Defense attorneys Bruce Barket and Aida Ferrer Leisenring walk towards the courthouse on Thursday on the sixth day of jury deliberations. The defense attorneys said the cost of the trial is most likely higher than the numbers reported, so we dug further. (Photo by Wendy Post)
In Thursday’s Daily and Sunday Review, Tioga County’s cost for the current Calvin Harris trial was reported, with the legislature offering a figure of $59,593.23 as reported by the district attorneys (DA) office, and noted the additional cost of the district attorney’s salary, which is $152,500.00. These figures were the only figures reported, and do not touch on the entire cost of this third trial.
We fact checked the figures offered by the legislative office in Tioga County, N.Y. on Thursday, and through research of journals of proceedings, we came up with approximately the same figure – meaning this number was most likely accurate regarding mileage, witness travel, overtime and miscellaneous expenses.
But the District Attorney’s budget has changed over the years, revealing the increased costs. In 2014, the DA was budgeted $384,725, up $52,000 from 2013. Then the DA’s 2014 budget was modified to $406,642. The adopted 2015 budget is $409,069, relatively unchanged, according to the adopted 2015 Tioga County budget.
During their March meeting, the Tioga County Legislature passed a resolution to expand the vacant part-time 2nd Assistant District Attorney (ADA) position to full time, with a salary of between $57,822 and $67,822, according to the March journal of proceedings for the legislature.
These positions would be required to fill the backlog of cases in Tioga County in the current DA’s absence to prosecute the Calvin Harris Trial.
Part time employees, the exact number of which is unlisted in the budget, were budgeted $149,564 for 2015, up about $8,000 from 2014. If the new full-time 2nd ADA is making approximately $60,000, after the raise of $7,300 upon a March 16, 2015 promotion, that would mean that the part time ADA position was budgeted at $40-50,000 a year.
Without the 3rd ADA part time position, the savings in this budget are estimated at approximately $40,000.00. That would be one estimate of how much the Calvin Harris trial is costing Tioga County. With the elimination of the part-time 3rd ADA, the Harris trial could be costing Tioga County as much as $60,000 as a high estimate.
Additionally, the DA’s office has budgeted trial costs that went up from 2002’s $6,351 to 2004’s $14,000, to 2014 and 2015’s $35,000, according to county budget documents. In 2013, only $4,116.69 was budgeted for trial costs.
From those figures, the county’s budgeted amount for trials increased markedly over the years. If only $4,116 was required for trial costs in 2013, it can be guessed that the big one – Calvin Harris – might have caused the over $30,000 increase for trial costs.
The other costs that need to be factored into the trial, and are not found within the district attorneys appropriations, are costs for the trial judge in Schoharie, the extra work required by the State Police and staff for preparation of the trial, the lab tests, the hiring of Dr. Henry Lee for blood expert testimony, the DNA testing, and the special prosecution, which is most likely on loan from the New York State Attorney General’s office.
In New York State, a trial judge has a median salary of $136,700 a year. With five months of trial duties taking place in Schoharie, including preliminary hearings and jury selection, the judge would cost either the state or the county $56,958.33.
The court staff would be earning approximately $34,941 per year, or $14,558,75 for the duration of the trial thus far.
These figures were derived from the seethroughny.net website that lists salaries of public employees. The district attorney costs above were derived from journals of proceedings.
It is also noted that there were costs associated with investigators flying to Texas to interview individuals that were excluded from testimony in front of the jury because of a third party culpability ruling. One such interview was conducted, according to the defense, with Chris Thomason, an acquaintance of Stacy Stewart.
So the cost of the third Calvin Harris trial in its entirety is most likely in the hundreds of thousands with funding from county and state. For Tioga County, the increase in the budget is reflective of the local taxpayer costs, with additional staffing required to handle caseload while the district attorney is prosecuting the Calvin Harris case.
And in the meantime in Schoharie, the trial continues with the jury concluding their sixth day of deliberations on Thursday without a verdict; this following 11-weeks of testimony. They will continue deliberations at 9:15 a.m. on Friday and finish at noon. If they don’t come to a verdict, they will most likely return on Monday.
Although it can’t be determined which way the jury will go with their verdict, it is evident that they are not able to come to an agreement, or unanimous conclusion. This scenario, if it continues, could end up in a deadlock, or hung jury.
In the event that this happens, the case will remain open, and it will be left to the prosecution to determine if they will try the case again – noting, that the cost of the trial, listed above, is merely for the current trial. The cost of the two previous trials is not factored in.
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.
