WEBVTT - The Death of Cooper Harris : Part 1 0:00:00.480 --> 0:00:03.360 The case being discussed in the next couple of episodes 0:00:03.360 --> 0:00:07.920 of Sworn was an emotional case. It was a horrific case. 0:00:08.440 --> 0:00:12.600 It was a highly publicized and emotional case. But the 0:00:12.640 --> 0:00:16.720 purpose of this podcast is not to relitigate guilt or innocence, 0:00:17.160 --> 0:00:20.280 and nothing that I say should be interpreted as an 0:00:20.280 --> 0:00:24.160 expression of my opinion about the guilt or innocence of anybody. 0:00:24.520 --> 0:00:28.240 Neither I nor this podcast is intended to relitigate the 0:00:28.320 --> 0:00:31.760 issues at trial. The jury has spoken. This is about 0:00:31.840 --> 0:00:35.160 what the case looks like from the inside looking out. 0:00:35.400 --> 0:00:39.440 The case was extensively litigated by very good lawyers on 0:00:39.520 --> 0:00:42.720 both sides. A jury reached a verdict, and it's not 0:00:42.800 --> 0:00:46.280 our place to relitigate those issues. But we do want 0:00:46.320 --> 0:00:50.160 to bring you inside the case for an insider's look 0:00:50.440 --> 0:00:53.200 at the case of the State of Georgia versus Justin 0:00:53.560 --> 0:01:04.320 Ross Harris. Place your left hand on the bay of 0:01:04.360 --> 0:01:06.800 Bible and raise your right hand and repeat after me. 0:01:07.600 --> 0:01:12.200 I do solemnly swear the jury trying it. Attendant not 0:01:12.280 --> 0:01:18.559 scared this weekend and around the country. It makes no sense. 0:01:18.720 --> 0:01:21.759 If it doesn't fit, you must have quit. Judge, you 0:01:21.800 --> 0:01:25.640 are the last line of reason in this case, very 0:01:25.680 --> 0:01:29.000 one of us took out all the shuffles, and we're 0:01:29.040 --> 0:01:33.440 sworn to uphold the Constitution. From Tenderfoot TV in Atlanta, 0:01:34.040 --> 0:01:39.679 this is sworn. I'm your host, Philip Holloway. I'm thinking 0:01:39.880 --> 0:01:43.920 worst case scenario, it's a really bad accident gone wrong. 0:01:44.640 --> 0:01:47.960 But then as I sat there and I listened to 0:01:48.040 --> 0:01:59.520 the evidence, I was like, Oh, my goodness, have you 0:01:59.560 --> 0:02:01.640 ever won of what it's like to be a lawyer 0:02:01.680 --> 0:02:05.200 who has to represent someone who is accused of something horrific, 0:02:05.920 --> 0:02:09.640 who is seen as a monster and a reprehensible human being. 0:02:10.520 --> 0:02:12.480 What would it be like if you were the lawyer 0:02:12.680 --> 0:02:15.200 and you believe in your heart and your soul that 0:02:15.360 --> 0:02:23.679 that supposed monster is innocent. On the Atlantic community tragically 0:02:23.680 --> 0:02:27.040 lost a beautiful soul with the horrifying death of twenty 0:02:27.080 --> 0:02:32.400 two month old Cooper Harris. Little. Cooper's death was traumatic news, 0:02:33.080 --> 0:02:35.919 distressing to everyone who heard it as it made its 0:02:35.919 --> 0:02:38.680 way around the entire nation and in fact, the world. 0:02:39.480 --> 0:02:43.320 This case had widespread media attention from the very beginning. 0:02:44.200 --> 0:02:48.519 Everyone has strong feelings about Cooper's death, and everyone seemed 0:02:48.560 --> 0:03:01.359 to have their own opinions on the case. The Baby 0:03:01.400 --> 0:03:15.440 on the ground stand where in your con Okay, okay, ma'am, 0:03:15.440 --> 0:03:19.480 We're not to sing like a no where I think 0:03:19.600 --> 0:03:26.480 babee anybody around them? You're in, daddy? Can you see 0:03:26.480 --> 0:03:28.240 the baby from when you are? From where you are 0:03:28.240 --> 0:03:33.880 on your baby appear to be? Can you you're forced 0:03:33.919 --> 0:03:37.119 me about your phole and can you see him? Bring 0:03:37.200 --> 0:03:49.160 me hi? I'm married A Stedman, a producer on sword. 0:03:50.440 --> 0:03:54.040 On the afternoon of June eighteen, two fourteen, cob County 0:03:54.040 --> 0:03:57.200 Police received one call from a woman witnessing a baby 0:03:57.440 --> 0:03:59.600 who appeared to be having a seizure being pulled from 0:03:59.600 --> 0:04:01.720 a car in the parking lot of a shopping center. 