word "peaceful" doesn't describe the circumstances whatsoever. :moo:

 

[Hatfield]

That still leaves two witnesses though.

I agree its a little troubling he would risk that. It almost makes me think she knew what he was doing.

Im just glad I am not on this jury. I can really see both side arguments in this case. Its no wonder the jury needed the weekend off.

 

[minor4th]

What makes you think that no one ever really gets into trouble for it? IIRC more than half of the people who leave their kids in hot cars like this are charged with a crime.

Yes, and something like 80% of those are convicted.

 

[Rayemonde]

Maybe he didnt know there was a camera

In that case why was he (apparently) making a huge effort to remain upright and not be seen bending over or looking into the car...