HOUSTON -- When a woman found her husband cheating on her, she ran him over with her Mercedes-Benz and "turned her $70,000 vehicle into a 4,000-pound murder weapon," prosecutors said in court Thursday.

Clara Harris "hit him again and again and again," prosecutor Mia Magness told jurors during opening statements at Harris' murder trial.

Her defense attorney described the 44-year-old Houston dentist as a woman who only wanted to keep her family together but "loses it" after going to the hotel where she married David Harris and finding him with a mistress.

Clara Harris is accused of killing her husband, also 44, in the hotel parking lot July 24 after confronting him and another woman in the building lobby.

Magness said Clara Harris gave her husband an ultimatum, ordering him to choose between her and his mistress, Gail Bridges. When he chose Bridges, Magness said, she got into her car and purposely ran him down.

Parnham said Harris was a loving mother and devoted wife who wanted her husband to come home but was heartbroken after finding out he had misled her and would not end his affair.


"I want you to reserve your judgment until you hear evidence about what physically happened in that parking lot ... whether or not Clara Harris intentionally caused the death of David Harris," Parnham said.

A hotel employee testified Thursday afternoon that David Harris yelled "It's over! It's over! It's over!" toward his wife as she was escorted from the hotel.

Clara Harris then calmly got into her silver sedan as David Harris walked Bridges to her vehicle, Evangelos Smiros testified.

Clara Harris drove her car at a high rate of speed toward them. "I banged on her trunk and said, 'Stop! Stop! You're going to hurt someone,"' Smiros testified, saying he watched helplessly as Clara Harris hit her husband three times.

Another hotel employee, Blake Doran, recalled Clara Harris apologizing to her husband and telling him how much she loved him.

If convicted, Clara Harris faces up to life in prison. If jurors determine she acted under the legal definition of sudden passion, they could consider a lighter sentence of two to 20 years in prison.

Evidence is expected to include a videotape taken in the hotel parking lot by a private investigator Harris hired to follow her husband. Jurors also expected to hear from her 17-year-old stepdaughter, Lindsey, who was a passenger in the car when David Harris was killed.

(AP)
AP-CS-01-23-03 1802EST

At least she did it with style.

... and who says that women can't drive ...

Cheating always carries a risk...
His attitude was callous.
I wish she could have kept her cool.
What a situation!

I Doubt She will get much time.Texas has it's own Laws of Justice.She though won't get any serious time I don't feel.

i baught a '81 FLEETWOOD in '83 for $50 from a woman
who's husband said "you can keep the house and all that shit except for the car, sell the motherfucker and give me the money" and put it on paper...
SHE HATED HIS GUTZ!!!

DAMNNN

I see Fox putting together a sequal to "Bridezillas" on the basis of this new story alone.

GoldNigga said:

00769BAD said:

poor guy probably bought that bitch the Benz, too...

Can you Believe this story? First Loreena Bobbit now this. O.K. well Bobbitt wasn't cheating,but look at what she did and got off.

Natasha said:

She hasn't gone to trial yet, so she hasn't "got off".

She should go to prison for it, though. If you reversed it--a woman getting run over by her husband for cheating--people would say he should fry. Same standards should hold for her.

(See, my feminism is the fair brand! )

twonabomber said:

Sad part is that is probaly true. He bought the weapon that killed him.

theC said:

Hey you spelled probably wrong.

Paisley said:

I spelled a word wrong, Hell has frozen over. I thought Nep2nes was gone.

theC said:

I'm gonna have to teach you how to be a good speller. and believe me I could never be compared to Nep2nes.

Paisley said:

SO DID YOU...
everybody knows it P-R-O-L-L-Y!!!

00769BAD said:

OK BAD, if you say so.

Paisley said:[quote]I'm gonna have to teach you how to be a good speller. quote]

With that statement Nep2nes couldn't have said it better herself.

I almost read it wrong.
I thought it said Wife Uses Mercedes to Run Over & Kill Chatting Husband

theC said:[quote]

Paisley said:

That's it, your ass is mine!

Read about that news item earlier...

Shit, not everyone marries the right person. Not everyone's marriage goes smoothly. Admittedly cheating isn't the best way to handle the situation, nor is it a nice thing to do... but if he loved someone else (or at least, no longer loved his wife) it's pretty messed up that he had to die because of it.

Well I guess it'll be judged as a "crime of passion" under the circumstances but that woman is clearly a murderer, one way or the other. Even if she doesn't get a life sentence, can you imagine any man wanting to go out with her when she gets free?

You play you pay... in the heat of the moment you do careless things... I can understand her state of mind and i dont' know if i would of gone as far as kill him, but i defintly would of mowed his ass down and used his lover as a hood ornament!

I saw the video, she just kept driving in circles over and over him.

silkyspread said:

That's a ridiculous thing to say.

ian said:

That is your opinion Ian... You have yours and i have mine... Maybe you have never been in that situation before.. and in a rage you do things.. I never said it was right, but i can understand..