The lead detective in the hot-car murder case acknowledged Tuesday that Ross Harris never conducted web searches about hot-car deaths and how hot a car needs to get to kill a child.
This has been a lingering source of frustration to Harris’ defense team. The lawyers have condemned Cobb County police for writing that Harris had conducted such web queries when they filled out search warrants to obtain electronic records about the case. Those incorrect statements were highly prejudicial, the defense lawyers have said.
There was at least one video Harris watched of a public service announcement about hot cars, but he didn’t search for it, according to testimony.
Cobb prosecutors previously admitted into evidence a video Harris said he watched of a veterinarian warning about the perils of leaving pets in a hot car. Harris made note of watching the video during his police interview the day his 22-month-old son Cooper died in his hot car. Harris said he realized "it would be terrible if my son was in the car."
But lead defense attorney Maddox Kilgore got Detective Phil Stoddard to concede that Harris never conducted a search to find the vet’s video. He apparently saw it on the home page of Reddit.com, the social media network that posts news and information on all sorts of topics, Kilgore said.
The defense attorney then expanded his questioning.
“You haven’t found any related searches about how long it would take for a child to die in a hot car?” Kilgore asked.
“No,” Stoddard replied.
Earlier, Kilgore questioned Stoddard about emails and web searches that indicated Harris was planning on going on a cruise in October with his wife and Cooper and his brother’s family.
On June 9, 2014, less than two weeks before Cooper’s death, Harris conducted web searches about children on Carnival Cruise Lines, the ocean liner’s policy for children and “Do kids cruise free?”
Also, the day before Cooper’s death, Harris received an email from his bother’s sister, asking if he’d contacted a travel agent about information about the cruise.
Harris responded that he had done so and was awaiting an email in reply — although that appeared to be false. That’s because shortly after receiving his sister-in-law’s email, Harris messaged the travel agent. In that email, he told her that he and his brother intended to take their families on a cruise and asked her to provide him options.
The travel agent messaged back that afternoon. Harris responded and he agent followed up again the next morning — the day of Cooper’s death. During that timeframe, Harris also a conducted web search on the cost of a children’s passport, according to testimony.
“Dectective, you certainly would agree that planning a cruise in the future is inconsistent with planning to murder him the next day,” Kilgore asked Stoddard.
Stoddard refused to directly answer the question. He said the reason Harris messaged the travel agent was because he had been reminded to do so by his sister-in-law. “That started the ball rolling again,” the detective said.
But Kilgore wouldn’t let it go.
“The objective evidence is he sent an email on the 17th to a travel agent specifically inquiring about a family cruise, which included his son,” Kilgore said. “He sent that email.”
“He did,” Stoddard said.
“Objectively, if he was planning a cruise in the future with his son that would be inconsistent with a plan to murder the boy the next day?” Kilgore asked.
Lead prosecutor Chuck Boring then objected, calling Kilgore’s question “speculative and argumentative.”
Judge Mary Staley Clark sustained the objection, letting Stoddard know he didn’t need to answer it.
Kilgore then asked Stoddard if he ever contacted the travel agent. When the detective said he never did, Kilgore told Stoddard that was “because it didn’t fit your theory.”
Boring objected again, prompting Kilgore to ask the question a different way.
“Did it fit your theory?” he asked.
Boring objected again, calling it argumentative.
Kilgore responded by arguing that Stoddard “has done everything he could to push (his theory) out” at every opportunity.
Staley ordered Kilgore’s last comment about Stoddard to be struck and ordered the jury to disregard it. But she allowed Stoddard to answer the question.
“Did you just not talk to the travel agent that he communicated with on the 17th and the 18th because it just didn’t fit your theory?” he asked.
“No,” Stoddard finally replied.
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