0:04:02.520 --> 0:04:04.680 Due to the screams coming from the father, twenty two 0:04:04.720 --> 0:04:08.360 month old Cooper Harris was quickly surrounded by onlookers. A 0:04:08.400 --> 0:04:12.080 few people tried to help. CPR was attempted. M Cooper 0:04:12.080 --> 0:04:14.880 Harris was pronounced dead at the scene. Cooper Harris was 0:04:14.920 --> 0:04:17.599 the son of Justin Ross Harris, known as Ross and 0:04:17.720 --> 0:04:21.200 Leanna Harris. They lived together and married Atta, Georgia, a 0:04:21.240 --> 0:04:24.560 suburb north of Atlanta. Ross Harris was a thirty three 0:04:24.600 --> 0:04:27.279 year old web developer for home Depot and the lead 0:04:27.279 --> 0:04:30.039 guitar player at his church. Leanna Harris was a thirty 0:04:30.120 --> 0:04:33.120 year old dietitian. They met in Alabama, and at the 0:04:33.120 --> 0:04:34.840 time of the incident, the two had been married for 0:04:34.960 --> 0:04:38.600 roughly eight years. By all accounts, Ross and Leanna were 0:04:38.680 --> 0:04:42.840 kind people, active churchgoers, and a happy family. Around nine 0:04:42.880 --> 0:04:45.120 am on the morning of June eighteen, Ross Harris and 0:04:45.120 --> 0:04:47.200 his son, Cooper went to Chick fil A on Cumberland 0:04:47.240 --> 0:04:50.400 Parkway in Cobb County. After breakfast, he placed his son 0:04:50.480 --> 0:04:52.760 back into the rear facing car seat and his henday 0:04:52.760 --> 0:04:55.160 two son and headed off to drop Cooper at daycare. 0:04:55.880 --> 0:04:58.559 Around four pm, Ross left his work and his wife, Leanna, 0:04:58.640 --> 0:05:01.719 headed to pick up her son from day care. Glanna's surprise, 0:05:02.160 --> 0:05:04.680 Cooper wasn't at the Little Apron Academy where he was 0:05:04.720 --> 0:05:08.920 supposed to be. After driving for about seven minutes, Ross 0:05:08.960 --> 0:05:12.560 pulled over at the Acres Mill Square Mall, screaming Cooper 0:05:12.600 --> 0:05:17.960 had been in the car all day. The Acres Mill 0:05:18.000 --> 0:05:20.560 Square Mall in Cobb County, Georgia is a busy place 0:05:20.680 --> 0:05:24.400 with many different shops and restaurants. When Ross Harris pulled 0:05:24.400 --> 0:05:26.200 his twenty two month old son out from the back 0:05:26.240 --> 0:05:28.640 of the car seat, there were dozens of witnesses and 0:05:28.839 --> 0:05:36.120 working lot. Early Wednesday morning, exactly one week ago, justin Ross, 0:05:36.200 --> 0:05:38.520 Harris was seen at this Atlanta area Chick fil A. 0:05:38.680 --> 0:05:41.799 Harris was seen strapping his twenty two month old son, Cooper, 0:05:41.880 --> 0:05:44.000 into his car seat. He drove less than a mile 0:05:44.040 --> 0:05:46.520 away to this home depot store support center where he 0:05:46.560 --> 0:05:49.680 works as a web designer. Normally, Harris takes Cooper to 0:05:49.720 --> 0:05:53.120 a daycare center on site, but not on this day. Instead, 0:05:53.400 --> 0:05:56.520 Harris headed inside the office and left his toddler in 0:05:56.600 --> 0:05:58.880 his rear facing car seat in the back in the 0:05:58.920 --> 0:06:02.280 blazing Georgia's His twenty two month old son was dead, 0:06:02.520 --> 0:06:06.119 probably long before he tried to resuscitate him. It was tough. 0:06:06.440 --> 0:06:09.640 It's it's tough to see anyone pass, but especially a 0:06:09.640 --> 0:06:12.080 small child and made it especially tough. I don't know. 0:06:12.120 --> 0:06:14.400 He kept saying, what have I done? What have I done? 0:06:14.839 --> 0:06:17.640 And but that's all I could entertained that he was said, 0:06:18.120 --> 0:06:20.400 kind of emotions go through your mind seeing something like that. 0:06:21.440 --> 0:06:24.120 You know, I just hope it's not the obvious. Hopefully 0:06:24.120 --> 0:06:26.880 he didn't do anything to to harm the child. Um, 0:06:26.960 --> 0:06:32.800 but I guess we'll know momentarily. It was an extremely 0:06:32.839 --> 0:06:35.479 tragic accident resulting in the death of a young child. 