Defense attorneys for Calvin Harris enter the court building to continue presenting their witnesses in this third trial held in Schoharie County. Calvin Harris is charged with Second Degree Murder in connection with the disappearance of his wife Michele in September of 2001. (Photo by Wendy Post)
Cutline: Defense attorneys for Calvin Harris enter the court building to continue presenting their witnesses in this third trial held in Schoharie County. Calvin Harris is charged with Second Degree Murder in connection with the disappearance of his wife Michele in September of 2001. (Photo by Wendy Post)
The ninth week of the Calvin Harris Second Degree Murder trial maintained its momentum of arguments over allowable testimony as the defense and prosecution continued to spar over blood spatter expert testimony.
With court coming near a close on Thursday, Kevin Tubbs, the defense’s key witness who will testify he saw Michele Harris arguing with a man who was not Calvin Harris at the end of the family’s residence in the early morning hours of Sept. 12, 2001, was yet to take the stand.
Michele Harris has been missing since that date, and her husband Calvin Harris charged with her murder.
Much of this week’s testimony focused on blood spatter, with defense witness Terry Laber, a retired blood spatter analyst from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, remaining on the stand over a span of two days while the prosecution and attorneys for Calvin Harris argued to prove which expert was providing the most accurate testimony.
The defense’s expert testified that tiny drops of blood spatter found in Calvin Harris’ home, specifically a foyer area by the kitchen, and again out in the garage, was inconsistent with what would be found at a crime scene if Michele Harris were bludgeoned.
Laber also testified that if there were a murder in that area, as the prosecution claims, that there would have been much more blood, and that the stains were not consistent with this – nor were they consistent with a clean up effort.
The prosecution, however, presented testimony from Dr. Henry Lee earlier in the trial that differed from that of Laber. Much of the arguments on Thursday centered on the fashion in which the prosecution could cross-examine the defense’s expert.
The prosecution spent much time attempting to impeach portions of Laber’s testimony, but when called back to the stand on Thursday, Laber stuck to his testimony the day prior, that there wasn’t enough blood found in the aforementioned areas, and that the stains were not consistent with the crime scene as alleged by the prosecutors.
During Laber’s testimony a day earlier, he presented slides to the jury in which he used his own blood for a simulation of blood spatter. He then explained the characteristics of blood spatter, and what might cause a stain to have a certain appearance.
Defense testimony is expected to continue in Schoharie County on Monday, with the testimony of Kevin Tubbs anticipated by the defense. But with arguments lasting for sometimes two hours outside of the jury, it is difficult to say if Monday will be filled with legal arguments, or actual testimony as the trial moves into its tenth week.
Calvin Harris, the 55-year-old Spencer, N.Y. resident and Tioga County businessman, was convicted twice for killing his estranged wife, Michele Harris, convictions that were both overturned.
Now into a third trial at a new venue in Schoharie County, Calvin Harris continues to claim his innocence of accusations that he killed his estranged wife, Michele Harris, sometime during the evening of Sept. 11, 2001.
