All 16 jurors in the Justin Ross Harris trial, delayed last week by Hurricane Matthew, have been accounted for and will be ready to hear more testimony when the trial restarts on Wednesday.
Cobb County Superior Court Judge Mary Staley Clark made the announcement during a brief hearing on Tuesday. Harris, his defense attorneys and the prosecution team were all present.
“I’m glad all of y’all made it through this,” Staley Clark said of the hurricane. “It’s been an interesting experience.”
The trial began in earnest on Oct. 3 but was halted Thursday, not long before Gov. Nathan Deal called for residents here to evacuate the region.
After the weekend break, Staley Clark asked for parties to appear on Tuesday to make sure all 16 jurors — 12 primary jurors and four alternates — could be accounted for.
A dozen of the jurors showed up at the courthouse, and court officials were able to contact the remaining four, Court Administrator Tom Charron said.
“The full compliment will be here tomorrow,” Charron said. “They all seemed ready to go and are in good spirits.”
Harris remained in Brunswick at the Glynn County jail throughout the weekend and did not need to be moved inland because of the storm, Charron said.
Harris, a former Home Depot web developer, is on trial for the murder of his 22-month-old son Cooper. Cobb prosecutors say Harris deliberately left Cooper in his hot SUV to die on a hot day in June 2014. Harris’ lawyers contend Cooper’s death was a horrible gut-wrenching accident.
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