0:06:37.000 --> 0:06:39.560 No one could conceive the pain and the guilt apparent 0:06:39.640 --> 0:06:42.719 must feel after such a devastating lapse in memory. But 0:06:42.800 --> 0:06:45.600 at ten pm that same night, Ross Harris was arrested 0:06:46.440 --> 0:06:51.080 for murder. After searching his office, police arrested the grieving 0:06:51.160 --> 0:06:54.640 father and charged him with felony murder and child endangerment. 0:06:54.800 --> 0:06:59.320 He's pleaded not guilty. Father's arrest is causing outrage, some 0:06:59.440 --> 0:07:02.520 agreeing with police and shocked at what happened, many saying 0:07:02.560 --> 0:07:05.960 the father has suffered enough. The justice system can't punish 0:07:06.080 --> 0:07:09.120 Ross worse than he is punishing himself, and it will 0:07:09.160 --> 0:07:12.320 only cause more pain for a grieving family. Harris Is 0:07:12.400 --> 0:07:16.000 supporters online have raised more than eighteen dollars for his defense. 0:07:18.040 --> 0:07:21.240 I remember that day very clearly. I was in my 0:07:21.320 --> 0:07:24.640 car on my way back from my law office and Marietta, Georgia, 0:07:24.880 --> 0:07:28.000 and there was a lot of traffic way, more than usual. 0:07:28.880 --> 0:07:31.160 I heard the traffic reporter, who's a friend of mine, 0:07:31.240 --> 0:07:33.440 say on the radio that it was due to police 0:07:33.480 --> 0:07:36.360 activity in the area and that they were investigating the 0:07:36.400 --> 0:07:39.280 death of a child left strapped in the back of 0:07:39.280 --> 0:07:43.480 a hot car. On this very hot summer day. That 0:07:43.600 --> 0:07:48.320 precious child was Cooper Harris. The heartache that I felt 0:07:48.600 --> 0:07:52.200 is indescribable, and it was a media and I turned 0:07:52.200 --> 0:07:54.360 around to look at the empty car seat in the 0:07:54.400 --> 0:07:57.800 back of my own car, where my own son sometimes sits. 0:07:58.200 --> 0:08:01.320 I thought, what a tragic accident this had to be. 0:08:02.720 --> 0:08:05.840 But later that night it was eventually reported that the 0:08:05.920 --> 0:08:10.600 father of this child, Justin Ross Harris, was accused of murder. 0:08:11.320 --> 0:08:15.040 I was stunned. How could this man be charged with murder? 0:08:15.680 --> 0:08:18.960 Based on the information provided to me at that time, 0:08:19.440 --> 0:08:22.000 I was not convinced that Ross Harris was a killer 0:08:22.000 --> 0:08:24.560 of any kind. I even chimed in on a couple 0:08:24.600 --> 0:08:29.120 of news stations about it. Justin Ross Harris thirty three 0:08:29.200 --> 0:08:33.800 years old, now indicted on eight counts, including malice murder 0:08:33.840 --> 0:08:35.600 for the death of his twenty two month old son, 0:08:35.720 --> 0:08:38.080 Cooper journey and now was Philip Halloway, a criminal defense 0:08:38.120 --> 0:08:41.600 attorney and former Atlanta prosecutor. Defense attorney Philip Halloway joins us. 0:08:41.600 --> 0:08:43.880 Now I want to bring in Phil Holloway. Phil give 0:08:43.920 --> 0:08:46.720 us a sense of what's going on right now. Malice 0:08:46.800 --> 0:08:49.480 murderer is something that is an intentional death that it 0:08:49.520 --> 0:08:53.760 indicates premeditation. It indicates deliberation, something that was planned in 0:08:53.840 --> 0:08:57.800 advanced and particularly cruel. An abandoned and malignant heart is 0:08:57.840 --> 0:09:03.200 what Georgia Code calls mal The arrest of Justin Ross 0:09:03.280 --> 0:09:06.679 Harris and the death of Cooper Harris sparked lots of 0:09:06.840 --> 0:09:10.720 national interests and awareness about the issue of leaving children 0:09:10.760 --> 0:09:13.840 in hot cars. As time went on, people basically split 0:09:13.880 --> 0:09:18.280 into two camps, those who were absolutely convinced that he 0:09:18.360 --> 0:09:21.320 was guilty of murder and those who believed that it 0:09:21.360 --> 0:09:26.640 had to be a tragic accident. Nonetheless, the story was 0:09:26.679 --> 0:09:30.960 out and people were talking. Many people had doubts about 0:09:31.160 --> 0:09:34.559 Ross Harris's guilt. To gather some additional perspective on this case, 0:09:34.800 --> 0:09:37.040 