JURY SELECTION CONTINUES FOR ACCUSED DAD

Jury selection could conclude as early as this week.

Former NBA guard. Phlebotomist. FedEx deliveryman. Chief financial officer. Immigrant. Wheelchair-bound grandmother.

In a week-and-a-half of painstaking jury selection, the Justin Ross Harris trial has heard from nearly 60 prospective jurors, each of them walking alone into the Cobb County Superior Court, taking a seat in the jury box and taking questions for as long as an hour from the judge, the prosecution and defense.

As of Friday, 26 prospective jurors had been qualified to serve on the panel from which the final 12 and alternates will be selected. That process could conclude this week, signaling the beginning of opening statements and testimony, or it could stretch on into the following week. This will depend on part on how many alternates are needed; the decision rests with Superior Court Judge Mary Staley, who has not yet disclosed the number.

Ross Harris’s defense, always faced with a steep hill to climb, saw that hill turn into a mountain last week. Of the 26 jurors who were qualified, nearly a third said they believed Harris is guilty. Most said they could set aside their opinions and remain impartial as the prosecution and defense present their cases.

Lead defense attorney Maddox Kilgore at one point showed some frustration with the process.

“We’re actually arguing over somebody who’s sat right there and said, ‘I think he’s guilty. I’m not impartial. I did not presume he’s innocent,’ ” Kilgore said.

A few highlights from jury selection last week:

The first citizen questioned Friday, Juror 49, is a likely bet to be included in the pool. The former NBA first-round draft pick, who played for three teams in the early 2000s, said he “really didn’t know anything about this case” and would have no problem being fair and impartial. Also questioned was a phlebotomist, or one who draws blood in a clinical setting. And Juror 51, a grandmother in a wheelchair, became the first to actually express some sympathy with the defense. The woman said she had initially decided that Harris was guilty but was now taking a closer look at the case.

On Thursday, a fundraiser for a nonprofit ministry noted that when he moved into his Cobb County home eight years ago, he disconnected his cable TV and Internet access. He said he knew hardly anything about the case, and the judge qualified him. Also approved for the pool: a native of Mexico who works quality control for a chemical company who said his wife used to put a diaper bag in the front seat to remind her of the children in the back. But the court excused an East Cobb church elder who said, “Cooper’s dead. ... The fact is that he had the child and he was responsible for the child that day and the child died.”

On Wednesday, the court qualified a Marietta homemaker who is 31 weeks pregnant and a nurse practitioner at a local hospital who said, “How does someone forget that his child’s in the back seat? I don’t recall ever having left my son in the car. I don’t get it.” Then, when asked whether she could set aside her opinions, the nurse answered, “I can follow instructions, but I’m going into this with a bias.” All this, for $25 a day. The AJC reported last week that Cobb County jurors are paid $25 a day for their service, which averages out to be about half of minimum wage. Jurors in Coweta County receive $50; those in Gwinnett, $30; and those in Fulton, Cherokee, DeKalb counties all receive $25 (although DeKalb only pays $15 for the first day of service). The Harris jurors also receive free parking and free access to the county’s Wi-Fi signal.