The Georgia Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned the homicide conviction of a Georgia father sentenced to life in jail after leaving his 22-month-old son in a hot car, a shocking flip of occasions in a case that made worldwide headlines.
Chief Justice David Nahmias wrote in an opinion that an “extensive amount of improperly admitted evidence” offered throughout Justin Ross Harris’ 2016 trial affected the jury’s responsible verdict. Some of that proof included graphic pictures and particulars about Harris’ extramarital affairs.
“Much of this evidence was at best marginally probative as to the alleged offenses against Cooper, and much of it was extremely and unfairly prejudicial. We cannot say that it is highly probable that the improperly admitted evidence did not affect the guilty verdicts that the jury returned on the counts involving Cooper,” Nahmias mentioned.
“If Appellant is to be found guilty of those crimes, it will need to be by a jury not tainted by that sort of evidence. For these reasons, we reverse Appellant’s convictions for the counts related to Cooper.”
Harris was convicted of malice homicide and different expenses in the June 18, 2014, loss of life of his toddler son Cooper, who was left in Harris’ Hyundai Tucson for seven hours in sweltering warmth whereas the father was at work.
The case and the trial gained worldwide consideration as prosecutors argued that Harris purposely left the little boy in the car. They mentioned Harris, who was married on the time, needed to rid himself of parental accountability so he may hunt down sexual relationships with prostitutes and girls he had met on-line.
Prosecutors advised the jury that Harris had additionally despatched sexually express textual content messages to a number of ladies and underage ladies, together with some which had been despatched the day Cooper died. Harris’ spouse, Leanna Taylor, ultimately filed for divorce. She has by no means been accused of any wrongdoing.
On the day of the kid’s loss of life, Harris was purported to drop his son off at day care earlier than he went to work at Home Depot in the suburbs exterior Atlanta. The pair grabbed breakfast at Chick-fil-A, in keeping with prosecutors, after which Harris drove to work.
Harris found his son was nonetheless in the car after leaving work. Cooper’s explanation for loss of life was listed as hyperthermia.
His attorneys argued throughout the trial that Harris forgot his son was in the car as a result of he modified his morning routine.
In addition to malice homicide, Harris was additionally convicted of felony homicide, cruelty to youngsters in the primary and second diploma, sexual exploitation of and dissemination of dangerous materials to minors. He was sentenced to life in jail with out the potential for parole.
The Supreme Court upheld the convictions of exchanging lewd textual content messages and photos with an underage woman, noting in the opinion that prosecutors “convincingly demonstrated that Appellant was a philanderer, a pervert, and even a sexual predator.” However, it said that these crimes didn’t “answer the key question of Appellant’s intent when he walked away from Cooper.”
Harris is now capable of search a brand new trial associated to the homicide of his son. Attorneys who represented Harris in the unique trial couldn’t instantly be reached for remark.