Ross Harris' Statements to Police Can be Used in Hot Car Death Trial

The Cobb County man accused of intentionally leaving his 22-month-old son inside a hot car to die in June 2014 will face statements he made to police shortly after being taken into custody during his upcoming trial, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Ross Harris, whose son Cooper was left in a car for seven hours, told a responding police officer to “shut the f---” up when she tried to get him off the phone and showed little emotion with his son dead in the back of the car, according to the officer’s testimony. Harris also told a police detective that he had no malicious intent when he left Cooper in the car, a statement the detective said he’d never heard from any other defendant before.

That same detective testified in July 2014 that Harris had two life insurance policies on Cooper’s life and that Harris had been sexting with an underage girl on the day Cooper died.

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Harris’ defense team said their client’s statements to police should be inadmissible because he was not being provided legal counsel at the time he made them. Prosecutors argued that Harris was not being interrogated, therefore he had no right to an attorney at that time, WSB-TV says.

Earlier in the day, Harris’ team lost a motion to bar the media from further motion hearings and the upcoming murder trial, with prosecutors convincing Judge Mary E. Staley that Harris’ right to a fair trial had not been damaged by prior media coverage and that reports favorable to Harris had been released in the media.

Harris was indicted by a grand jury on Sep. 4, 2014 on eight counts relating to the June 18, 2014 death of his son Cooper. Harris pleaded not guilty to all eight counts against him in October.

Cobb County District Attorney Vic Reynolds announced in September of 2014 that the state would not seek the death penalty against Harris if he is convicted.