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American Morning
Clara Harris May Return to Witness Stand
Aired February 07, 2003 - 09:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: In a Houston courtroom a bit later today, Clara Harris may return to the witness stand to tell her version of the events on the night she is accused of running over her husband with a Mercedes. Harris, accused of murdering her husband last summer after she caught him with a mistress at a Houston hotel.
Gail Delaughter, a repoterer for KTRH Radio. She's been covering the trial from the beginning and joins us live this mornign from Houston.
Gail, nice to see you. Good monring to you.
Do you expect Clara Harris back on the stand? And if so, where do they pick up from here regarding testimony?
GAIL DELAUGHTER, REPORTER, KTRH RADIO: She was in the middle of her testimony wednesday. There was a medical emergency outside the courtroom. Her defense attorney collapsed and was taken to the hospital. He's apparently suffering from a bad case of the flu. But he's OK. He's going to be back this morning.
What they're doing is going through the chronology of the events in the week leading up to the runnover in the hotel parking lot, when Clara Harris caught her husband with his mistress. And when they left off Wednesday, they were talking about a list that David Harris made for his wife, comparing her attributes with those of his secretary, the woman he was having the affair with.
He told Clara Harris that she was pretty, she was smart, she was educated, but as for her flaws, apparently, she wouldn't let him do apparently whatever he wanted. Apparently when they were on vacation, She was the one who made all the plans, and also, he thought Clara was was too pessimistic.
As for Gayle's (ph) assets, Gayle Bridges (ph), the other one, she was reasonably smart, reasonably pretty, reasonably educated. She would let david do whatever he wanted. She would go along with whatever he wanted to do. And also, he felt Gail was a much more optimistic person. She jotted these notes down on a bar napkin that was brought into court.
HEMMER: So this was essentially the pros and cons of the relationship, with Mr. Harris deciding ultimately what was going to happen in terms of direction he was going to go?
DELAUGHTER: Right, and apparently, what the defense is trying to prove, that Clara Harris, she was a woman desperate to save her marriage. We're going to hear testimony later on from plastic surgeons, from hairdressers, from others, apparetnly she was on a mission. She told people in the household she was on a mission to save her marriage. She wanted to make herself more attractive for her husband. She colored her hair. She went to tanning booths, and she was even planning to get breast augmentation and plastic surgery to make herself more attractive, more like this other woman.
HEMMER: Now, Dana, listen, both women were in the courtroom on Wednesday, right, and there was an interesting atmosphere that happened. What transpired there?
DELAUGHTER: It was interesting, when Gail Bridges (ph) was on the stand, Clara Harris turned her face away, wouldn't even look at her. And then when Clara was on the stand Wednesday, she was sort of imitating Gail Bridges, because Gail has a very soft-spoken demeanor, and in her Colombian accent, she was doing sort of a little imitation of Gail Bridges and that soft-spoken demeanor, getting some chuckles in the courtroom. She says, referring to Gail, you know how she is, and getting a few laughs in the courtroom, and I think that may havce humanized her a little bit.
HEMMER: Did the jurors laugh at that time, too?
DELAUGHTER: Yes, there were some chuckles. I mean, all throughout the courtroom, it's such a very tense, heavy atmosphere, even in your serious capital murder cases, there are moments of humor, and people like to break up.
HEMMER: Not a lot of humor, the bottom line in this case. But nonetheless, we resume today. George Parnum, the attorney, expected to be back in court today.
Gail Delaughter, thank you for your time today.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired February 7, 2003 - 09:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: In a Houston courtroom a bit later today, Clara Harris may return to the witness stand to tell her version of the events on the night she is accused of running over her husband with a Mercedes. Harris, accused of murdering her husband last summer after she caught him with a mistress at a Houston hotel.
Gail Delaughter, a repoterer for KTRH Radio. She's been covering the trial from the beginning and joins us live this mornign from Houston.
Gail, nice to see you. Good monring to you.
Do you expect Clara Harris back on the stand? And if so, where do they pick up from here regarding testimony?
GAIL DELAUGHTER, REPORTER, KTRH RADIO: She was in the middle of her testimony wednesday. There was a medical emergency outside the courtroom. Her defense attorney collapsed and was taken to the hospital. He's apparently suffering from a bad case of the flu. But he's OK. He's going to be back this morning.
What they're doing is going through the chronology of the events in the week leading up to the runnover in the hotel parking lot, when Clara Harris caught her husband with his mistress. And when they left off Wednesday, they were talking about a list that David Harris made for his wife, comparing her attributes with those of his secretary, the woman he was having the affair with.
He told Clara Harris that she was pretty, she was smart, she was educated, but as for her flaws, apparently, she wouldn't let him do apparently whatever he wanted. Apparently when they were on vacation, She was the one who made all the plans, and also, he thought Clara was was too pessimistic.
As for Gayle's (ph) assets, Gayle Bridges (ph), the other one, she was reasonably smart, reasonably pretty, reasonably educated. She would let david do whatever he wanted. She would go along with whatever he wanted to do. And also, he felt Gail was a much more optimistic person. She jotted these notes down on a bar napkin that was brought into court.
HEMMER: So this was essentially the pros and cons of the relationship, with Mr. Harris deciding ultimately what was going to happen in terms of direction he was going to go?
DELAUGHTER: Right, and apparently, what the defense is trying to prove, that Clara Harris, she was a woman desperate to save her marriage. We're going to hear testimony later on from plastic surgeons, from hairdressers, from others, apparetnly she was on a mission. She told people in the household she was on a mission to save her marriage. She wanted to make herself more attractive for her husband. She colored her hair. She went to tanning booths, and she was even planning to get breast augmentation and plastic surgery to make herself more attractive, more like this other woman.
HEMMER: Now, Dana, listen, both women were in the courtroom on Wednesday, right, and there was an interesting atmosphere that happened. What transpired there?
DELAUGHTER: It was interesting, when Gail Bridges (ph) was on the stand, Clara Harris turned her face away, wouldn't even look at her. And then when Clara was on the stand Wednesday, she was sort of imitating Gail Bridges, because Gail has a very soft-spoken demeanor, and in her Colombian accent, she was doing sort of a little imitation of Gail Bridges and that soft-spoken demeanor, getting some chuckles in the courtroom. She says, referring to Gail, you know how she is, and getting a few laughs in the courtroom, and I think that may havce humanized her a little bit.
HEMMER: Did the jurors laugh at that time, too?
DELAUGHTER: Yes, there were some chuckles. I mean, all throughout the courtroom, it's such a very tense, heavy atmosphere, even in your serious capital murder cases, there are moments of humor, and people like to break up.
HEMMER: Not a lot of humor, the bottom line in this case. But nonetheless, we resume today. George Parnum, the attorney, expected to be back in court today.
Gail Delaughter, thank you for your time today.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
