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Police squad cars all across America bear the slogan, “There’s no excuse for domestic violence.” Yet there is one situation in which the media and the public seem to feel that domestic violence is sometimes excusable — when the perpetrator is a woman, and the victim is a man. Imagine a woman trapped in a loveless marriage with a jealous, potentially violent husband whom she believes may be cheating on her. She stays in the marriage because she fears she could be separated from her children should they divorce, and finds understanding, companionship and passion in a relationship with a...

A jury in the civil trial of Clara Harris, the Friendswood dentist convicted of running over her husband with her car, has awarded the parents of her late husband $1.875 million each for their pain and suffering. Jurors in state District Judge David J. Bernal's court deliberated 10 hours over two days before reaching the unanimous verdict this afternoon. Gerald and Mildred Harris of Pearland filed a wrongful death lawsuit against their daughter-in-law for loss of companionship, mental anguish and loss of financial support. Their son, David, a successful Clear Lake area orthodontist, they said, had promised to provide for...

Posted on Wed, Oct. 06, 2004 Appeals court hearing arguments in Clara Harris casePAM EASTONAssociated PressHOUSTON - Attorneys for a woman who ran over her cheating husband outside the hotel where they married a decade earlier want her murder conviction overturned.Clara Harris was sentenced to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine last year for killing David Harris in July 2002 after finding him at a suburban Houston hotel with his mistress.The former dentist's attorneys cite seven trial court errors that they think should overturn the conviction.Harris is serving her sentence in Gatesville, about 35 miles west of...

Clara Harris, a Texas woman who was convicted of murdering her husband in March, was just granted joint custody of her twin five year-old boys. The ruling validates what fathers' and children's advocates have been saying for years -- when it comes to children, many courts believe that mothers can do no wrong. While Clara Harris' murder conviction was not enough to deprive her of equal rights to her children, hundreds of thousands of fathers have been thrown out of their homes and driven out of their children's lives by unfounded accusations of domestic violence. According to Washington family law...

Convicted husband killer raises new issue over sons' custody ABC13 Eyewitness News (5/14/03 - HOUSTON) — Friends of Clara Harris are asking for custody of her twin four-year-old boys. Harris is serving a 20-year prison sentence for running over and killing her husband David last year. Guardianship of the couple's twin sons went to David Harris' parents, Gerald and Mildred Harris. But Clara Harris wants her children to be raised by her friends, who still live in her old neighborhood and have four-year-old sons of their own. Harris reportedly believes her in-laws, who are both in their 70's, are...

This morning’s newspaper headlines reported the murder conviction of Clara Harris. This lady found her philandering husband walking away from a hotel where he had just met with his mistress. Mrs. Harris was sentenced to twenty years for running over her husband – three times. She claimed it was an accident. The incident reminded me of the accident victim who “fell on his knife 68 times”! Not quite an accident. At least the jury didn’t think so. Mrs. Harris suffers from what my Lynchburg psychologist friend Gentry Doyle titled “toxic anger”. Clara’s anger was dangerous to her as well as...

Clara Harris dental practices to be sold 04/17/2003 Associated Press FRIENDSWOOD, Texas – A probate judge has cleared the way for executors of a slain orthodontist to sell the dental properties he owned with his wife, who was convicted in his death after she ran over him with a luxury car. Clara Harris and her husband, David L. Harris, had created eight limited liability partnerships which operated six Houston-area dental practices. Robert P. Blanchard, in a court filing, has said the sale was necessary to pay claims including $801,000 in federal estate taxes. Clara Harris, 45, is serving a 20-year...

HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Front page March 20, 2003, 12:12PM Clara Harris to fix computers, not teeth, in prison Associated Press RESOURCES Clara Harris was found guilty of murdering her husband by running over him in her Mercedes again and again. • The story of Clara Harris Video: Pre-trial interview with Harris (Video courtesy of KHOU, Ch. 11. Requires Real Player. ) THE TRIAL • The indictment:State of Texas vs. Clara Harris• Key testimony from the trial Video Jury delivers verdict Jury delivers sentence Interview with forewomanDay by day:• Day 1: Hotel employees tell what they saw• Day 2: Grainy videotape...

Woman flees after running over husband By: ERIC ERVIN, Citizen Staff March 12, 2003 Webster Police investigators are looking for a Texas City woman who hit her estranged husband with her car after confronting him and his female companion in a local apartment complex parking lot.Miacona Charles Dickerson, 29, faces charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon stemming from the incident early Sunday, when she hit Clifton Leroy Dickerson, 29, after stabbing him with a 5-inch blade knife. At about 2:30 a.m., the suspect pulled into the parking lot of the Baystone Apartments, 800 NASA Road 1, to confront...

HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Local & State Feb. 17, 2003, 10:49PM Witness to Harris murder loses job Hotel worker was fired day after testifying By JO ANN ZUNIGA Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle A Clear Lake-area hotel official who saw Clara Harris run over and kill her husband with her Mercedes-Benz was unjustly fired the day after he testified in Harris' murder trial, his lawyer said Monday. Evangelos Smiros was fired from the Nassau Bay Hilton on Jan. 24 because the hotel fears possible legal action from the Harris family, said attorney Chip Lewis. The hotel's corporate lawyer, Debra Thomas, said Smiros'...

HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Local & State Feb. 14, 2003, 5:19PM Jury sentences Harris to 20 years in prison, $10,000 fine By ALLAN TURNER Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle RESOURCES Clara Harris listens to the verdict with her lawyers. Webcast: Live coverage of sentencing, reaction, courtesy of KHOU-TV. • The story of Clara Harris THE TRIAL Video: The jury delivers its verdict • Key testimony from the trial• The indictment:The state of Texas vs. Clara Harris• What we know about them The testimony:• Day 1: Hotel employees tell what they saw• Day 2: Grainy videotape reveals little• Day 3: What the private...

HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Local & State Feb. 14, 2003, 12:32PM Jurors deciding Harris' punishment By ALLAN TURNER Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle RESOURCES Clara Harris listens to the verdict with her lawyers. • The story of Clara Harris THE TRIAL Video: The jury delivers its verdict • Key testimony from the trial• The indictment:The state of Texas vs. Clara Harris• What we know about them The testimony:• Day 1: Hotel employees tell what they saw• Day 2: Grainy videotape reveals little• Day 3: What the private eye learned• Day 4: Defendant's sobs halt trial twice• Day 5: Stepdaughter says Clara Harris...

Clara Harris convicted of murder 02/13/2003 By DAVID McLEMORE / The Dallas Morning News HOUSTON –The woman who ran down her philandering husband with a Mercedes-Benz after catching him at a hotel with his mistress was convicted of murder Thursday by a jury that rejected her claim she was aiming for his lover's car. Clara Harris stood stoically as the verdict was read, her lawyer's arms around her. The 45-year-old dentist faces up to life in prison when she is sentenced, though the punishment could be reduced if jurors decide she acted with "sudden passion." Jurors, two of whom cried...

FOX News: Verdict reached in Clara Harris murder trial

HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Top Story Feb. 12, 2003, 12:27PM Judge says jury can convict Clara Harris of something less than murder Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle RESOURCES Clara Harris is accused of running over her husband after catching him with his former receptionist at a hotel. • From the arrest to the trial Video: Private investigator catches incident on tape(Video courtesy of KHOU, Ch. 11. Video requires Real Player) The trial:• The indictment• What we know about them• The experts: Why they're split over jurors Preparing for the trial: Video report from Jan. 19. The testimony:• Day 1: Hotel employees tell...

HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Local & State Feb. 12, 2003, 6:46AM 'Vroom-vroom-screech-bam!' Tennis player recalls sights, sounds of David Harris' death By ALLAN TURNER Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle RESOURCES Clara Harris grew emotional Tuesday after hearing testimony about her husband's "mauled" body. She is accused of running over him after catching him with his former receptionist at a hotel. Webcast: Check back here at 9 a.m.• From the arrest to the trial Video: Private investigator catches incident on tape(Video courtesy of KHOU, Ch. 11. Video requires Real Player) The trial:• The indictment• What we know about them• The experts: Why they're...

Eyewitnesses: Harris ran over cheating husband three times 02/11/2003 Associated Press HOUSTON - Two men who saw Clara Harris fatally run down her adulterous husband with her Mercedez-Benz last summer testified Tuesday in her murder trial she hit him three times. "I wasn't sure if what I was seeing was real," eyewitness Chris Junco said as he tearfully described the mayhem in a suburban Houston hotel parking lot July 24. "It was weird. I don't know how to describe it. The whole scene was very mad." Junco and a second eyewitness, Oscar Torres, testified they saw dentist Clara Harris...

Cheatin' husband didn't merit death 02/11/2003 By JACQUIELYNN FLOYD / The Dallas Morning News David Harris isn't around to defend himself, but the available evidence suggests that he may have been a bit of a jerk, that he was vain and selfish and shallow. He cheated on his wife, then candidly told her he was entitled because his girlfriend nagged him less and had a better body. He told his wife that, by comparison, she was loud and pushy and fat, that she paid too much attention to the kids. He grudgingly agreed to end the affair to keep...

HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Local & State Feb. 10, 2003, 3:58PM Officer says marks on Mercedes show David Harris run over at least twice By ALAN TURNER Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle EXTRA Clara Harris is accused of running over her husband after catching him with his former receptionist at a hotel. • From the arrest to the trial Video: Private investigator catches incident on tape(Video courtesy of KHOU, Ch. 11. Video requires Real Player) The trial:• The indictment• What we know about them• The experts: Why they're split over jurors Preparing for the trial: Video report from Jan. 19. The testimony:•...