I talked to a friend and colleague of mine named 0:09:37.120 --> 0:09:40.839 Vinny Polton. Vinny is an anchor at eleven Live News 0:09:40.880 --> 0:09:43.760 here in Atlanta, and he's a former correspondent for Court 0:09:43.800 --> 0:09:48.960 TV and at HLN. Vinny and I literally sat together 0:09:49.440 --> 0:09:52.520 during the probable cause hearing for this case with a 0:09:52.559 --> 0:09:56.480 CNN news crew right outside the courthouse. Leading up to 0:09:56.520 --> 0:10:01.160 the probable cause hearing, I was not convinced that this 0:10:01.280 --> 0:10:05.760 was really a murder case. I'm thinking worst case scenario, 0:10:05.880 --> 0:10:09.960 it's a really bad accident gone wrong. There's no way 0:10:10.000 --> 0:10:15.680 I could have even considered that a father would intentionally 0:10:15.920 --> 0:10:18.920 leave his son there. But then as I sat there 0:10:19.640 --> 0:10:22.880 and I listened to the evidence that was going to 0:10:23.040 --> 0:10:26.320 be part of this case and the evidence against Ross Harris, 0:10:26.360 --> 0:10:29.720 what they uncovered in his searches and everything else, I 0:10:29.840 --> 0:10:39.800 was like, oh, my goodness. First, you look at that 0:10:40.080 --> 0:10:44.480 day that morning, and you watch all the videotapes because 0:10:44.520 --> 0:10:47.560 you can track all of his motions and things that 0:10:47.640 --> 0:10:50.240 he did through surveillance. And there's two parts of it 0:10:50.360 --> 0:10:54.120 that are to me very revealing. The one part that 0:10:54.200 --> 0:10:57.760 everyone was talking about where he's dropped off by his 0:10:57.880 --> 0:11:02.080 friends and he goes to put the lightbulb into his suv. 0:11:02.280 --> 0:11:04.120 He opens the door of his suv in the middle 0:11:04.280 --> 0:11:07.120 of the day at lunchtime and is able to put 0:11:07.160 --> 0:11:10.320 those light bulbs in, but never looks inside the car. 0:11:10.480 --> 0:11:17.880 To me, that was so unusual, awkward, counterintuitive that you 0:11:18.000 --> 0:11:20.400 have light bulbs in your hand, you're placing him in 0:11:20.400 --> 0:11:23.720 your car, and you open the door, don't look inside, 0:11:24.360 --> 0:11:26.640 and toss the light bulbs in and close the door 0:11:26.800 --> 0:11:32.319 and then turn around and walk away. But the most 0:11:32.400 --> 0:11:35.960 revealing part of the surveillance video comes after that moment 0:11:36.200 --> 0:11:39.240 as he's walking back to his office from his car 0:11:39.559 --> 0:11:43.800 where his son is dying or is already dead, and 0:11:43.880 --> 0:11:47.000 he passes someone. And as he passes that person, that 0:11:47.040 --> 0:11:51.559 person is walking towards the vehicle where Cooper is. As 0:11:51.640 --> 0:11:55.880 the person who passes Ross Harris starts to pass Ross 0:11:55.920 --> 0:11:59.360 harris suv, you can see Ross Harris stop and peek 0:11:59.480 --> 0:12:03.640 over his shoulder to take a look at that guy. 0:12:03.640 --> 0:12:07.480 Why why is he looking? Is he is turning and 0:12:07.520 --> 0:12:10.360 looking over his shoulder to see if that person sees 0:12:10.400 --> 0:12:14.120 inside the window you can see the little Cooper's inside 0:12:14.160 --> 0:12:22.040 his SUV. To me, very revealing at that probable cause 0:12:22.120 --> 0:12:25.200 hearing the testimony was that Mr Harris went to his 0:12:25.320 --> 0:12:29.079 car multiple times throughout the day, and the idea at 0:12:29.120 --> 0:12:31.920 the time that he could not have possibly been aware 0:12:31.960 --> 0:12:34.120 of what was happening in the back of his car 0:12:34.400 --> 0:12:43.440 seemed particularly questionable. The part of the evidence to me, 0:12:43.760 --> 0:12:48.800 that is so real for a juror to understand and 0:12:48.920 --> 0:12:52.120 so simple for a juror to understand. We've talked always 0:12:52.160 --> 0:12:57.800 about Ross Harris's SUV. SUV SUV. It's not a Chevy suburban. 