Seventh week in Calvin Harris murder case; prosecution still presenting witnesses

Seventh week in Calvin Harris murder case; prosecution still presenting witnessesCalvin Harris, with two of his four children, then15-year old Tanner and 18-year old Cayla are pictured last year during a press conference held at the Owego Treadway Inn and Conference Center in Owego, N.Y. The conference was held to announce a Tip Line at (607) 215-5166 launched for confidential calls with any information regarding Michele Harris’ disappearance. Some of Calvin Harris’ children are in Schoharie and by his side for this third trial. (File Photo by Wendy Post)
Seventh week in Calvin Harris murder case; prosecution still presenting witnesses

Calvin Harris, with two of his four children, then15-year old Tanner and 18-year old Cayla are pictured last year during a press conference held at the Owego Treadway Inn and Conference Center in Owego, N.Y. The conference was held to announce a Tip Line at (607) 215-5166 launched for confidential calls with any information regarding Michele Harris’ disappearance. Some of Calvin Harris’ children are in Schoharie and by his side for this third trial. (File Photo by Wendy Post)

The seventh week into the third Calvin Harris murder trial, now taking place in Schoharie County, started off with the prosecution continuing its presentation of witnesses that testified about marital and financial issues between Calvin and Michele Harris, his reaction following her disappearance, and further DNA testimony of blood stains presented by a forensic scientist on Tuesday.

Michele Harris disappeared some time during the evening of Sept. 11, 2001, neither a body nor a weapon has ever been found. The investigation centered around the residence of Calvin and Michele Harris on Hagadorn Hill Road in Spencer, N.Y.; and now, following two trials, two guilty verdicts, two appeals and a change of venue, the third trial is proving to be the most contentious of the three with the prosecution still presenting its case to the jury into its seventh week. The previous two trials were approximately five weeks in length, each.

The trial started out slowly on Monday this week in Schoharie, as Linda Hyatt of the Town of Tioga, N.Y., an acquaintance of the Harris family, and John Kaverny, a former investor for Calvin Harris, both took the stand for the prosecution.

On Tuesday, the center of the prosecution testimony surrounded DNA testing performed at the Harris residence on bloodstains from a carpet.

During Monday’s testimony, Linda Hyatt explained that she became close with Michele Harris following the death of Michele Harris’ mother, Marcia.

Hyatt testified that Calvin Harris was upset about his pending divorce, and that he felt if they had more time, he could talk her out of it. She testified that Calvin Harris believed that it is best for couples to remain together for the children.

She also testified about talks she had with Michele Harris regarding finances, and recalled that in March or April of 2001, that Calvin Harris was giving Michele Harris $750 a week for food, clothing, etc., and that the amount kept being reduced until it went to $0.00, with Hyatt testifying that this was prompted after she failed to pay a utility bill, and they received a shut off.

But Hyatt also testified that on Sept. 13, 2001, Calvin Harris called her to be by his side while he told his children that their mother was missing, and to explain why the police had converged on their residence. Hyatt followed this testimony, stating that Calvin Harris seemed unemotional during this brief talk with the children and merely went into the living room.

The defense, while cross-examining this prosecution witness, argued that Hyatt didn’t have access to Calvin and Michele Harris’ finances, and therefore these statements were merely assumptions — regarding how much money she was given as an allowance each week.

The defense also argued that because Hyatt wasn’t present at any counseling sessions the children received following their mother’s disappearance, that her statements were irrelevant.

The second prosecution witness, John Kaverny, went to Vestal High School with Calvin Harris, knew the couple, and worked as an investor for Calvin Harris until he relocated to Florida, and then returned north to his current address in Syracuse, N.Y.

Kaverny testified about Calvin Harris’ behavior following his wife’s disappearance, and of how he was reaching out to Calvin Harris to see if he could help him out.

Specifically, Kaverny testified that a group went up on 4-wheelers to search for Michele Harris on the acreage, which the once well known Empire Lake is located on, and that Calvin Harris was not a part of that search group.

He also testified about a conversation he had with Calvin Harris following Michele Harris’ disappearance in which Calvin Harris stated, “I’m [expletive removed], I’m [expletive removed]; if they don’t find her and they don’t find semen, I’m [expletive removed].

Upon cross-examination by the defense, Kaverny was asked many questions, but responded to most with, “I don’t remember.”

“I don’t remember a lot,” was Kaverny’s response to many of the questions rendered surrounding whether he approached Calvin Harris personally to assist, and regarding a letter that the witness sent Calvin Harris, and a response letter sent by the defendant to the witness.

At the end of the day, the defense called for a mistrial, stating that the reports and testimony aren’t accurate that are being presented to the jury. He also argued that the prosecution’s continual objections made during defense cross-examination of said witnesses, and their sustainment by the court was biased, and that Calvin Harris is not receiving a fair trial.

Paul Clyne, a former district attorney from Albany who is assisting Tioga County’s District Attorney Kirk Martin with the prosecution in this case, argued that he was objecting to the way witnesses were being asked questions, not to the questions themselves.

On Tuesday, according to reports, a forensic scientist took the stand regarding DNA testing of bloodstains from a carpet in the Harris residence. These same reports noted that the DNA from the carpet matched DNA taken from a toothbrush at Michele Harris’ boyfriend’s home. It was tested in 2006.

The prosecution witness, forensic scientist Daniel Myers testified, according to reports that the DNA came from a single source.

The defense argued that the carpet in which the DNA was taken from was a high traffic area, and that the DNA could also come from skin cells and that tests could not distinguish between blood or saliva as the source of the genetic match, according to reports.

The prosecution’s case, in fact, is based on mostly circumstantial evidence, with the bloodstains found in the garage, on carpet, and in other areas being key in the two previous trials, and now a third.

The prosecution continues to argue that Calvin Harris, now 53, killed Michele Harris after she arrived back at their home during the evening hours of Sept. 11, 2001. A surprise witness that came forward following the first conviction of Calvin Harris led to the overturning of the conviction as the witness, Kevin Tubbs, stated he saw Michele Harris arguing with a man at the end of the Hagadorn Hill residence in the early morning hours of Sept. 12, 2001 — hours after the prosecution claimed she was murdered.

Michele Harris, who was 35 years old at the time of her disappearance, was working at Lefty’s in Waverly, N.Y., and had a boyfriend, Brian Earley, and what the defense described as persons who should have been looked at by law enforcement that were involved in her life.

The defense maintains that Calvin Harris is innocent.