In this photo, Calvin Harris is being led out of the Tioga County Courthouse in Tioga County, N.Y. in October of 2012 to be processed and released after his second guilty verdict was overturned in appeals. (Photo by Wendy Post)
As the lengthy, third trial of Calvin Harris continues in Schoharie County, N.Y. multiple reports are claiming that new evidence that defense attorneys are hoping to enter into the court could lead to the exoneration of Calvin Harris in its entirety on murder charges that he killed his wife, Michele Harris, who disappeared sometime during the evening of Sept. 11, 2001 – neither her body nor a weapon have been found.
In the often messy testimony provided throughout the first two trials held in Tioga County, N.Y., and now a third in a new venue, one name that was brought about since the first trial remains, and that’s Stacy Stewart, a man who in a previous trial was testified to as owning a blue pick-up truck as described by surprise witness Kevin Tubbs and now deceased John Steele, and who was known to be an acquaintance of Michele Harris.
According to these various reports, two men named Christopher Thomason and Stacy Stewart were said to be at Lefty’s in Waverly, N.Y. on the night of Michele Harris’ disappearance. Michele Harris, at that time, was working at Lefty’s. These same reports also allege statements that Michele Harris left the Waverly restaurant and bar with the two men that evening.
Contradicting statements have been made, according to reports made by the defense team, regarding the sequence of events and the actions of Thomason and Stewart the evening that Michele Harris disappeared.
Also, according to reports, the defense attorneys are fighting to enter evidence into the case in Schoharie that they claim will prove that Calvin Harris is innocent, and that someone else was responsible for her murder.
In previous trials, in specific the first trial when Kevin Tubbs came forward claiming he saw Michele Harris at the end of Michele and Calvin Harris’ driveway on Hagadorn Hill Road, arguing with a man who was not Calvin Harris and who was driving a blue pick-up truck; and then another defense attempt during a previous trial to enter a statement from John Steele that mirrored that of Tubbs – a statement that was denied entry because Steele had passed away and could not be cross-examined; Stacy Stewart’s name was at the center of the defense arguments as being a suspect that should have been looked into further.
Now, and 14 years later, the defense is stating that Stacy Stewart and Christopher Thomason, now in Texas, are being subpoenaed to testify for the defense, possibly with testimony surrounding claims by Stewart that Thomason burned two sets of bloody clothing in front of Stacy Stewart’s home the morning of Sept. 12, 2001 – a timeline that would match that of Michele Harris’ disappearance.
The judge in Schoharie County, Judge George Bartlett III, will be deciding on Monday whether the defense discovery will be allowed as evidence in the case to be submitted to the jury.
Although circumstantial, the defense is reporting that this evidence will prove there were others who needed to be looked into besides Calvin Harris, and that their client is innocent.
Calvin Harris, a Spencer, N.Y. resident and Tioga County businessman was convicted twice for murder of his estranged wife, Michele Harris, who disappeared some time between the evening of Sept. 11, 2001 and Sept. 12, 2001.
After Calvin Harris’ second conviction, he spent some time in prison before the conviction was once again overturned in appeals and a new trial ordered. Shortly after, a change in venue was ordered.
The reason for the change of venue was based on the polarization that revolved around all proceedings, to include airings on 48-Hours and Dateline. The defense has continued to argue that Calvin Harris did not receive a fair trial because of the saturated local media and this polarization.
The first trial’s verdict for Calvin Harris was overturned following testimony by Kevin Tubbs who came forward, stating that Michele Harris was at the end of the Spencer, N.Y. driveway the couple shared in the early morning hours on Sept. 12, 2001, hours after the prosecutor claimed that Calvin Harris had killed her.
Following the second trial held in 2009 in Tioga County, N.Y., in which Calvin Harris was found guilty, he was sent to the Auburn Correctional Facility where he spent approximately three years.
In the fall of 2012, the State Court of Appeals overturned the second-degree murder conviction of Calvin Harris, setting the stage for a third trial.
Calvin Harris, when he returned to the Tioga County Courthouse after his conviction was overturned, was subsequently released on a previously set bond.
The third trial, now in a new venue, began in early February.
