The Cobb County District Attorney on Wednesday sought to restrict access to public records related to the prosecution of Ross Harris, the Marietta father accused of intentionally leaving his son in a hot car to die.
The motion was prompted by a request from a private individual — accompanied by the threat of a lawsuit — for undisclosed information from the Cobb Medical Examiner, said prosecutor Jesse Evans.
“The rampant release of records to the public may impact our ability to try this case in a fair and impartial manner,” Evans told Cobb Superior Court Judge Mary Staley.
Tom Clyde, legal counsel for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, argued that the order requested by the state was overly broad and too restrictive.
“What the state is, in essence, asking for is a gag order,” Clyde said, adding it would “literally suspend” Georgia’s Open Records law.
Staley said she would consider the request but noted state law typically frowns on such orders.
Wednesday marked the first court hearing in Harris case since last summer. No date has been set for a trial expected to be among the most sensational ever held in Cobb.
There will be several hearings in the meantime, including one requested two months ago by Harris’ attorney, Maddox Kilgore, who wants Staley to separate or bar much of the evidence prosecutors have outlined as central to their case.
In a July 3 hearing at which a judge declined to set bond for Harris, prosecutors painted the Home Depot employee as a man who chafed at the bonds of marriage and fatherhood. They said he routinely exchanged sexually explicit messages with a variety of women and took an interest in online sites that discussed hot car deaths and the advantages of a child-free lifestyle.
In its motions to exclude evidence, the defense argued that charges stemming from Harris’ alleged sexting with a girl younger than 18 are unrelated to the murder counts he faces and should be tried separately. Kilgore also moved to have evidence obtained from his client’s computers and cellphones, as well as statements made by him and his wife, ruled inadmissible on grounds that they were obtained in violation of constitutional protections.
In late December, the state provided the defense with a more detailed accounting of the evidence it has gathered. That is expected to produce another slew of motions.
Harris, jailed without bond last June, was not present in court Wednesday. He pleaded not guilty to the eight felony charges, including malice murder, brought against him. He has said he thought he had dropped 22-month-old Cooper off at day care before reporting to work at Home Depot’s corporate headquarters in Vinings on June 18.
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