Clara Harris pleads Fifth in civil trial

We thought we might get some insight into convicted murderer Clara Harris's state of mind when she took the stand yesterday in the wrongful death trial brought by her in-laws — but it turns out we could have learned more form Oprah's jailhouse interview. Harris, who was convicted in 2003 of killing her husband, David, by running him down with her Mercedes, pleaded the Fifth, refusing to answer any of the 27 questions asked of her.

Richard Howell, the attorney for Gerald and Mildred Harris, questioned Harris for 15 minutes, first showing her a videotape shot by a private detective showing Harris running over her husband in the parking lot of the Nassau Bay Hilton on July 24, 2002. "When you ran over David, it was no accident, was it?" Howell asked Harris. "Sir, on the advice of my counselor, I'm going to claim the Fifth Amendment right," Harris replied. Howell repeatedly pressed Harris to admit that she killed David on purpose after learning he was having an affair, but she gave no answers; after about 15 minutes, she left the stand and Gerald and Mildred Harris's attorneys rested their case. Clara Harris's attorney, Dean Blumrosen, said he told the plaintiffs' attorneys that Harris would be quiet if the questions they asked could incriminate her: "I told them if you're going to be asking non-incriminating questions, I would allow her to answer them with the understanding that any questions that tend to incrimination, she'd plead the Fifth. They wouldn't agree." Well, they've got a lot of nerve, refusing to ask softball questions!

Earlier in the day, attorneys for both sides explained that the relationship between Clara Harris and her in-laws fell apart after Harris was convicted. Howell said the problems centered on custody issues concerning David and Clara Harris's twin sons; Blumrosen said Clara Harris was upset that the Harrises were letting their oldest son, Gerald Jr., have an affair in full view of the twins. In testimony Tuesday, Gerald Harris said the wrongful death suit had nothing to do with revenge, but rather was about making sure he and his wife would be provided for in their old age (he's 77 and she's 73). Asked if he had forgiven Clara for David's death, Gerald Harris was noncommittal: "That's a very difficult question to answer," he said. "I do not feel that she has ever told us, or said to us, 'I killed David.' ... And without repentance, I don't see forgiveness."