0:12:58.320 --> 0:13:00.439 This is not some super stretch suv. This is a 0:13:01.080 --> 0:13:04.560 compact suv. I wouldn't even call it an suv because 0:13:04.559 --> 0:13:09.440 that think that's so misleading. This car is tiny. And 0:13:09.760 --> 0:13:12.760 when you take a look inside and you see the 0:13:12.800 --> 0:13:17.440 photos that were presented by the prosecution of the interior 0:13:17.480 --> 0:13:21.600 of Ross Harris's vehicle, you can see how close that 0:13:21.720 --> 0:13:25.360 car seat is to the driver's seat. It is virtually 0:13:26.320 --> 0:13:29.360 inconceivable that you could sit in the driver's seat of 0:13:29.440 --> 0:13:33.000 that vehicle and not notice or understand that there's a 0:13:33.080 --> 0:13:35.240 child seat right next to you. Because remember it's it's 0:13:35.280 --> 0:13:40.560 rear facing, so it is right there, within inches of 0:13:40.600 --> 0:13:43.319 the driver's seat. And if you're leaning over to grab 0:13:43.360 --> 0:13:46.640 your bag, if you're turning forty degrees to your right, 0:13:46.720 --> 0:13:50.560 there's no way you don't notice that child's seat. It's 0:13:50.800 --> 0:13:54.679 right there. So how on earth could he drive for 0:13:54.760 --> 0:13:57.400 more than ten seconds and not remember that there's a 0:13:57.480 --> 0:13:59.880 child seat there. He didn't have a rear facing care 0:14:00.240 --> 0:14:04.360 He's got to take a peek over his shoulder, and 0:14:04.440 --> 0:14:08.400 as soon as you turn the slightest bit over your 0:14:08.520 --> 0:14:12.920 right shoulder inside, there's no way on earth you don't 0:14:13.200 --> 0:14:17.480 see the car seat. One of the big issues in 0:14:17.520 --> 0:14:22.680 the case was Mr Harris's physical size and the small 0:14:22.760 --> 0:14:25.880 size of the suv. How could he have not noticed 0:14:26.000 --> 0:14:28.160 the child in the back of the car when he 0:14:28.240 --> 0:14:31.240 left work that day? In other words, was this just 0:14:31.320 --> 0:14:36.120 a freak accident or did Ross Harris intentionally leave his 0:14:36.200 --> 0:14:38.600 son to bake to death in the back of a 0:14:38.640 --> 0:14:41.200 hot car. One thing that was constant from the beginning 0:14:41.240 --> 0:14:43.480 of the case all the way through the conclusion of 0:14:43.520 --> 0:14:48.160 the trial is that Justin Ross Harris maintained his innocence. 0:14:48.400 --> 0:14:51.720 On the day he was arrested. He expressed those exact 0:14:51.800 --> 0:14:54.520 feelings to his wife while he was in the interrogation 0:14:54.600 --> 0:15:02.320 room at the Cobb Police headquarters. Right you got my 0:15:02.440 --> 0:15:06.080 card and right do my poll out? I try to something. 0:15:06.520 --> 0:15:20.000 I try to just seek good news comes post. I 0:15:20.040 --> 0:15:29.800 don't know what a ring well most out her baby 0:15:30.600 --> 0:15:37.640 hat over her? It never Oh well, pet, can we 0:15:37.720 --> 0:15:41.880 talk to him? It's the co he has. They're coming. 0:15:43.080 --> 0:15:47.280 You're gonna charge me. My curls and child curld him. 0:15:48.360 --> 0:15:51.360 That's where they put it up there as count the 0:15:51.440 --> 0:15:58.960 cheese to a bolt. That's all I purpose I feel. 0:15:59.000 --> 0:16:23.560 I don't want as a general practice, the cameras inside 0:16:23.640 --> 0:16:28.520 police interview rooms or interrogation rooms are always running. This 0:16:28.640 --> 0:16:32.600 interrogation video, along with several others, later became a key 0:16:32.640 --> 0:16:35.800 piece of evidence in the trial, and one thing that 0:16:35.840 --> 0:16:47.480 in particular really stood out to the investigators. Leanna, mr 0:16:47.560 --> 0:16:51.400 Harris's wife, asked him in the interview room, among other things, 0:16:51.840 --> 0:16:59.520 did you say too much? Two investigators? That was an 0:16:59.560 --> 0:17:02.640 odd us and the demeanor of Mr Harris and his 0:17:02.760 --> 0:17:07.520 wife didn't add up in the eyes of the investigators. 