Accused dentist testifies in her murder trial

HOUSTON — The dentist accused of running down her orthodontist husband after confronting him with his lover last summer took the stand in her own defense Wednesday, describing how their marriage crumbled under the weight of his infidelity.

"We were best friends. We were very much in love," Clara Harris said of her 10-year marriage to David Harris, which ended July 24 in the parking lot of a suburban Houston hotel parking lot when she ran over him with her Mercedes-Benz after catching him with his acknowledged lover.

"We are mature people. We had both gone through divorce. We felt like there was no better couple than us. We were a perfect team," she said.

Clara Harris claims the death was accidental. Prosecutor Mia Magness contends it was intentional, making it murder.

Harris spent about 90 minutes on the stand Wednesday morning before a lunch break and defense attorney George Parnham had not yet questioned her about the night of David Harris' death.

Shortly after the break, however, Parnham grew woozy and buckled in a courthouse hallway, according to witnesses.

He appeared alert as deputies and associates, then paramedics, tended to him while he lay on the floor with a towel on his forehead. He was taken to a hospital.

Clara Harris and others involved with the trial were kept at a distance by deputies for the some 20 minutes Parnham spent on the floor.

After meeting with the other lawyers involved in the trial, State District Court Judge Carol Davies said testimony would resume Friday morning.

Wendell Odom, one of Parnham's partners, attributed the possible fainting spell to a combination of flu and stress.

"George is all right and the trial will continue as soon as we get him back," Odom said.

In her testimony, Harris explained how the couple met as associates at a dental office, their eventual marriage, birth of twin sons and the establishment of their separate practices — hers in Lake Jackson, a Brazoria County city about an hour south of Houston, and his in the far southeast Houston.

Their life together was progressing well heading into 2002, Clara Harris said, when David Harris began to change that spring and summer.

"He was a little bit more retracted. He was a little bit more stressed. He was a little bit more intolerant of the boys," she said, although she attributed some of the stress to the construction of his new orthodontic practice.

An employee told Clara Harris July 16 her husband had been seeing receptionist Gail Bridges. The next morning, Harris said her husband told her he had been modestly intimate with Bridges, but stepdaughter Lindsey Harris told her the adulterous relationship was much deeper.

"I went to slap him in the face," Clara Harris said, but her husband — a martial arts expert — fended her off and threw her to the bathroom floor.

She said he agreed to marital counseling and the firing of Bridges, then backed off. She said she fired Bridges, at her husband's office, while he watched through a glass door.

"I asked her, `What kind of relationship do you have with my husband,'" Clara Harris said. "She said, `I don't understand." Each time Clara Harris related something said by Bridges, she used a mocking, high-pitched voice to imitate her husband's soft-spoken lover.

The couple spent the next two days discussing their relationship and how to fix it. At an airport bar July 18, Harris said she took notes on a napkin, making a side-by-side comparison of her and her rival. Where David Harris said his wife was pretty, smart and educated, he said his lover was "reasonably" pretty, "reasonably" smart and "reasonably" educated.

She testified her husband listed Bridges' advantages as communication and willingness to allow him to do "anything he wanted to do."

Not a lot of new stuff, but with pics...

Dentist accsed of killing husband: 'We were 'perfect'

Wife in rundown talks of marriage, his affair

02/06/2003

Associated Press

HOUSTON - The dentist accused of running down her orthodontist husband after confronting him with his lover took the stand in her defense Wednesday, describing how their marriage crumbled under the weight of his infidelity.

"We are mature people. We had both gone through divorce. We felt like there was no better couple than us. We were a perfect team," she said.

Defendant Clara Harris testified for 90 minutes, during which she described her marriage by saying, "We were very much in love."

Dr. Harris says the death was accidental. Prosecutor Mia Magness contends it was intentional.

Dr. Harris spent about 90 minutes on the stand Wednesday morning before a lunch break, and defense attorney George Parnham had not yet questioned her about the night of David Harris' death.

Shortly after the break, however, Mr. Parnham grew woozy and his knees buckled in a courthouse hallway, according to witnesses.

He appeared alert as deputies and associates, then paramedics, tended to him while he lay on the floor with a towel on his forehead. He was taken to a hospital.

Deputies kept Dr. Harris and others involved with the trial at a distance for the 20 minutes Mr. Parnham spent on the floor.

After meeting with the other lawyers involved in the trial, State District Court Judge Carol Davies said testimony would resume Friday morning.

Wendell Odom, one of Mr. Parnham's partners, attributed the possible fainting spell to a combination of flu and stress.

Defense attorney George Parnham turns toward the jury as he questions his client.

In her testimony, Dr. Harris explained how the couple met as associates at a dental office, their eventual marriage, birth of twin sons and the establishment of their separate practices - hers in Lake Jackson, a Brazoria County city about an hour south of Houston, and his in far southeast Houston.

Their life together progressed well heading into 2002, she said, when David Harris began to change that spring and summer.

An employee told Dr. Harris on July 16 that her husband had been seeing receptionist Gail Bridges. The next morning, Dr. Harris said, her husband told her he had been modestly intimate with Ms. Bridges, but stepdaughter Lindsey Harris told her the adulterous relationship was much deeper.

"I went to slap him in the face," Dr. Harris said, but she said her husband - a martial arts expert - fended her off and threw her to the bathroom floor.

At an airport bar July 18, Dr. Harris said, she took notes on a napkin, making a side-by-side comparison of her and her rival. Where David Harris said his wife was pretty, smart and educated, he said his lover was "reasonably" pretty, "reasonably" smart and "reasonably" educated.

She testified that her husband listed Ms. Bridges' advantages as communication and willingness to allow him to do "anything he wanted to do."

Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/tsw/stories/020603dntexdentist.7079d.html

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