After a federal judge in Syracuse, N.Y. ruled that Cal Harris’ lawsuit against Tioga County could go forward, Harris is pleased with the progress, although he expects the process to take years. Harris, who was tried four separate times for the murder of his wife, was found not guilty after his fourth trial in Schoharie, N.Y. on May 24, 2016. The body of Michele Harris has never been found.
“The attorneys for the state police and (Tioga District Attorney) tried to have (the lawsuit) thrown out, but the judge ruled my lawsuit to be credible enough to go forward and that’s where we are now,” Harris said in a phone interview last week.
Among other things, Harris’ lawsuit alleges that Tioga County District Attorneys misrepresented evidence and engaged in malicious prosecution. In responding to the lawsuit Tioga County has rejected those accusations. Now that it has been ruled the case can move forward, Harris said that depositions and exchanges of documents would begin.
“I think that is the next step, but there is no timetable,” Harris said.
With more than two-dozen witnesses to depose and thousands of pages of documents to go over, Harris said he knows there is no way his lawsuit will be a quick process.
“I knew this was going to be a long process, years even before there is a trial or settlement or whatever happens,” said Harris, adding, “But we’ve gotten a good response in the courts in terms of timing, moving through, but documents and depositions are going to take time.”
He added that there have been no major delays in his case.
“It’s a huge case, we’re talking 100,000 pages of documents between my four trials and all the evidence and witnesses that go with it,” Harris said.
One thing Harris said he is unhappy about with his lawsuit is that the entire process and a potential settlement will come from the taxpayers’ pocket and not from the people he alleges are directly responsible for the damage done to his life.
“Even if there is a settlement (those directly responsible) won’t pay a dime, the money isn’t going to come from the people responsible, it’ll all be paid for by the taxpayers. Which I’m not happy about but that’s just the way that it is,” Harris added.
Despite his inherent unhappiness with the burden his lawsuit is causing for taxpayers, Harris said he felt he had no other recourse.
“Personally, it’s been a very damaging situation as far as all the publicity for me and my kids. Our lives will never be the same. We’ve lost a considerable amount the whole way around and the civil suit is the only way we could go about trying to be made whole,” Harris said.
That county should be ashamed…I would award him 15 million for getting abused by the District Attorney and the New York State Police…4 trials!!!????!!!!,I might award 20 million…Lol…
They tortured that guy for 15 years. Pay him.
I believe this jerk is guilty. He shouldn’t get a dime. Wish I could be on the jury to send him packing….. and owing every cent in costs and and fees. The only consolation is that sooner or later he’ll have to face his wife along with the Ultimate Judge and their accompanying justice.
Yeah, Troop C has a great reputation. Thank goodness the Ultimate Judge doesn’t judge in emotion.
I think that he should get at least $25 million.
He had to pay his attorneys, experts and other costs for 4 trials, not to mention loss of income from his businesses.
The State (especially Police) need to be taught a lesson and think twice before railroading another innocent person.
Simce his aquittal Harris has been convicted of stalking and court ordered to anger management counseling. He has also been charged in another incident for driving while intoxicated as well as fleeing the scene of an accident he was responsible for while he was driving drunk.
His behavior makes any reasonable person suspicious of his lack of self control and dangerous behavior and thusly reasonably wonder if such a volatile individual isn’t actually responsible for his wife’s “disappearance” and probable death.
I hope the case is successful. There’s really no evidence. If the scant of blood at the door entrance resulted from a murder scene, it would have not been left there visible. He would have not signed search consent papers for police to search his property and then leave for work with blood from a murder scene laying there. Search teams in helicopters overhead the large wooded property and divers in the lake yielded nothing. Cameras planted on trees on the property and GPS devices on his car also proved worthless in gaining evidence. Cooperative witnesses recalling things they overheard him say in phone conversations and when they happened to hear car doors closing that morning were all used paint a picture that played a plausible story for three different juries and one judge. A costly divorce is decent circumstantial evidence, but to find guilty of second degree murder, there needs to be at least some solid physical evidence. It took a judge who took the physical evidence (or lack thereof) for what it was and wouldn’t be swayed otherwise to find him innocent. It’s too bad the persons responsible won’t have to pay anything if this case goes anywhere.
Cal is GUILTY and he knows it!!! He got away with Murder!!!
How the suit do you know that was you there
Cal burned his wife and he should rot in hell…maybe he gotten away with murder…but deep inside he knows…the truth…he did it…he is guilty it shows through his anger,voices,without any remorse !
He is only punishing himself for the rest of his life and has to live with the guilt or live with himself…he is evil.
Money won’t cure him or blessed him and give him the real peace,inside.
God at judgement day ! Will come !
Remember: KARMA…is your own DRAMA and TRAUMA…every day…of your life CAL…for the rest of your life…living with this guilt…never to be free again,in spirit or no soul.You’ll get what you deserve CAL…Remember this : what goes around…always comes around…just wait for your turn…murderer !
Your anger and resentment, coupled with such self righteous attitudes, does not do anything to Cal Harris or his children. It only serves to perpetuate the hate which seems to be a result of the times in your lives whereby you possibly felt unheard, unimportant, negated and resentful.