0:17:07.720 --> 0:17:10.640 The tears and the emotion that was displayed during that 0:17:10.760 --> 0:17:15.240 interaction between Leanna and Ross Harris was not genuine, and 0:17:15.320 --> 0:17:18.119 that was a source of much debate both before the 0:17:18.160 --> 0:17:22.520 trial and during the trial. The bus shocking part of 0:17:22.560 --> 0:17:26.640 this case for me was finding out who justin Ross 0:17:26.680 --> 0:17:35.000 Harris really was. More to come after the break, It's 0:17:35.000 --> 0:17:37.800 still really hard to get your head wrapped around why 0:17:37.840 --> 0:17:42.800 would a person intentionally leave their son to die in 0:17:42.840 --> 0:17:46.040 one of the worst ways possible? What could possibly be 0:17:46.119 --> 0:17:49.680 the motive. When it first happened, people sort of forget 0:17:49.760 --> 0:17:53.680 the initial reaction. You know, you had an aggressive prosecution 0:17:53.720 --> 0:17:58.960 team who's charging this father, apparently not giving him time 0:17:59.000 --> 0:18:02.600 to grieve. It's the way in the media and publicly 0:18:02.720 --> 0:18:07.240 initially was that this father was almost being victimized by 0:18:07.280 --> 0:18:10.480 the system, by the prosecution, who had jumped to a 0:18:10.480 --> 0:18:14.320 conclusion and was being overly aggressive and and was was 0:18:14.400 --> 0:18:17.439 trying to turn this into something that it wasn't. And 0:18:17.480 --> 0:18:21.320 then that got turned around very quickly because of the 0:18:21.400 --> 0:18:25.320 shocking revelation of who Ross Harris was and the life 0:18:25.359 --> 0:18:29.199 that he was leading and and what his true focus was. 0:18:29.280 --> 0:18:33.200 This was not a guy who was living anything close 0:18:33.240 --> 0:18:37.240 to a traditional life. It was absolutely a shocking moment 0:18:37.280 --> 0:18:40.399 because you learned so much more about who he was 0:18:40.560 --> 0:18:44.400 and this this double life that he had, and there 0:18:44.640 --> 0:18:49.480 was something that that I would consider a motive, and 0:18:49.520 --> 0:18:51.200 you know, you think about a father and as something 0:18:51.240 --> 0:18:53.679 why would a father kill his son? And to me, 0:18:53.760 --> 0:18:56.760 that's a question that had to be addressed before you 0:18:56.760 --> 0:19:01.920 could even think about this being in an intentional murder. 0:19:04.760 --> 0:19:08.760 Behind the scenes, police were uncovering information that would begin 0:19:08.800 --> 0:19:12.200 to paint Justin Ross Harris in a completely different light. 0:19:13.320 --> 0:19:16.560 The Cop County father accused of intentionally leaving his twenty 0:19:16.600 --> 0:19:19.120 two month old son, Cooper, had a hot car to die. 0:19:19.400 --> 0:19:22.840 Just two weeks before Cooper died, Harris started an online 0:19:23.080 --> 0:19:26.520 sexual relationship with a woman, and it continued during the 0:19:26.640 --> 0:19:30.480 day that the toddler died yet again, another woman met 0:19:30.600 --> 0:19:34.680 randomly first threw an app from a phone called Whisper. 0:19:38.840 --> 0:19:43.080 During the police investigation, law enforcement discovered that Justin Ross 0:19:43.119 --> 0:19:48.159 Harris was not only engaging in explicit sexual conversations and 0:19:48.320 --> 0:19:52.679 sexting with multiple women, some of the miners, he was 0:19:52.760 --> 0:19:58.919 also having extramarital affairs, including sex with prostitutes. There's a 0:19:59.000 --> 0:20:02.119 difference between and being a bad father and being a 0:20:02.160 --> 0:20:06.679 bad husband. Being an adulterer, a philanderer, a cheater, and 0:20:06.720 --> 0:20:10.600 even sexting with underage girls doesn't necessarily mean that you're 0:20:10.680 --> 0:20:15.119 a murderer, does it. It was apparent to everybody, at 0:20:15.160 --> 0:20:18.119 least those in the legal community following this case, that 0:20:18.440 --> 0:20:21.399 this information, if it made its way into an indictment, 0:20:22.040 --> 0:20:26.119 would most certainly cause a jury to hate Justin Ross 0:20:26.160 --> 0:20:30.600 Harris at a minimum. Yeah, there are husbands who cheat 0:20:30.680 --> 0:20:34.439 on their wives, there are husbands who have mistresses. But 0:20:34.600 --> 0:20:41.120 this is a man who became so obsessed with sex 0:20:41.600 --> 0:20:45.240 and his pursuit of women. It was like it was 0:20:45.280 --> 0:20:49.280 like seven, this was the most important thing in his life, 0:20:49.280 --> 0:20:51.680 and for me, that's the shocking part that a father 0:20:51.840 --> 0:20:55.879 of a young child like that could be overtaken in 0:20:56.000 --> 0:20:59.879 his mind with with something other than the well being 0:21:00.119 --> 0:21:02.440 of his own child. And and the most important thing 0:21:02.440 --> 0:21:05.280 in Ross Harris's life on the day his child died 0:21:05.720 --> 0:21:12.119 was again pursuing sex with random women that he's meeting. 