A Time To Kill

A Mother Disappears The Day After 9/11

(CBS)  Six of the jurors were willing to explain the verdict.

"To me the evidence was overwhelming, in the long run," a male juror told Moriarty. "There was just so many little pieces that just come together to make the whole puzzle."

They say that Cal's own actions gave him away. "Why wouldn’t you join in the search? Why wouldn’t you stay home from work that day? Why wouldn’t you be questioning those police saying, 'Hey, you know, let’s look here. Let’s try this, let’s do that,'" a female juror remarked. "He never did any of that."

More proof, they say, was Cal's comment to his girlfriend, just 18 days after Michele vanished. "When she said, 'Oh, she was a little nervous about spending the night 'cause she was afraid Michele was gonna be coming home,' she said. And he just looked at her and said, 'Oh, she won’t be coming home.' How do you know that? I mean, how do you know that unless you know that?" a female juror wondered.

And that little bit of blood played a big part. "If they wouldn’t have found any blood, he would have gotten away with it, I think," a male juror remarked.

And if Michele was killed in her own home, the jurors said that eliminated the other possible suspects, leaving only one person: Cal Harris.

"We followed the lines of evidence and beyond a reasonable doubt, we believe he did it," a female juror said.

Two months later, there were suddenly new questions about the verdict. Did the jurors hear all the evidence?

Just days before Cal was about to be sentenced for his wife's murder, a new witness came forward, putting the conviction of Cal Harris in jeopardy.

"To have somebody pop out of the woodwork after a verdict is announced - it was a little bit shocking," Mark Lester remarks.

A 33-year-old farmer, Kevin Tubbs, says he was hauling hay around dawn on Sept. 12, and drove past the Harris driveway.

"He sees a man and a woman, a pickup truck, and another vehicle at the end of the driveway. He claims it looked like they were having an argument," Lester says.

The woman, he says, looked like Michele. As for the man, "Dark complexion, white male. Early 20’s. And he said it definitely was not Cal Harris," Lester says of Tubbs' description.

If Tubbs saw Michele when he says he did, then Cal wouldn't have had the time to kill her.

"Is it possible that he's right?" Moriarty asks state police Capt. Mark Lester.

"I don’t think so," he replies.

Lester says it was too dark at 5:40 a.m. for Tubbs to have seen Michele clearly.

"He had to have been mistaken as to what he saw," Lester says.

"Or? Or he lied," Moriarty remarks.

"Well, that’s the other possibility," Lester says.

But what matters is what Judge Martin Smith thinks. In November 2007, friends and family members are called back to court. In a shocking decision, Judge Smith throws out Cal Harris' conviction for the murder of his wife, and orders a new trial.

"He was overwhelmed. He's been in jail for five months and to hear a judge release him was just overwhelming," Cal's attorney Bill Easton commented after the decision.

But if Cal Harris is relieved, Michele's family is devastated. The prosecutor says he'll fight to keep the conviction, but now, out on a half-million dollar bail, Cal Harris is once again a free man.

"I was looking forward to having the case behind me also, but it’s not about me. It’s about Michele Harris. So I’ll do whatever I have to do to make sure that we get justice for her," D.A. Gerald Keene vows.

---

The state wants the conviction to stand, and is appealing the judge's decision to grant Cal Harris a new trial.

Harris's attorney Joe Cawley is now a Broome County judge.

Michele Harris has been missing for 2,478 days.

[klhudson01]

I think this is really a sad case for our judicial system. Someone''s love one lost her life and our justice system failed her and her family. I wonder if Cal with his errogant attitude may have paid off the local mortitian to burrie her or to have her cremated without anyones knowledge? Just my thoughts!

[dr1321]

i worked for cal. he was a hot headed control freak, and oh by the way he did it and recycled her body at the steel yard and everybody in Owego knows it.

[carolcape]

Cal is Guilty, of course. I heard this case before, but did not know what the outcome was. Sorry to hear that he was released . The man that came forward, this man is probably being paid off. If he is not being paid off, he saw someone who Cal hired to abduct her and murder her and dispose of her body far from his land. My opinion is, She is Not on that Land. Someone took her somewhere else and murdered her and placed her in an unknown location, probably even in another state. A fine tooth comb should be taken to any monies he removed from his accounts previous to this, because he could afford to pay a hit man. Also, the fact that he tried to get rid of her possessions two weeks after she went missing, that proves it in itself. I have things here belonged to my mother who died a year ago of natural causes, I have to go through them and everyday, I put it off and it''s over a year. I know there is things I have to throw out. So give me a break, he is Guilty, Guilty, Guilty. And his new girlfriend indicating he said to her when she went to his home that she was afraid his wife would walk in, his words, "oh, she won''t be coming home". He knew she was dead and that is why she wasn''t coming home. I hope he gets the death penalty.

[newsreader57]

I haven''t read all the comments but a did read quite a few;no one seems to mention the "private lake" that was part of the estate. The police never mentioned any divers searcing the lake for a body or weapon.

[dlucero76]

Well there is alot of Polumbo''s, Revolver P.I.''s, Miami SUV''s, and old ladies who wrote about it on here and some of you are probably right-she''s probably under that slab but they will never be able to go in there and dig it up and the bottom line is this guy will walk eventually- no body, murder weapon, just little spots of blood that a Court of Appeals will through out. The bottom line is, as usual the police dropped the ball, they should have secured the home from the very beginning and brought in the pro''s but they didn''t....Sorry.

[donnaleac]

Not only was a new concrete floor poured the day after she went missing but has anyone thought that Cal may have also used one of the cars on his lot to remove the body from the house, dispose of it under the floor where the new concrete was to be poured, and cleaned the vehicle or disposed of it? I think that floor should be jack hammered up to look for evidence.

