Justin Ross Harris appeals conviction in Georgia hot car death
ATLANTA — Lawyers for a Georgia man have begun their appeal of his conviction in the death of his young son, who died in a hot car in suburban Atlanta.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that lawyers for Justin Ross Harris filed a motion this week for a new trial, the first step in what’s likely to be a lengthy appeals process.
In the court documents, defense lawyers say prejudicial testimony allowed by the court made the prospect of a fair trial an “absolute impossibility.”
Jurors in November found the 36-year-old Harris guilty of murder after his son, 22-month-old Cooper, died in the back of an SUV in June 2014, as temperatures climbed into the high 80s.
Harris moved from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to Georgia to work at Home Depot’s corporate office in Cobb County, Georgia.