Texas dentist to get 20 years for 'Mercedes murder'
By Matt Bean, Court TV
A Texas woman who murdered her husband with a Mercedes Benz after
catching him in a tryst was sentenced to 20 years Friday after a jury
decided the killing was an act of "sudden passion."
Clara Harris threw her head back in anguish upon hearing the verdict, and
buried her head in her arms as her lawyers comforted her.
She could have spent up to 99 years in prison for the July 24, 2002,
killing. But the jury, which convicted her on Thursday of murder, decided
she acted in the heat of the moment, reducing the sentencing range to
between two and 20 years.
Harris, 45, confronted her husband, orthodontist David Harris, in the
lobby of a Houston hotel with his mistress and receptionist, Gail Bridges.
The altercation spilled into the parking lot, where Clara Harris rammed her
husband with her luxury sedan and then circled around to hit him again.
The jury of nine women and three men spent Friday deliberating after
lawyers delivered their closing arguments in the punishment phase. They
found Harris guilty of murder on Thursday, sidestepping the lesser included
options of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.
Harris' stepdaughter, Lindsey Harris, was in the Mercedes Benz the night
of the murder. She testified during the trial that Harris said "I'm going
to hit him" before stepping on the gas pedal of the late-model sedan.
Lindsey Harris was the only witness brought by the state Thursday in the
post-conviction punishment phase of the trial. She said the experience sent
her into a deep depression and that she even tried to commit suicide twice
by slitting her wrists.
Clara Harris, no stranger to showing emotion in the courtroom, began
sobbing at her stepdaughter's disclosure. She called out "I'm sorry, baby"
as jurors were led from the courtroom. Her outburst was admonished by Judge
Carol G. Davies.
On Friday, Harris' defense attorney George Parnham appealed to jurors to
keep his client out of jail so that she could continue to care for her two
young boys. And he reminded them that they would begin their deliberations
on Valentine's Day, the 11th anniversary of Harris' marriage. The lawyer
even twice attempted to ask rhetorically, "What would David Harris want?" -
both times drawing a strident, and successful, objection from prosecutor,
Mia Magness.
"You're not being asked to punish who she was or who she's gonna be...
you're being asked to punish her conduct," said Magness in her argument.
"I'm not suggesting to you that she shouldn't recieve probation because
she's a good person. Her conduct of July 24th is what you should base your
decision on."
A last minute bid by the defense for a mistrial because the court
reporter was crying during closing arguments of the punishment phase was
rejected by Judge Davis. "I think there are people all over this courtroom
who cried, including jurors," said Davies.
