reporter: but then? then the defense attempted to present its evidence about that alternate suspect, the steelworker. and the judge shut them down. the jury would only be allowed to hear the following fact. the man s name, that michele knew him, that kevin tubbs i.d. d him and that he owned a black truck at the time. no more. why? because it was cal harris on trial. wrong man, his attorneys insisted. cal did not deserve to be on trial. and frankly, michele and her family deserve better. we all want to know what happened to her. it s time to look elsewhere. reporter: there was a new prosecutor this time around. tioga county s kirk martin. he made the same arguments as the previous d.a. saying the evidence pointed to cal harris killing his wife. the trial went on for three months. at the end of april, it finally went to the jury. and four kids and their father suddenly had nothing left to do but wait. we said what we want to do when it s all said and done and over with and the go
you good? yeah, you? [ roaring ] [ screaming ] nope. rated pg-13. reporter: had cal harris won the lottery, it could hardly be as surprising as the news he heard in the prison yard in 2012. this is rare, though. i mean this is really rare for that to happen. yeah. reporter: what happened? new york s court of appeals overturned his second murder conviction, citing errors made by the judge and ordered trial number three. while everyone waited for that, cal once again went home to the
because cal harris couldn t have murdered her some seven hours before and an innocent man had just been convicted. and so the judge tossed out the verdict, called for another trial and sent cal home to his kids. many, including michele s family, thought tubbs story was bogus. everybody knew he was lying. it was the most bizarre story that you could have ever told. reporter: and of course, when trial number two opened in 2009, the prosecution attacked tubbs credibility. why did he wait six years to come forward? still for the defense, tubbs was pure gold, the man to create
that was definitely the hardest part for us. i mean, he held it together well but reporter: what was it like driving home? quiet. reporter: watching his kids walk away week after week, said cal, was unimaginably hard. that was the worst. i went back to my cell and just laid there for hours and hours and just closed my eyes and tried to block it out. reporter: three years rolled by. but then came a day in october, 2012, when cal harris found himself crying for joy in the prison yard. coming up it s rare, though. i mean, this is really rare for that to happen. yeah. a new chance at freedom, new urgency from the kids. it s time for the truth. and a whole new theory of the case. it s all coming together. it s time to look elsewhere. trial number three, when dateline continues.
i didn t talk. i wasn t allowed to be in there with taylor. reporter: how old were you at the time? i was in fourth grade. he was in fifth grade. so, 9 and 10. reporter: the d.a. jerry keen said he interviewed plenty of other witnesses who convinced him the police had the right man. in september 2005, four years after michele harris disappeared, the d.a. charged her husband, cal, with second-degree murder. three state police personnel literally busted into my office and kicked the door open. and the three of them jumped me and handcuffed me and shackled me and walked me out the front door of my office. reporter: you got a taste of law and order up close and personal. yeah. reporter: the d.a. was going to take the case to trial, even though there was no body, no murder weapon and even though he himself was by no means convinced he could prevail. i thought that it was maybe a