(CN) — The judge in the hot car death trial denied the defense's motion for a mistrial Thursday morning after jurors viewed the SUV where a toddler was left to die.
Lead defense attorney Maddox Kilgore called the viewing a "disaster" and argued his client, Justin Ross Harris, would not be able to receive a fair trial.
Kilgore argued that the different heights of the jurors gave them different vantage points than Harris when he stood outside his car the day his 22-month-old son Cooper died.
Kilgore said the jurors substituted themselves for Harris to recreate the scene.
"The defense now wants to sit on their hands," lead prosecutor Chuck Boring said.
Cobb County Superior Court Judge Mary Staley Clark said the jurors should have had the right to open and close the doors themselves and go inside the vehicle.
"An argument could be made that it was restrictive for them," the judge said.
The prosecution said it plans to rest its case on Friday.
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