[dlucero76]

People need to stop watching so much T.V...What happen to "guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt"? Do I think he did it? YES. Would I have found him guilty?NO. Why? Because the prosecution did not prove their case "Beyond a shadow of a doubt". Come on people, the idea is to let a guilty person walk before putting an innocent guy behind bars. That''s why over and over we are seeing people that were wrongly convicted set free after many years behind bars. And it''s because-Oh I think he did it, or he might have did it, or he could have did it or my gut tells me he did it ..GET REAL!

[compry]

the nieghbor who came forward to state he saw Michele at the end of the driveway had told his wife that thier money toubles had been resolved, hinting that he was paid by Cal Harris. The rumours in Owego is that Cal took the body of Michele in the trunk of a car that was then shreded at a local metal recyclable place owned by a criminal named Wietsman who owed a lot of money in taxes and fines. Th fact that the Judge in the murder trial has alowed the testamony of a person whose own wife calls a liar shows that the trial should be moved to a county where the judges would not be bribed so easily by Cal Harris.

[leslielyn-2009]

WHY HAVE THEY NOT CHECK THE BARN WHERE THE HORSES ARE KEPT, HE COULD HAVE TAKEN HER OUT ON HORSE BACK TO GET RID OF THE BODY, CHECK STABLES, STALLS, AND SADDLES, ETC..... LESLIELYN

[mrsjp-2009]

just a thought.....we have (or did have) Phil Jordan living in Tioga County. He has been featured on Court TV and Discovery Times finding missing people and solving crimes. WHY didn''t anyone consult him?

[nikila40]

OK, you''ll probably think I''m crazy with this post. I do remember while watching 48 Hours that Calvin supposedly said he knew where to hide a body where nobody would find it. He doesn''t seem too concerned about his own land, as it didn''t bother him at all that they searched there. What about a cemetery? A newly dug grave? Any cemeteries nearby that held a burial on 9/11? That''s one place nobody would look - in the grave of another. Yikes...just a thought!

[heisguilty1]

Cal is guilty as sin and I trust that he will be convicted in this next trial and justice will finally be served. Why did he have no emotion? You have to have a heart to have emotion. He was having affairs while they were still married, long before Michele and they were legally separated before she starting seeing anyone. It''s too bad that the courts (or her lawyer?) required that they stay together in the same home during the divorce proceedings. I''m sure that just added fuel to the fire in an already bad marriage. As far as this Tubbs guy, I agree, he is NOT a credible witness and ironically his back taxes were recently paid! I hope they are keeping an eye on his bank account. Something definitely smells rotten in Denmark!

[wegoagain]

Erin Moriarty, my concern is for the children in Tioga County. Please contact The National School Safety and Security Services. "School Safety Post Crisis Consulting Support" This community seems to have done some math. They will pay all expenses. Lets help the community move forward. They seem to be flip flopped.

[calvindidit]

He is the only suspect who wouldn''t take a lie detector test...Wonder why?

[paul_in_va]

I think it is tragic that a panel of 12 jurors can review the evidence, convict a murderer in under 4hrs, and one debt ridden, authority plagued, story teller, can interupt justice and put this man back on the streets for a year. Gee, Maybe OJ didn''t commit murder either!! Justice has not been served here.

[sun4girl]

I HAVE KNOWN MICKELLE SINCE I WAS IN SCHOOL , SHE WAS A GOOD GOOD GIRL FROM A GOOD FAMILY , CAL SHOULD PAY FOR WHAT HE DID, SOMEONE SAID THERE WAS A NEW CONCRETE FLOOR PUT IN THE CAR DEALERSHIP THE DAY AFTER SHE DIED I BELIEVE SHE IS BURIED UNDER THERE AND SOMEONE SHOULD CHECK IT OUT. AS FAR AS THE NEW WITNESS GOES THOSE PEOPLE ARE NOT RELIABLE I KNOW THEM TO THEY ARE PROBABLY GETTING PAID GOOD FOR THE NEW INFO.

[kimynoregon]

can see Cal''''s lack of emotion concerning his wife. Put yourself in his shoes; he''''s just watched the love of his life, the mother of his children, throw everything away. Reject him and start a life of absolute debauchery and narcissistic hedonism. He''''s watched the most precious person in his life has become a two-bit *** having multiple flings with whoever she could run up against. If it were me, I too would have withdrawn emotionally and just prayed that this whole thing would be over and that she''''d take the shame and insult she''''s brought to him and his family away. He undoubtedly knew that her new behavior would be ruinous, and just wanted it over. How doesn''''t matter how so much as she could have decided simply to move away with some other *** and complete her transformation into a real whorish scumbag. Matter of fact we don''''t know that that didn''''t happen!

Terrible jeff82, poor taste on your comment.
I''ll just leave it at that.

[auntblue]

There are plenty of reasons to think he is guilty of murdering his wife. However, proving it a second time won''t be easy. The so called witness was a ridiculous attempt to insure a second tial. More than likely, this one will get him aquitted.

[mommyann1]

For a witness to come forward 6 years after the crime, with a vague at best description, and for that testimony to be deemed worthy enough to grant a new trial is beyond ridiculous. As an area resident familiar with the case, I am disgusted that this man is considered credible. He claims he didn''t hear about the case at first, and then didn''t consider what he says he saw important. (!?!?!?) It''s a true mouth breather moment, folks. Please keep the children in your thoughts and prayers. Imagine their lives for the past 6 years, and it''s only going to continue.

[thespectre24]

Yeah, Owego sure did take the spotlight, wegoagain. Which is why you find out about this roughly three days ago, which if my math tells me right, is roughly 6 YEARS after it happened. No one''s saying that this was more important than 9/11, it merely HAPPENED around that time.