A psychologist and memory expert who has interviewed hot-car murder suspect Ross Harris has arrived at the conclusion that Harris did not intend to kill his son Cooper.
David Diamond, a University of South Florida professor, will be called by the defense as an expert witness at the upcoming murder trial set to begin Sept. 12 in Brunswick. Diamond has spoken extensively on the subject of children being left in hot cars and has coined the term “Forgotten Baby Syndrome.”
Diamond has interviewed Harris and believes he did not intend to leave his 22-month-old son in his car in June 2014, Cobb County prosecutor Chuck Boring disclosed at a pre-trial hearing on Friday. Harris stands accused of both malice murder, which gives jurors the option of finding he intentionally left Cooper in his hot car, and felony murder, which would allow jurors to find Harris guilty of criminal negligence.
Even though Diamond believes Harris did not intentionally leave Cooper in his car, he will not be able to say that to the jury. Both Boring and Maddox Kilgore, Harris’ lead defense attorney, agreed that is impermissible because that “ultimate question” must be decided by the jury.
Judge Mary Staley Clark, who will preside over the trial, also ruled that such testimony cannot be provided.
But Kilgore told the judge he plans to call on Diamond to testify that what happened that June 18, 2014, day “was the result of a failure of the memory system.”
Also Friday, Staley Clark considered a prosecution motion to transport Harris’ Hyundai Tucson down to Brunswick so the jury can see it.
Kilgore objected, questioning whether jurors would be allowed to sit inside the SUV to get their own vantage point of the rear-view mirrors and Cooper’s car seat. The prosecution already has numerous photos taken of the car and has taken video of the scenes, he said.
“They want to put jurors inside a crime scene and invite them to substitute their view of what Mr. Harris’ view was,” Kilgore said.
But Boring said he simply wanted jurors to be able to “look at the murder weapon. … All I ask is to bring the car down and let the jury look at it.”
Staley Clark agreed that should be allowed.
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