NOT GUILTY: After 4 trials, Cal Harris acquitted
In September 2001, 35-year-old mother of four Michele Harris disappeared.
On Tuesday, a judge declared her husband, Cal Harris, not guilty of her murder.
In the nearly 15 years in between lies an improbable saga for the Tioga County businessman: an arrest, two convictions overturned, a mistrial and, finally, an acquittal in Schoharie County Court.
Cal Harris, 54, was 39 when his estranged wife went missing, and he served approximately 3½ years in prison following his second conviction in 2009.
Tuesday's verdict by Judge Richard Mott brings an end to Cal Harris' fourth murder trial — and to the Spencer man's nearly decade-long quest to prove his innocence. But it brings no closure to the family of Michele Harris, whose body has never been found.
"The cause for celebration for Cal's freedom is there," defense attorney Bruce Barket said outside the courthouse. "But Michele needs to come home."
In a brief statement at 2:13 p.m., Mott delivered the verdict, which spared Cal Harris a potential maximum penalty of 25 years to life in prison. A teary-eyed Harris turned to embrace his four children, who were ages 2 through 7 when their mother disappeared.
With his two daughters and two sons standing behind him outside the courthouse, Harris told reporters he intends to take a vacation with his family.
“Three times, I’ve been ripped away from my kids, and that’s been hard,” Cal Harris said after thanking his defense team.
He paused to collect himself.
“If I don’t have my kids," he said. "I don’t have anything.”
Harris had scathing words for the Tioga County District Attorney’s Office and the state police, saying he has been wrongfully targeted for Michele Harris’ death and “there is nothing fair” about the country’s criminal justice system.
“This is not over by a long shot,” Barket vowed. He alluded to the possibility of forthcoming civil lawsuits on Cal Harris' behalf.
“Thank God and thank Judge Mott for finally putting this to an end — the criminal prosecution,” Barket said. “(Prosecutors) didn’t have any evidence Cal was involved in this.”
In brief remarks following the verdict, District Attorney Kirk Martin stood by law enforcement’s investigation and the prosecutions against Harris by stating, “I have a job and a responsibility to pursue justice.”
The first two trials were prosecuted by then-District Attorney Gerald Keene, now a Tioga County judge.
“Michele Harris is still a missing person,” Martin said Tuesday. “But we abide by the verdict.”
The verdict of “not guilty” means Cal Harris cannot face another trial on the second-degree murder indictment alleging he caused Michele Harris’ death, according to Martin.
Greg Taylor, Michele Harris’ brother, was in the courtroom during the verdict, but declined to comment as he left the courthouse with family members and friends.
Fourth trial
During the course of four trials in two counties, the prosecution’s largely circumstantial evidence case against Cal Harris remained mostly unchanged. Martin contended Cal Harris killed Michele Harris as a final act of control in their divorce proceeding and then hid her body, leaving behind a series of millimeter-sized blood spatter stains in the rural Harris home after cleaning up the rest.
The defense, however, argued all the blood in the Harris home amounted to 10 drops and was not enough to prove the scene of a fatal assault. Defense attorneys also claimed police focused their case exclusively on Cal Harris due to the divorce proceeding and overlooked other men in Michele Harris’ life as more viable suspects.
In the fourth trial, Mott heard conditional testimony of third-party culpability from the defense to try implicating Texas steel workers Stacey Stewart and Christopher Thomason in the alleged murder — both men were frequent customers at the Waverly restaurant where Michele Harris worked.
The defense introduced evidence recovered from Stewart’s former burn pit, including a bra strap and charred fabric. But before closing arguments, Mott decided to exclude such evidence from the trial record and ordered it tossed out.
Harris' first two convictions, in 2007 and 2009, were overturned. A third trial ended in a mistrial almost exactly a year ago, when the jury failed to reach a verdict.
The fourth trial, unlike those that came before, played out in court without a jury. Testimony spanned nearly 30 days.
On Tuesday, Cal Harris said the last-minute choice he made to ask the judge to decide the case seemed “less of a risk.”
Mott delivered his verdict to the packed courtroom with no explanation of his decision, which he reached after some 12 hours of deliberation.
Before leaving the Schoharie courthouse for the final time, Cal Harris told reporters there would be no real celebration at his home Tuesday night.
“There are no winners in this case,” he said. “Not until we find the mother of my children, we won’t get closure.”
Follow Anthony Borrelli on Twitter @PSBABorrelli