The Justin Ross Harris trial was an expensive legal spectacle that moved from one end of Georgia to another in search of an impartial jury.
How expensive?
It cost more than a half-million dollars to send Harris to prison for good. He was sentenced to life without the possiblity of parole on Dec. 5 after being convicted of intentionally killing his 22-month-old son, Cooper, by leaving him in a hot SUV in June.
» The AJC's "Breakdown" podcast on the Harris case
Just changing the venue of the trial from Mareitta to Brunswick cost taxpayers $149,000 in additional expenses, an AJC examination of expense records shows. Other expenses included food and lodging for the judge, legal fees for the defense and
Legal experts acknowedge that the proceeding was expensive, but they also said that American jurisprudence requires just that sort of time and effort.
