Pictured, Michael Verrastro, of Schoharie, will be taking a break from serving up food outside of the courthouse – at least until Monday. Verrastro has been a common face throughout the Calvin Harris trial taking place in the Schoharie County Courthouse. With long days into this 11th week of testimony, Verrastro has been serving up hotdogs and burgers to those who arrive at court – even to readers who have traveled from Pennsylvania to sit in the trial. (Photo by Wendy Post)
After another long day in the second degree murder trial for Calvin Harris, which is into its 11th week of testimony, Tuesday concluded with a conference between the defense, prosecution, and the judge as it neared 4 p.m. Prior to the conference, the defense said, “We haven’t talked in awhile, I’m willing to make a deal.”
Although the conference was held outside of the jury, as well as the media, when they entered back into the courtroom, the judge called the jury back in and explained that the defense had a witness he was calling, and that court would be delayed until Monday – mostly to allow time for the defense to subpoena their witness, and partly due to schedule conflicts for several jury members.
The witness the defense is hoping to call to the stand has eluded them for weeks as attempts at bringing the witness to court have been either ignored or avoided, according to the defense.
Retired New York State investigator Robert DelGiorno served as an initial investigator in the Calvin Harris case, and has been a topic of many arguments rendered by the defense.
What the defense is hoping is that testimony from DelGiorno, who was familiar with the lead sheets in the initial investigation into the disappearance of Michele Harris in 2001, will impeach that of hairdresser Jerome Wilczynski.
Earlier in the trial, Wilczynski testified that Calvin Harris threatened his wife during a phone call in July 2001.
“Drop the divorce proceedings. I will (expletive) kill you, Michele. I can make you disappear,” Wilczynski quoted Calvin Harris as saying.
But the defense claims that in a lead sheet they discovered containing handwritten notes from the investigative interview with Wilczynski, that none of this was in there.
Earlier in the trial, the defense was denied presenting the lead sheet to the jury unless they built a foundation for this testimony, and are hoping to do so by calling the investigator who would have reviewed the lead sheets – Robert DelGiorno, to the stand. It was previously testified that the investigators were aware of what the lead sheets are, and that investigators are required to fill them out accurately.
But in spite of various attempts to locate DelGiorno, the defense, although not giving up, believed that they would never find him.
At first they thought DelGiorno was in Florida, but then they located him in Pennsylvania. According to the defense, they spoke with DelGiorno’s wife, but DelGiorno never responded. The defense went as far as asking the prosecution to help them locate DelGiorno, but to no avail.
Now, Defense Attorney Bruce Barket and his team will have until Monday to locate DelGiorno, and deliver another subpoena for him to testify. This lead sheet is one of the final things that the defense hopes to take care of before they deliver their final summation to the jury.
On Tuesday, prosecutors also called their final rebuttal witnesses to the stand.
State Police investigator Steve Andersen testified further about transfer stains and blood spatter found in the Harris residence. But later, and upon cross-examination, the defense argued that the presumptive test for blood that was taken to the lab came back negative for blood.
Andersen confirmed this as true, that the samples sent for testing did come back negative for blood. He noted, however, that the DNA testing on some of the stains came back as being human, withstanding stains that were DNA from a dog.
Area J, which was in the garage, was the focus of this testimony in that the prosecution claims that the blood was wiped up. According to Andersen, Fluorescein was utilized to test areas where the blood might have been wiped up; but as testified, the lab results came back negative for blood in all areas.
Also called to the stand was Donna Kalled from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. The prosecution called this witness to testify that Calvin Harris did not have any hunting licenses in records that go back to 2002.
The prosecution also called Margaret Peters, payroll administrator at Vulcraft Group in Chemung, N.Y. to the stand, and outside of the jury to introduce time sheets for Stacy Stewart dating back to 2001.
But this testimony didn’t last long, and didn’t make it in front of the jury as Defense Attorney Donna Aldea challenged the time sheets – pointing out that the signatures on the timesheets presented, which were from Sept. 1 to Sept. 29, 2001, were from more than one person. The time sheets also had pre-printed times on them for work hours expected, with only variations marked in a separate column.
Because of the variations and signatures by persons other than Stewart, the time sheets, according to Aldea, did not rise to the level of being a reliable business record. The judge agreed, and did not allow this testimony in front of the jury.
As the day came near a close, the private conference took place and was followed by a determination rendered by the judge to postpone everything until Monday – giving the defense time to find DelGiorno.
Schoharie County Judge George Bartlett offered a timeline to the jury, stating that the defense could have two brief witnesses on Monday, and that summations could begin by Tuesday. Following summations, the jury can begin their deliberations.
The trial is scheduled to begin at 9:15 a.m. on Monday.
Calvin Harris, age 53 of Spencer, N.Y., is on trial for a third time for the alleged murder of his wife, Michele Harris, who disappeared in September of 2001. Two previous convictions were overturned, and this new trial ordered in Schoharie County. Neither her body nor a weapon has ever been found.
The prosecution maintains that Calvin Harris murdered Michele Harris on Sept. 11, 2001, and has based this circumstantial case on blood spatter found inside the Harris’ home, as well as motive and behavior.
The defense claims their client is innocent, and that the prosecutors failed to look at other potential suspects.