0:21:12.480 --> 0:21:14.520 And it was that obsession to me, that was the 0:21:14.560 --> 0:21:17.840 most shocking part of this. That was the big revelation. 0:21:18.800 --> 0:21:20.800 Once you find out what was going on in his 0:21:20.880 --> 0:21:23.879 life and what he was doing and what he was 0:21:24.040 --> 0:21:27.320 up to, and this secret double life that he had, 0:21:28.720 --> 0:21:31.919 you could understand that in his mind there somehow you 0:21:31.920 --> 0:21:33.960 could form a reason why I would want to get 0:21:33.960 --> 0:21:36.480 out of that life and take the life of my 0:21:36.560 --> 0:21:44.240 own son. It reminded me of Scott Peterson. Scott Peterson 0:21:44.800 --> 0:21:49.280 was a husband and assumed to be father who killed 0:21:49.600 --> 0:21:53.600 his nine month pregnant wife out in California. He's sitting 0:21:53.640 --> 0:21:56.640 on death row right now. I saw that the similarities 0:21:56.640 --> 0:21:59.479 between the two cases and that Scott Peterson wanted to 0:21:59.520 --> 0:22:01.880 live a life if that he could not live as 0:22:01.920 --> 0:22:08.400 a husband and father, And for Ross Harris, same thing. 0:22:10.400 --> 0:22:12.959 There was a life that he wanted to lead that 0:22:13.480 --> 0:22:18.480 was so different than being a responsible husband, so different 0:22:18.480 --> 0:22:22.600 than being a responsible father. That the way to get there, 0:22:23.160 --> 0:22:25.440 it's it's sick, I know, but the way to get 0:22:25.480 --> 0:22:28.320 there would be to take the life of his own child. 0:22:29.200 --> 0:22:35.400 This guy, this father, intentionally left his son inside that car. 0:22:53.160 --> 0:22:56.440 During the investigation, a few unsavory details came out about 0:22:56.520 --> 0:23:01.119 Ross Harris and the events of that day. Firstly, Harris 0:23:01.160 --> 0:23:03.200 claimed to forget his son was in the car during 0:23:03.240 --> 0:23:06.440 the drive from breakfast to his workplace. However, that drive 0:23:06.560 --> 0:23:12.560 was only point five miles, maybe five minutes, conceivably less. Secondly, 0:23:12.920 --> 0:23:15.080 Harris had gone to his car that day once in 0:23:15.119 --> 0:23:18.600 between breakfast and leaving work. He had lunch with some 0:23:18.640 --> 0:23:20.919 coworkers that day, and after lunch he had gone to 0:23:20.960 --> 0:23:23.200 his car to put some light bulbs inside, but even 0:23:23.240 --> 0:23:28.040 then he said he didn't see Cooper. Thirdly, and maybe 0:23:28.080 --> 0:23:31.680 most disturbingly, Harris had been sexting with multiple women that day, 0:23:31.920 --> 0:23:44.119 including one underage girl. Chuck Boring, the lead prosecutor in 0:23:44.160 --> 0:23:47.000 the case of the State of Georgia versus Justin Ross Harris, 0:23:47.480 --> 0:23:49.960 agreed to talk with me about his part in the trial. 0:23:50.600 --> 0:23:53.120 As a prosecutor, I think you have a higher duty 0:23:53.119 --> 0:23:55.320 and a higher burden on your shoulders. We have a 0:23:55.640 --> 0:23:58.240 our oath and our duty is not just too to 0:23:58.320 --> 0:24:01.199 try to seek convictions, but to do justice, whatever that 0:24:01.280 --> 0:24:04.439 may be. I think we have an ethical obligation to 0:24:04.680 --> 0:24:07.200 both the state bar and the general bar, but also 0:24:07.240 --> 0:24:09.800 our duties as a prosecutor to make sure that justice 0:24:09.840 --> 0:24:12.960 is done. Whereas with a you know, a criminal defense 0:24:12.960 --> 0:24:15.679 attorney or a civil