Justin Ross Harris defense begins its uphill climb

The prosecution in the hot-car murder trial spent nearly four weeks trying to prove that Ross Harris deliberately killed his 22-month-old son, Cooper, by leaving the toddler in his broiling SUV.

Now the defense takes on its own monumental task. It's not a question of whether Harris did it — that was settled on the day Cooper died more than two years ago — but whether he did it on purpose. The prosecution rested on Friday, and the defense begins its first full day of testimony today.

Proving a negative — that someone didn’t do something or that something did not happen — is always a challenge. In the Harris case, however, the prosecution has no eyewitness testimony and no smoking gun. So the malice murder charge against Harris is as much s matter of interpretation as it is fact. It will come down to which side makes the strongest argument before the six-man, six-woman jury.

To make that argument stick, Harris’s defense team will be putting his ex-wife on the stand, as early as today, plus a nationally regarded memory expert and — this is the biggest question mark remaining in the trial — perhaps Ross Harris himself. Leanna Taylor, although she divorced Harris earlier this year, is expected to testify that her husband would never delberately harm his only child.

David Diamond, a psychology professor at the University of South Florida, has developed what he calls the “Forgotten Baby Syndrome,” wherein parents who may otherwise be loving and responsible forget that their child is in the car. He also is expected to be a key witness for the defense.

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The AJC's team in Brunswick will report throughout the day on key developments in the trial, and you'll also be able to follow our minute-by-minute account of the proceedings from the time court convenes in the morning until it recesses in the afternoon. AJC reporters Christian Boone (@reporterJCB) and Bill Rankin (@ajccourts) are in Brunswick for the duration of the trial.