Judge in hot car death case allows news media in hearings
MARIETTA, Ga. (AP) — A judge on Monday refused to bar the news media from the courtroom during pretrial hearings for a Georgia man accused of killing his toddler son by leaving him in a vehicle on a hot day.
Cobb County Superior Court Judge Mary Staley said defense arguments to close the hearing did not outweigh the value of open proceedings. She also said careful questioning during jury selection and clear and direct instructions from the court should protect Justin Ross Harris' right to a fair trial.
Harris faces charges including murder in the June 2014 death of his son, Cooper. Harris has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and his lawyers have said the boy's death was a tragic accident.
Police have said the 22-month-old boy was left in the vehicle for about seven hours on a day when temperatures in the Atlanta area reached at least into the high 80s. The medical examiner's office has said the boy died of hyperthermia — essentially overheating — and called his death a homicide.
Because of extensive local and national media coverage of the case, any contested arguments and evidence presented during pretrial proceedings, even some that ultimately won't be admitted at trial, will enter the public domain, which could prejudice potential jurors in the case, Maddox Kilgore argued. Some of the reporting has also been sensationalist and misleading, Kilgore added.
"Negative reporting has effectively shifted the burden of proof in this case," making it so Harris has to prove his innocence rather than the prosecution having to prove his guilt, Kilgore said.
Tom Clyde, an attorney for The Associated Press and several other media organizations, argued courts have held that an open courtroom is a cornerstone of the judicial system. Defendants are entitled to a fair and impartial jury but not to a jury that has no knowledge of any aspect of a case, Clyde added.
"There's been no articulation anywhere of what it is that creates a clear and present danger" to Harris' right to a fair trial, Clyde said.
Staley also heard arguments Monday on several defense motions that argue certain provisions in Georgia law and their use against him in the indictment violate Harris' constitutional rights.
A group of defense motions focuses on three counts in the indictment that allege Harris asked a girl under the age of 18 to send him a nude photo and sent nude photos of himself and sexually explicit messages to her.
The age of consent for sexual acts in Georgia is 16. The sections of law cited in the indictment make it illegal to possess a sexually explicit image of someone who is under 18 or to exchange sexually explicit images or messages with a person who is under 18, even if that person is engaging in the behavior willingly and is old enough to engage in consensual sex. That violates the constitutional right to privacy and free speech, Harris' attorneys argued.
Prosecutors rejected those arguments.
Staley asked each side to provide her with proposed orders on those issues.
Harris is a native of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and moved to Georgia in 2012 to work for Home Depot.
The hearing on pretrial motions is set to continue Tuesday.
