With all the jurors accounted for, more witnesses for the prosecution will take the stand Wednesday in the hot-car murder trial against Justin Ross Harris.
Last week, faced with mandatory evacuation orders due to the approach of Hurricane Matthew, Glynn County jurors were among those who made an exodus from the Golden Isles to get out of harm’s way from the storm.
On Monday, Cobb County Judge Mary Staley Clark called for the 16 jurors — 12 primary jurors and four alternates — to return to court to make sure all of them could still preside over the trial.
After a dozen showed up and the other four were located on Tuesday morning, Staley Clark held a brief hearing and then recessed court for the day.
“I’m glad all of y’all made it through,” Staley Clark said to the attorneys on both sides. “It’s been an interesting experience.”
Some of the jurors live on St. Simons Island, which was only re-opened for residents on Tuesday at noon. Once opened, an almost two-mile-long line of cars slowly made its way to a security checkpoint at the entrance to the F.J. Torras Causeway, the only roadway to the island.
Because of the delays and challenging logistics caused by Hurricane Matthew, the prosecution may only be able to get a handful of witnesses to take the stand on Wednesday, Staley Clark said.
“We’ll coordinate and work together to make it as seamless as possible, with the awareness that we’ve just gone through a major event,” judge said.
Harris is on trial for the murder of his 22-month-old son Cooper. Prosecutors say Harris, a former Home Depot web developer, intentionally left his son to die in his hot car in an office parking lot in June 2014. Harris’ lawyers have long contended that Cooper’s death was a horrible, gut-wrenching accident.
