The lead detective in the Justin Ross Harris murder case testified Tuesday that evidence contradicting Harris’ initial statements to police provided sufficient probable cause for them to obtain search warrants for his electronic devices.
Harris has been held without bond since June 2014 in the death of his 22-month-old son, Cooper; police say Harris intentionally left the child locked in his sweltering SUV for seven hours. Tuesday was the second day of a hearing in Cobb County Superior Court on defense motions to suppress electronic evidence against Harris.
Cobb Police Det. Phil Stoddard said Harris told them initially that he was happily married. But two days later, using information collected from Harris’ cellphone, police interviewed a woman who said she was involved in an online relationship with him.
She told police that Harris “didn’t get what he needed at home.”
That same day, Stoddard said, police received a tip from the Cobb County district attorney’s office that the parents of an underage girl had contacted them, expressing concerne their daughter had exchanged explicit photos with Harris.
These accounts, which seemed to contradict Harris’ statement about his marriage, prompted additional warrant applications, Stoddard said.
Prosecutors also argued that Harris didn’t have standing to challenge evidence discovered on his work computer, where detectives found visits to a Reddit site about the “child-free” lifestyle.
Harris’ attorneys have sought to bar evidence collected from his electronic devices, saying the information was acquired as part of a “fishing expedition” by police in searches that were not based on specific leads.
Another Cobb police investigator, Shawn Murphy, testified on Monday that police obtained additional warrants in part because of a lack of emotion showed by Harris and his wife, Leanna, in the hours after their only child’s death.
The hearing is scheduled to continue Thursday afternoon, though Cobb Superior Court Judge Mary Staley seemed to be losing patience with the defense.
“Are we going to split every hair?” she asked late Tuesday.
The hearing's first day, on Monday, provided the first real glimpse into Harris' defense strategy.
In their 35-page motion to suppress much of the electronic evidence collected by police, Harris’ attorneys accused Cobb County police of repeatedly relying on hyperbole, or worse, to obtain search warrants without probable cause.
The trial is set to begin Feb. 22, and Staley said on Monday she saw no reason it shouldn’t start on schedule.
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