Pictured is Calvin Harris entering the Tioga County Courthouse in Owego, N.Y. in 2009 during his second trial, in which he was found guilty. The verdict has since been overturned, and a new trial ordered. The third trial is now taking place in Schoharie County. (File Photo / Wendy Post)
Update at 11:45 p.m.: Just received word that Opening arguments may not begin until Thursday. This is lengthy process.
According to Twitter reports regarding coverage of the Calvin Harris murder trial in Schoharie County, it is anticipated that opening arguments will begin Wednesday, and following a grueling jury selection process that is nearing completion. Calvin Harris, the 53-year-old Tioga County resident and businessman is on trial, for a third time, for murder charges in connection with the disappearance of his wife, Michele Harris, who was last seen sometime during the evening hours of Sept. 11, 2001, and whose body has never been found.
The trial was moved to Schoharie County after the second verdict was overturned in 2009 by the New York State Court of Appeals, and a new trial ordered.
According to reporters covering the trial who have been providing Twitter updates, the jury selection process has been slow, with the achievement of 10 jurors seated earlier in the week. The process was slowed further by a snowstorm that arrived into the area late last week and earlier this week.
The jury process began on Jan. 22, and has been tweeted by other news sources as being very slow, with the pool of potential jurors dwindling as the process progressed.
Calvin Harris is being represented by Bruce Barket of Marion, Epstein & Kearon, LLC.
The prosecutor in this case, newly appointed Tioga County District Attorney Kirk Martin, is prosecuting the case, and stated that Dr. Henry Lee, the forensic blood expert who testified at a previous trial for Calvin Harris in Tioga County, N.Y., will be called back for testimony in this third trial regarding blood splatter analysis found at the Harris residence during initial investigations — which was a prosecution argument in both previous trials.
Withstanding any more holdups regarding jury selection, opening statements should begin Wednesday in Schoharie County, the location of the third trial. A motion for a Change in Venue submitted by the defense was granted due to the polarization surrounding this case.
Judge George R. Bartlett III has stated that the trial will most likely take place for six to eight weeks, and possibly longer.
Calvin Harris was first convicted in 2007 of murdering his estranged wife, Michele Harris, who disappeared sometime during the evening of Sept. 11, 2001.
That conviction was overturned when Kevin Tubbs, a livestock and hay hauler, came forward following the verdict stating that Michele Harris was seen with an unidentified man at the end of the driveway at the Hagadorn Hill Road residence in Spencer, N.Y. that Calvin and Michele Harris shared, hours after the prosecution said Calvin Harris had killed her.
A statement by a man named John Steele was introduced into a previous trial that paralleled that of Kevin Tubbs. This statement, however, was never introduced as evidence as Steele passed away and was unable to be cross-examined.
According to Attorney Barket, during a press conference held last year in Tioga County, N.Y., he stated, “New York State has the most wrongful convictions.”
The Change of Venue was granted to offer Calvin Harris an unbiased and fair trial, he added.
