Judge Orders Two Years In Jail For Ethan Couch; Jury Selection This Week In Ross Harris Trial
BROWN: Well, so-called "Affluenza teen," Ethan Couch just appeared in adult court for a hearing today where a judge ordered him to remain in jail for about two more years. Just moments ago, the judge ordered four consecutive terms of 180 days in jail. Attorney will reconvene in two weeks to argue for or against the ruling. Couch became notorious after the got probation for a drunk driving cash -- crash rather in 2013 that killed four people. Prosecutors say his mother helped him flip out of the country to Mexico last year to avoid a probation hearing and potentially jail time. Well, today is one of the most important days of the hot car baby death case out of Georgia. Remember this one? The first panel of potential jurors is being questioned in Justin Ross Harris' murder trial. He is accused of intentionally leaving his 22-month-old son Cooper to die in a car on June 18th, 2014 when temperatures were outside were in the 90s. But inside the vehicle right there, much hotter, 120 degrees. Near the baby's car seat according to a heat analysis study. And now, before getting to the stage of jury selection, potential jurors had to answer questions like these on a questionnaire. Do you watch legal talk shows, examples included but not limited to Nancy Grace, Ashleigh Banfield, Dr. Drew, Anderson Cooper, et cetera? Have you, or has a friend or family member ever forgotten and left a child or animal in a car even if only briefly? And perhaps the most uncomfortable question of all, have you ever looked at a pornographic website? CNN Legal Analyst and Criminal Defense Attorney, Philip Holloway joins me now from Atlanta. He practices law in Cobb County, Georgia and was a prosecutor assigned to the same judge in this case. Philip, thank you for coming on. So these potential jurors they have filled up the questionnaire. Now the competency examination begins. But why are these particular questions in the questionnaire relevant in this case?</s>PHILIP HOLLOWAY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well good afternoon, Pamela. The idea behind this questionnaire is basically to get all of the general questions asked of this nearly hundreds of jurors so that once they're brought into the courtroom and they are being questioned individually one by one outside of the presence of the rest of the juror, the reason that they -- it's important to get the general questions out of the way and so that this next process can go so much more quickly. And I think it does streamline the case. But these particular questions, as you mention even the uncomfortable ones about having looked at internet pornography are relevant to this case because there's so much information in this case that has to deal with these uncomfortable topics. That being said, I think that one of the most important questions asked on this questionnaire is on page 15, where they're basically asked, is there anybody who like really wants to be on the jury? Anybody who has a particular interest in being on this jury because what they're trying to do, wisely in my view, is to weed out so-called stealth jurors people who have an agenda, people who want to get on this jury and people who want to affect the outcome, whether they're seeking an acquittal, whether they're seeking hung jury or whether they're seeking a conviction. So weeding out the stealth jurors is very, very important.</s>BROWN: Is that a common question in cases like this then?</s>HOLLOWAY: This is the first time I've ever seen it in a questionnaire. I've heard it asked before during Voir Dire or as we say in the south Voir Dire as they say in the North and other parts. I've seen it out, I've never seen all the questionnaire, right. But it is very important and it prevents things like mistrials and it prevents people who have an agenda when they try to get on the jury.</s>BROWN: So Ross Harris his divorce was just finalized last month. Will his ex-wife testify against him? Is she still standing by her ex? Do we have any idea?</s>HOLLOWAY: Pamela, she is expected to testify for the defense for sure. She may testify for the prosecution, as well. We know she's on their witness list. They've indicated that they may or may not call her. I personally suspect that she will testify in both the states case and defense case because I believe that her testimony is going to be necessary to make some of the state's evidence kind of make sense for the time line and other things, perhaps the authentication of certain items of personal property that we'll collect it from her home, which is of course her ex-husband's home at the time.</s>BROWN: You have such a unique perspective because you actually worked with the judge in this case. What can you tell us about her?</s>HOLLOWAY: Well, Judge Adele is I think the most senior judge on the bench in Cobb County Superior Court. She has a lot of experience trying major cases, high-profile cases, and death penalty cases. I have prosecuted in front of her and defended cases in front of her. And what I can tell you is that she is the ultimately referee. She is not the kind of who's going to interject herself into this case. She's going to let the lawyers to be lawyers. She's going to let them try their case. She will make the rulings as they come up, she will address objections as they come up. But she will get out of the way and let the lawyers do their work.</s>BROWN: All right, Philip Holloway, thank you so much. We'll be right back after this quick break.