Calvin Harris, who is on trial for second-degree murder in connection with the disappearance of his wife, Michele Harris, heads back into the courthouse in Schoharie on Thursday as defense witness testimony continued. (Photo by Wendy Post)
This photo of Stacy Stewart was entered into court on Thursday and presented to the jury. The purpose of the photo was to offer credibility to Kevin Tubbs’ statement that he saw a man at the end of Michele Harris’ driveway the morning of Sept. 12, 2001. According to Tubbs, the man pictured appeared to be arguing with a woman who looked like Michele Harris. This photo, according to the defense, was printed from a screenshot off of 48-Hours, which aired a segment on this case after the first and second trial. The photo reflects a more accurate image of how Stewart would have looked when Tubbs claimed he witnessed him. (Photo provided by the attorneys for Calvin Harris)
The jury in the second-degree murder trial for Calvin Harris was dismissed at approximately 3 p.m. on Thursday as the defense in this case neared a completion of witness presentation. But the day was not without arguments as defense attorneys pushed for photos of Stacy Stewart to be presented in front of the jury to their witnesses for identification.
Stacy Stewart is the man that Kevin Tubbs identified as being at the end of the driveway at the Harris residence on Sept. 12, 2001, in the early morning hours. According to Tubbs’ testimony, when presented with photos at a later date he immediately pointed out Stacy Stewart as the man he saw with a woman who looked like Michele Harris that morning, hours after the prosecution claimed that Calvin Harris killed her.
The defense hoped to dig deeper into this testimony, but saw objections throughout the testimony that were sustained by the judge.
“The ruling is to put a name on a face,” said Schoharie County Judge George Bartlett III to defense attorneys.
Also taking the stand Thursday was the Texas parole officer, Julie Brinkman.
Brinkman had testified outside of the jury earlier in the week that she had a relationship with Stewart at one time, and described him as someone who was violent – citing affiliations with the Ku Klux Klan, how he had committed a previous murder, and of how he could make a body disappear.
Brinkman also testified, outside of the jury, that Stacy Stewart had told her that he was the last person seen with Michele Harris.
But much of this testimony was outside the jury, with Brinkman being called in front of the jury for photo identification of Stewart in an effort to offer credibility to Tubbs’ testimony.
Arguments between the defense and prosecution centered around what questions could be asked or answered in front of the jury based on a previous third-party culpability ruling by the court. In other words, Stewart’s character could not be questioned in front of the jury as he is not on trial.
This photo of Stacy Stewart was entered into court on Thursday and presented to the jury. The purpose of the photo was to offer credibility to Kevin Tubbs’ statement that he saw a man at the end of Michele Harris’ driveway the morning of Sept. 12, 2001. According to Tubbs, the man pictured appeared to be arguing with a woman who looked like Michele Harris. In this photo, which Tubbs pointed out when shown photos, Stewart has a bit more hair on his face than when Tubbs claims he witnessed him. (Photo provided by the attorneys for Calvin Harris)
When testifying in front of the jury, Brinkman became tearful when asked about a relationship she had with Stewart that did not last long. According to Brinkman, she met Stewart in August of 2014 when they worked together.
By January, Brinkman testified, she was involved in a relationship with Stewart – a relationship that did not last very long. When asked by the defense if she knows where Stewart is now she replied, “Alive and well and living in Texas.”
Brinkman’s testimony, in spite of arriving to testify earlier in the week, was brief. Tubbs, on Thursday, was also challenged by the prosecution about visibility on the morning of Sept. 12, 2001.
Special Prosecutor Paul Clyne questioned Tubbs’ vision that morning, telling Tubbs that he would have had to turn left with a hay wagon he was hauling, thus not having appropriate vision for identification of the man and woman that Tubbs testified to that he saw at the end of the Harris’ driveway on Hagadorn Hill Road in Spencer, N.Y.
Tubbs and Clyne went back and forth for a bit, with differing descriptions – Clyne stating that Tubbs would have had to turn a sharp left to avoid the truck that Stacy Stewart was driving, with Tubbs stating that this was not correct.
“If you want me to come up and do a demonstration I will,” said Tubbs, “I have the equipment.” Tubbs and Clyne never settled on a scenario that they both agreed with.
After Tubbs and Brinkman departed, the judge began closing up some issues that remained during the trial to include the admission of a title report regarding Stacy Stewart that would connect him to the truck that Tubbs identified; a New York State Department of Motor Vehicles record that documented Stewart as driving a truck similar to what Kevin Tubbs testified he witnessed; and several other documents for consideration by the court.
As the day neared a conclusion on Thursday, the judge, who was working to keep things moving, predicted that the defense might have things to present on Monday, that the prosecutor might have a rebuttal, and that with any luck – closing arguments would follow.
Court will continue in Schoharie County on Monday at 10 a.m.
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 Michele Harris some time during the evening of Sept. 11, 2001.
