Texas Woman Who Ran Over Husband Sentenced to 20 Years

A jury sentenced a pale and distraught Clara Harris to 20 years in prison Friday -- her 11th wedding anniversary -- for running over and killing her unfaithful husband with her Mercedes-Benz in July.

The panel of nine women and three men found that Harris acted with “sudden passion” when she killed her husband, David Harris. The finding would have allowed a sentence of as little as two years, but jurors gave Clara Harris the maximum 20-year penalty. She must also pay a $10,000 fine.

Harris must serve at least half of her sentence before she is eligible for parole.

As Judge Carol Davies read the jury’s sentence, the 45-year-old dentist crumpled in her chair, covered her eyes and silently cried. Across the courtroom, her 17-year-old stepdaughter, Lindsey Harris, who testified against her at the trial, bowed her head as tears ran down her cheeks.

Minutes later, looking small and frightened, Harris was led away by a bailiff. Before the courtroom door closed, she turned to give a long look to family and friends. Instinctively, they raised their arms to wave goodbye.

A jury, after deliberating for about nine hours over two days, convicted Harris on Thursday of murdering her husband, an orthodontist.

Outside the courthouse, prosecutor Mia Magness praised the jury Friday for making a hard decision.

“Doing what’s right doesn’t always feel good,” she said. “The jury recognized the case for what it was, a senseless taking of human life.... I wanted those 12 people to hold her accountable, to say that her conduct was inexcusable, and they did.”

Defense lawyer George Parnham said the defense team was shocked. “Surprised is an understatement. I thought we had an extremely compelling case, and we gave it our heart and soul.” Parnham said Harris will appeal.

Harris’ longtime friend and fellow dentist Shelley Canada told reporters that she fears for Harris’ life.

“Clara is probably going to kill herself,” she said. “She told me she would not survive because she would be separated from her children. We are extremely worried about her being incarcerated.”

Earlier in the day, Parnham asked jurors to sentence Harris to probation. It would be an appropriate punishment for a hard-working, well-respected woman who had never before broken the law, he said.

David Harris’ parents still support her, Parnham reminded jurors. “I think that speaks volumes for what this jury should do in this case,” he said.

He asked jurors to think of Harris’ twin boys, who would be “ripped away from the last parent they have on earth.”

“What would David want?” he said.

Magness asked jurors to set sympathy aside and focus on the acts of an enraged woman who crushed her husband with a car after catching him leaving a hotel with his mistress.

Six eyewitnesses testified they saw Harris run over her 44-year-old husband numerous times.

“You know he felt pain, that he was suffering as he was lying on the asphalt like some kind of wounded animal, drowning in his own blood,” Magness said.

She asked jurors for a prison sentence, but said life in prison was “inappropriate” in this case. Probation, she said “sends her out of the courtroom to live her life as she always has. Where’s the punishment in that?”

Magness castigated Harris for using her boys as a “shield” and asked jurors to think about the other child caught in the tragedy, Lindsey Harris. David Harris’ 17-year-old daughter from a previous marriage was in the car with Clara Harris when she ran over her husband.

“I cannot fathom the horror that child experienced as that car repeatedly ran over her father. No child should ever experience that,” Magness said. “Her life is forever changed. Your verdict is going to tell her what she went through was worth it.”

David Harris “seems to have gotten a little lost in the process,” she said. Though he was as accomplished and well-liked as his wife, “his legacy is cheating on his wife. He was so much more than that. That’s not right.”

Punishment is not about Clara Harris’ needs or remorse, or what her family and friends want, Magness said. “There is a bigger picture here.... It will tell people you don’t get to kill him and walk out the front door like the rest of us. All the remorse in the world doesn’t make it even. There are still consequences to our intentional and purposeful actions.”

Parnham argued that “nothing will be gained by any surviving members of David Harris’ family” if Clara Harris goes to jail. “All she has left is the love and support of her family and friends, her two kids and her liberty. I’m asking the jury to let her keep that.”

Outside the courthouse, Parnham and Magness expressed concern for Lindsey, who cried helplessly in a friend’s arms after Friday’s sentencing

“I think Lindsey will always love Clara,” Magness said. “The one thing I hope for the most is that young woman finds a way to reconcile herself with all the things that have happened.”