Cal Harris’ 3rd Murder Trial Moved Out of Tioga County

The third murder trial of former Tioga County car dealer, 52 year old Calvin Harris, in connection with the disappearance of his estranged wife in 2001, is being moved outside of Tioga County.

The Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court, Third Department in Albany has granted a motion, filed by Harris's attorneys to change the venue of the trial to another county, choosing Schoharie County.

The court issued a 31 page decision, including a filing by the opposition that said the Harris trial should be held in the community in which the alleged crime was committed, in granting the change in venue on the grounds that Harris would not be able to get a fair trial due to wide-spread local knowledge of the case.

No date for a new trial has been set.

Cal Harris remains free after posting a half-million dollar bail in October, 2012.

Harris was twice convicted of murder in the disappearance of Michele Harris overnight on September 11, 2001.

The First conviction in 2007 was overturned when a new witness came forward claiming he had seen the woman alive after prosecutors had claimed she had been killed.

The second conviction, in 2009, was overturned due to trial errors.

While her estranged husband has been implicated in her presumed disappearance and murder, Michele Harris' body has never been found and no murder weapon has been recovered.