Jury selection starts in trial over Georgia child's car death

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Lawyers in the trial of a Georgia man charged with murder after leaving his toddler son in a car for seven hours during a hot day in June 2014 began their search Monday for jurors who have not formed opinions about his actions.

The case involving Justin Ross Harris, 35, has captured wide attention, with prosecutors saying the suburban Atlanta father exchanged nude photos with females as his child was dying. The defense has called 22-month-old Cooper's death a horrible accident.

Jury selection began on Monday, and an unusually large pool of more than 500 potential jurors has been called to give lawyers more options.

One juror was excused out of 10 who had requested exemptions. The process was set to resume on Tuesday.

"One of the big challenges in the case is to find jurors who have not been tainted by prejudicial pretrial publicity," said University of Georgia law professor Ron Carlson.

The process could last two weeks, followed by a trial that could take a month.

Harris faces a sentence of life in prison if convicted on charges including murder, child cruelty and sexual exploitation involving photos of underage girls.

Harris's wife, Leanna, divorced him earlier this year and could testify, prosecutors said. At the funeral for her son, she praised Harris as a wonderful father, local media reported.

Harris told police he forgot to drop off his son at day care and discovered the boy dead seven hours later in the car after leaving work on June 18, 2014, when temperatures outside climbed into the 90s (30s C).

Prosecutors contend Harris killed his son because he wanted a child-free lifestyle. Harris was having marital and work problems shortly before the boy's death, the lead investigator in the case has said.

Hours before Cooper died, prosecutors say the father sat in his office sending lewd online messages to women.

"I love my son and all, but we both need escapes," he wrote during the day to a woman who commented about parenting on a message board, an investigator testified at a hearing last October.

Last month, Cobb County Superior Court Judge Mary Staley ruled against defense motions to exclude evidence of Harris's extramarital affairs from the murder trial, saying it could be presented by the prosecution to show possible motive.

Defense attorney Maddox Kilgore accused prosecutors of trying to shame Harris with testimony about his affairs.

(Editing by Letitia Stein, Colleen Jenkins and Jonathan Oatis)