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American Morning

Legal Analysis of Mercedes Murder

Aired February 14, 2003 - 07:16   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.


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "We, the jury, find the defendant, Clara L. Harris, guilty of murder as charged in the indictment," and that is signed by the presiding juror.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The jury that convicted Clara Harris of murdering her husband with her Mercedes now is charged with deciding her sentence. Closing arguments are expected today in the trial's penalty phase. The verdict came just eight hours -- after eight hours of deliberations.

Joining us now to talk about the verdict and the sentencing options is our legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin.

Good morning.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hey.

ZAHN: Were you surprised?

TOOBIN: I was just surprised at the speed. You know, I was telling you, you know, what a difficult case this was and how much the jury was going to struggle with it, and they barely made it to lunch. I mean, it was...

ZAHN: What should that tell us?

TOOBIN: Well, I think it tells us...

ZAHN: That the prosecution did a much better job than the defense?

TOOBIN: No, I really don't think the lawyers probably had that much to do with it. I think there was a lot of evidence here. I mean, she ran over this guy three times. That's always been the key part of this case. And you know, if you run over someone three times, it's likely you're going to be convicted of murder.

I think they were right to put her on the witness stand, the defense was, you know, to try to tell her story, but I just don't think her story held up.

ZAHN: How did she react when she heard the verdict? TOOBIN: Very little. It's funny, because she has been very demonstrative in court, crying. She was kind of stupefied, stunned. You can see her right there. She didn't really react at all. But during the beginning of the penalty phase, she was. It was very dramatically outspoken.

ZAHN: So, after she learned the first part of her fate, character witnesses were called in, and they were asked to testify for the sentencing phase of the trial. What was the most interesting thing you heard?

TOOBIN: The prosecution called Lindsey, her stepdaughter, who was in the car when Lindsey's father was killed, and she talked about what the impact has been on her. And it was really very sad. She talked about how, you know, she's gotten depressed, that she tried to commit suicide a couple of times.

During Lindsey's testimony, Clara Harris jumped up and said, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." The judge almost threw Clara out of the courtroom, almost held her in contempt right there for that outburst. But I mean, you know, that's the kind of...

ZAHN: But then didn't Clara Harris' attorney then say, look, this woman was just found guilty of murder?

TOOBIN: That's right.

ZAHN: Give her a break.

TOOBIN: What do you expect? But you know, these judges take control of their courtroom very seriously, and even if you understand why people feel so emotional, the judge says, you know, you just can't do that.

ZAHN: Walk us through the options this morning now that the jury has, because it's fascinating. She could end up with a lot of time and no time, basically.

TOOBIN: And that's the -- I mean, first of all, Texas is unusual, because the jury plays such a big role in sentencing. Usually, it's just up to the judge. Here, depending on how the jury reacts, it could be that Clara Harris gets probation -- that is, virtually no jail time at all -- or that she gets life in prison. The jury's options are that broad.

Plus, they have to decide whether the murder was committed with sudden passion, another unusual provision of Texas law. If it's sudden passion, the options range from probation just to 20 years. So, you're going to hear sudden passion arguments to the jury today.

ZAHN: And just based on the reaction of the jury to her story that when she sat down with her husband and called him on the carpet about the affair that he took notes -- or they took notes on a napkin chronicling what she sort of needed to do to catch up with the mistress.

TOOBIN: Right.

ZAHN: Make her huggable in bed.

TOOBIN: Right.

ZAHN: A whole laundry list, breast augmentation surgery, dying the hair blonde. Don't you think that will have some resonance with these same members of the jury?

TOOBIN: Well, you know, I thought it would have some resonance in the guilt phase, and it had absolutely none. I don't think she'll get life in prison, but I think she's going to go to jail for a substantial number of years.

ZAHN: You do.

TOOBIN: I do. I think this jury is not impressed with her sob story.

ZAHN: It's fascinating to watch...

(CROSSTALK)

TOOBIN: And I think you are.

ZAHN: Well, I think every woman listening to that testimony felt sorry for her. How could you not?

TOOBIN: You couldn't.

ZAHN: And that doesn't justify murder, no, I understand that. But it was heartbreaking to hear her talk about...

TOOBIN: Nine...

ZAHN: ... her marriage dissolving and her being so publicly humiliated. Anybody can relate to that.

TOOBIN: Absolutely. But now they've got a chance to show some sympathy. So far, they haven't.

ZAHN: All right, Jeffrey Toobin, have a good weekend. Thanks.