litigant, you know, their duty is 0:24:15.680 --> 0:24:18.639 to their client to represent them to the utmost within 0:24:18.720 --> 0:24:21.680 the confines of the state bar rules and the law. 0:24:22.040 --> 0:24:24.719 But their duty is to their client. Our duty is too, 0:24:24.840 --> 0:24:26.879 I guess, more of a general cause of trying to 0:24:26.920 --> 0:24:31.280 do what is right. Is there one particular case that is, say, 0:24:31.359 --> 0:24:33.840 the most high profile that you've ever tried. I mean 0:24:34.000 --> 0:24:36.960 that's probably as of recent times. It was the Justin 0:24:37.040 --> 0:24:39.000 Ross Harris case that we tried last fall, and I'm 0:24:39.000 --> 0:24:42.120 sure that was probably it garnered the most media attention, 0:24:42.119 --> 0:24:45.640 no doubt. Would you consider this to be an unusual case, Yeah, 0:24:45.760 --> 0:24:47.960 I mean I think this is obviously it was a 0:24:47.960 --> 0:24:51.840 case that we haven't seen this exact circumstance. But in 0:24:51.880 --> 0:24:54.560 a lot of the uh, the cases that involved deaths 0:24:54.560 --> 0:24:56.720 of children, none of them are the exact same, but 0:24:56.840 --> 0:24:59.639 this was definitely something that was out of the norm 0:24:59.680 --> 0:25:03.119 I would say generally doing child crimes. One of the 0:25:03.480 --> 0:25:06.880 particular hurdles that we have that we have to get 0:25:06.920 --> 0:25:10.480 over is general Society's not like you and I who 0:25:10.480 --> 0:25:12.480 see this stuff on a daily basis. But you know, 0:25:12.560 --> 0:25:18.280 general society doesn't understand the things that we see, and 0:25:18.320 --> 0:25:20.679 I don't think they want to believe the evil that 0:25:20.760 --> 0:25:22.960 exists out there and the terrible things that go on 0:25:23.000 --> 0:25:26.320 in our community, you know, every day. And so that's 0:25:26.320 --> 0:25:27.840 one of the hurdles we have to look at and 0:25:27.880 --> 0:25:30.600 have to take into consideration. Uh, not so much in 0:25:30.680 --> 0:25:32.359 charging a lot of times, but in how we're going 0:25:32.400 --> 0:25:35.560 to approach the argument. How how are we going to 0:25:35.600 --> 0:25:38.320 get through to the jury that you know, evil does 0:25:38.400 --> 0:25:41.840 exist and this person was capable of it. In most 0:25:41.840 --> 0:25:45.080 cases you see in the media, Uh, there are times 0:25:45.160 --> 0:25:48.639 where there are things that may be accurate, inaccurate, half accurate, 0:25:49.040 --> 0:25:52.280 and you know, it's tough sometimes to sit back and 0:25:52.280 --> 0:25:54.320 and just let it happen, but that's what you have 0:25:54.400 --> 0:25:57.200 to do. You know. As a prosecutor, we we couldn't 0:25:57.240 --> 0:25:58.919 come up and say, you know what we see this 0:25:59.119 --> 0:26:02.119 sentence here in the the newspaper on TV, and we 0:26:02.160 --> 0:26:04.120 want to say that we need to correct that. We 0:26:04.119 --> 0:26:05.480 we can't do that at the time. We have to 0:26:05.520 --> 0:26:08.560 let it come out in the courtroom. Well, I think 0:26:08.560 --> 0:26:10.200 you know that one thing is you don't want to 0:26:10.200 --> 0:26:12.640 attain a jury. That's one of the big problems when 0:26:12.640 --> 0:26:17.080 you have a case with media attention and publicity. One 0:26:17.080 --> 0:26:20.119 of the biggest problems is when, as far as you know, 0:26:20.280 --> 0:26:23.680 the appellate decisions have held. Is if a prosecutor or 0:26:23.760 --> 0:26:26.640 defense attorney comes out and puts out intentionally or maybe 0:26:26.640 --> 0:26:29.399 not intentionally, but a statement outside of the courtroom that 0:26:29.480 --> 0:26:31.480 turns out not to be correct. If a court finds 0:26:31.480 --> 0:26:33.360 that that was done and it was done to influence 0:26:33.400 --> 0:26:35.720 the jury and properly, you know, that could affect the 0:26:35.720 --> 0:26:38.800 prosecution of the case. So you have you have to 0:26:38.800 --> 0:26:41.359 be very careful and we have ethical obligations as well 0:26:41.400 --> 0:26:44.119