I would presume that after 4 trials and then a “Not Guilty” verdict by the judge, and considering you certainly don’t really know what happened, you would at least look inside your heart and find some compassion for the man and his family for all the misery, pain and loss that they had already endured.
I believe your unknowing comes from your own pain and anger and it is being focused towards the man who you have decided is your convenient victim. Now you are just wasting your own life. Too Bad,
I really think the comments posted hear about Cal Harris getting money is insane if you knew the evidence in the facts of the case you would be horrified to not know or understand why he’s not in prison for the rest of his life all of us who completely new both parties and lives and live in Wego understands anyone who knew Cal Harris or knows Cal Harris knows he’s an angry monster of a man who is always looking for confrontation and fight fight.I really think the comments posted hear about Cal Harris getting money is insane if you knew the evidence in the facts of the case you would be horrified to not know or understand why he is not in prison for the rest of his life all of us who completely knew both parties and lives and live in a Owego understand anyone who knew Cal Harris or knows Cal Harris knows he’s an angry monster of a man who’s always looking for confrontation and a fight
Carpet soaked in blood with the size of a human head cut out of it
Bloods batter consistent with a hammer hitting the back of the head on the kitchen walls and garage walls
I could one with the evidence they have against him how the hell he was never charged is beyond me!
He is a cold, evil murderer, he slaughtered his wife, that is obvious. I hope he lives the rest of his rotten life fighting, and never prevailing, the system. He will face God’s judgment one day, he only thinks he got away with murder.
Very clearly malicious prosecution. DA and ADA protections should be substantially weakened in NY.
Four trial??? 40 million nothing less. New York State weak.
I always leave large amounts of blood in my garage when I cut my finger! Oh, and on the throw rug.???
Idiot jury!!
He’s already won the lottery for GETTING AWAY WITHE MURDER!
There is plenty of evidence and I am shocked he’s not in prison. i wonder who he paid to get another chance after TWO guilty verdicts.
Regardless he knows what he did and he’ll have to live with it for the rest of his sad little life.
This just proves his vengeful character. He’s a narcissist and anyone who crosses him pays dearly. Google his stalking charge and his vengeful FB account. He was a jerk as a kid and I see he hasn’t changed a bit.
He may very well be guilty, but as Tom Cruise said in “a few good men, “it doesn’t matter what I know, it only matters what I can prove”. And the prosecution did not prove their case. The collateral damage they have done to the children is the second tragedy.
Cal has had the personality he has – always has had – I guess since high school. As one person responding in this blog, who knew him then, said. Agreed, it couldn’t have been easy being married to a guy like that. It seems he was controlling in the marriage. He didn’t like the way his wife kept the house. She naturally became unhappy and started going out at night meeting people & dating even though she was married. It takes 2 to break a marriage down. It was not a good marriage. He has a controlling nature. It seems as though he was verbally abusive toward his wife. It was a lousy marriage. Does that make him a brutal murderer who killed his wife and efficiently got rid of her body? I don’t think so. His kids were loved and nurtured by their father after their mother disappeared. They love and respect the kind of person their father is. When marriages go awry and the couple remains together, bad incidences of verbal abuse and threats made in anger happen – even dangerous-sounding threats. Bad behavior does ensue. Does that make him a murderer? Was his wife right in going out on him partying in bars with many different guys though? I don’t think so. It takes 2 and they both did their destructive part in the demise of their marriage. I don’t think he killed his wife. I think one of the unsavory characters whom she partied with and hung out with killed her. Cal Harris would not have jeopardized his successful life and risked going to jail and not being able to raise his kids after they lost their mother. He is not a stupid man. Just because he was not a model husband does it mean he killed her. The evidence in the home was not strong enough to indicate a person was murdered in that home. That rug with the blood drops on it was there for a long time, I believe. That is my opinion. The rug was tattered and crappy and yet his wife did not stop using it. She didn’t even wash it. That blood was from a cut or something from a long time ago. His wife just didn’t do things in the house and not replacing the rug with a new one is just something she never did and it was that kind of thing that Cal got angry with her about. This man is not a murderer. I hope the murderer is ultimately found but law enforcement & the prosecution does not want that to happen because they don’t want to be deemed wrong in the way they handled this case. They never entertained the possibility of another murderer. Unfortunately this is very typical. I hope Cal is successful with his civil suit. I’m very sorry for the time he has lost with his kids. What a tragedy to lose that precious time with them. God bless Cal and his children.
I hope he gets millions and buys a car dealership down the street from the courthouse and state Trooper barracks! Rub their noses in it!!
If he was actually Guilty, the State had pls Ty of chances to prove their case and they failed to do so!im willing to bet the Bench Judge grudgingly had to find him Not Guilty and that’s why he gave his decision in the manner that he did I do believe Cal has every right to go back and sue them based on his Not Guilty Verdict! If I were him I’d take the win and keep moving on with my life. But a Narcissistisbf capable of that
How after 5 years and two guilty verdicts, does a person remember the blonde woman in the driveway arguing with a different person? You morons who believe he is innocent have your rights to beleive what you want. Sure would like to ask this witness today how much he was paid, offered, or what convinced him to come forward 5 years later.