Amid news earlier this week of a voluntary evacuation for residents of Glynn County, the judge in the Ross Harris trial vowed to ride out the storm at her Golden Isles home.
“I hear you’re supposed to have a party and eat Oreos ‘til the cows come home. That’s what I’ve been told,” Cobb Superior Court Judge Mary Staley Clark joked at the time.
On Thursday, with evacuations now mandatory, Staley Clark left town along with thousands of other Glynn County residents as Brunswick prepares for a potentially historic storm that threatens widespread flooding and massive property damage.
That could include the Glynn Courthouse, where Harris is being tried for intentionally leaving his son inside a hot car to die. It’s located only two miles from the end of the F.J. Torras Causeway, which connects Brunswick to St. Simons Island.
The trial was moved here after an impartial jury could not be found in Cobb County. It was supposed to begin last April.
It would be nearly six months before opening statements were heard some 320 miles away. The defense went last, on Wednesday, which could end up being the last day of proceedings for a while.
“Hopefully we’ll be able to resume sometime next week,” said Cobb Superior Court Administrator Tom Charron, who fled to his house in Camden, S.C. Staley Clark joined him there so they can maintain coordination as to the trial’s next steps.
Jurors, who were dismissed Wednesday around 5:20 p.m., are on their own. They were told to report back on Monday, but if the current forecast holds the trial will in all certainly will be delayed additional days, increasing the likelihood it will continue into the Thanksgiving holiday.
Charron said he will keep the 12 jurors and four alternates abreast of the latest developments. “We should have a better idea (Friday),” he said.
Meanwhile, Ross Harris remains in the Glynn County Jail. Charron said if conditions warrant inmates there will be moved to state prisons inland. Harris’ defense team and the state’s attorneys evacuated Thursday.
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