Clara Harris -Murder with "Sudden passion"

As a resident of Texas I say if the roles were reversed he did her instead of the other way around he would go free. But since this is Texas she will get the maximum. Now if she had used a gun or a truck that would alsway have some impact I do believe. Bur a Mercdeds, nada, she will serve time.

Interesting... I'd never have thought of the fact that being a woman might count against her in Texas. But then, there WAS that woman who got the chamber in Texas a couple years back.

Hmmm... they're not TOUCHING this thread. I thought it would be of interest. Maybe that's just me, in my black-man-thinking-the-American-system-of-justice-is-about-to-show-its-hypocrisy-again mode.

Yup, some times people just don't respond. Well I was wrong the jury voted guilty and now we await sentencing. But according to the news the death penalty is off the table.

It may be an urban legend but I thought that Texas used to have a law that aif a man caught his wife in bed with another man and shot him there was not penalty at all. When I tried to do a legal search I could not find anything like that in Texas law.

Two things Snood I just noticed we are neighbors, well close in Texas terms and you have changed your avatar, looking good.

Well, snood, in 1969, my brother began seeing a woman who had separated from her husband. The husband already had a new girl. Divorce was pending. To my knowledge my brother and the woman just sat in a bar a number of times and talked. One night, obviously frightened, she asked my brother to drive her home. A short distance up the road they stopped for a red light. The woman's husband plowed into my brother's Fiat Spyder with a 3/4 ton pick up truck. The truck struck it twice. My brother and the woman died. The killer was told by the DA to move out of the county for good. No thought of arrest or a trial. Texas justice is not for the faint-hearted.

Texas? Death penalty if he was a cop, even if he died of a heart attack!
Otherwise, not likely.

The thing I'm surprised about, apparently the needle is not on the jury's menu:

The jury now must decide what punishment the 45-year-old mother of twins deserves. She has been out on bail so far and has retained custody of her 4-year-old sons, but she must now go to jail. Her in-laws, who have supported her throughout the trial, will seek guardianship of the boys.

Harris may face life in prison, but could receive a much lighter sentence. The other possibilities:

• If the jury comes back with a sentence of 10 years or less and recommends probation, the judge must grant probation. The judge could order her release right away but is more likely to make it a condition of probation that Harris serve up to six months in the Harris County Jail.

• If the jury decides Harris should serve any prison time, she will have to serve at least half her sentence before she is eligible for parole. This is because the jury found this morning that Harris used her Mercedes-Benz as a deadly weapon. That also means she cannot be released on bond while she appeals her conviction.

• If jurors find the murder was a crime of "sudden passion," the punishment could be reduced to two to 20 years in prison.

Full local coverage and lots of linkshere.

tejas is a planet unto itself.

It's like a whole other country.

(That was an actual travel marketing slogan some years back.)

Yeah - it used to be a planet ruled by lord shrub.

I've been reading about this case every day--in the NY Times, no less. Somehow, reading about it there makes my interest seem OK, which it wouldn't be, of course, if I read about it in a tabloid. (Now before anyone jumps on me for being a snob--I'm making fun of myself here!)

Anyhow, I strongly suspect she'll get a light sentence. After all, she's a former beauty queen, and she was wronged. But what a strange story. Her husband's mother and brother testified at the trial--on her behalf! The brother looks a bit like John Waters. Very cool.

If I had been on the jury there is a very real possibility I would have voted to acquit. I don't know how to explain it, but, sometimes these crazy things happen and once it is over the one did the violence reverts to a non killer state. I believe in preserving a death penalty, but in a radically altered state.

The death penalty in a radically altered state? Sounds a bit scary, Edgar. You mean the restoration of drawing and quartering? I think Ms. Harris deserves some punishment, but that seems a little extreme...

DEVIL'S ADVOCATE TIME!!!!!!

Okay, suppose she's a BLACK cute socialite, who ran over her hubby three times in Texas?

Or a POOR white socialite, who did the dirty deed with a 1982 Mercury Monarch?

Isn't it a crocka feces to pretend that it's just because of some obscure "sudden passion" provision that we think she's gonna get away with it?

When I say radically altered death penalty, I mean tending to make it tougher on courts to impose it.

Speaking as one among millions, her gender, race and social status have no bearing on my personal conclusions. As for society at large, there are a lot of variables, such as courts with private agendas, inept lawyers, etc. to make the outcome vary from case to case.

Of course, her race, looks and the vehicle she drove over her husband (repeatedly) shouldn't matter. But will they? Wouldn't be surprised if they do. Happens all the time...

The wife will probably get probation. The women on the Jury will think the husband deserved to be run over by the Mercedes.

"Sudden Passion"??

I think" simmering hatred "would be a better descriptive term.