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 14, 2003 - 07:16   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "We, the jury, find the defendant, Clara L. Harris, guilty of murder as charged in the indictment," and that is signed by the presiding juror.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The jury that convicted Clara Harris of murdering her husband with her Mercedes now is charged with deciding her sentence. Closing arguments are expected today in the trial's penalty phase. The verdict came just eight hours -- after eight hours of deliberations.

Joining us now to talk about the verdict and the sentencing options is our legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin.

Good morning.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hey.

ZAHN: Were you surprised?

TOOBIN: I was just surprised at the speed. You know, I was telling you, you know, what a difficult case this was and how much the jury was going to struggle with it, and they barely made it to lunch. I mean, it was...

ZAHN: What should that tell us?

TOOBIN: Well, I think it tells us...

ZAHN: That the prosecution did a much better job than the defense?

TOOBIN: No, I really don't think the lawyers probably had that much to do with it. I think there was a lot of evidence here. I mean, she ran over this guy three times. That's always been the key part of this case. And you know, if you run over someone three times, it's likely you're going to be convicted of murder.

I think they were right to put her on the witness stand, the defense was, you know, to try to tell her story, but I just don't think her story held up.

ZAHN: How did she react when she heard the verdict? TOOBIN: Very little. It's funny, because she has been very demonstrative in court, crying. She was kind of stupefied, stunned. You can see her right there. She didn't really react at all. But during the beginning of the penalty phase, she was. It was very dramatically outspoken.

ZAHN: So, after she learned the first part of her fate, character witnesses were called in, and they were asked to testify for the sentencing phase of the trial. What was the most interesting thing you heard?

TOOBIN: The prosecution called Lindsey, her stepdaughter, who was in the car when Lindsey's father was killed, and she talked about what the impact has been on her. And it was really very sad. She talked about how, you know, she's gotten depressed, that she tried to commit suicide a couple of times.

During Lindsey's testimony, Clara Harris jumped up and said, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." The judge almost threw Clara out of the courtroom, almost held her in contempt right there for that outburst. But I mean, you know, that's the kind of...

ZAHN: But then didn't Clara Harris' attorney then say, look, this woman was just found guilty of murder?

TOOBIN: That's right.

ZAHN: Give her a break.

TOOBIN: What do you expect? But you know, these judges take control of their courtroom very seriously, and even if you understand why people feel so emotional, the judge says, you know, you just can't do that.

ZAHN: Walk us through the options this morning now that the jury has, because it's fascinating. She could end up with a lot of time and no time, basically.

TOOBIN: And that's the -- I mean, first of all, Texas is unusual, because the jury plays such a big role in sentencing. Usually, it's just up to the judge. Here, depending on how the jury reacts, it could be that Clara Harris gets probation -- that is, virtually no jail time at all -- or that she gets life in prison. The jury's options are that broad.

Plus, they have to decide whether the murder was committed with sudden passion, another unusual provision of Texas law. If it's sudden passion, the options range from probation just to 20 years. So, you're going to hear sudden passion arguments to the jury today.

ZAHN: And just based on the reaction of the jury to her story that when she sat down with her husband and called him on the carpet about the affair that he took notes -- or they took notes on a napkin chronicling what she sort of needed to do to catch up with the mistress.

TOOBIN: Right.

ZAHN: Make her huggable in bed.

TOOBIN: Right.

ZAHN: A whole laundry list, breast augmentation surgery, dying the hair blonde. Don't you think that will have some resonance with these same members of the jury?

TOOBIN: Well, you know, I thought it would have some resonance in the guilt phase, and it had absolutely none. I don't think she'll get life in prison, but I think she's going to go to jail for a substantial number of years.

ZAHN: You do.

TOOBIN: I do. I think this jury is not impressed with her sob story.

ZAHN: It's fascinating to watch...

(CROSSTALK)

TOOBIN: And I think you are.

ZAHN: Well, I think every woman listening to that testimony felt sorry for her. How could you not?

TOOBIN: You couldn't.

ZAHN: And that doesn't justify murder, no, I understand that. But it was heartbreaking to hear her talk about...

TOOBIN: Nine...

ZAHN: ... her marriage dissolving and her being so publicly humiliated. Anybody can relate to that.

TOOBIN: Absolutely. But now they've got a chance to show some sympathy. So far, they haven't.

ZAHN: All right, Jeffrey Toobin, have a good weekend. Thanks.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.