reporter: what happened here in little owego, new york, in august 2007 was almost unbelievable. cal harris, convicted of killing his wife, michele, was about to be sent away for 25 to life and suddenly it all blew up right in d.a. jerry keane s face. i came into the courtroom thinking the defendant was going to be sentenced and it ended up more my being on trial. reporter: who on earth had the power to make this happen? he did, kevin tubbs. i know she was there, okay? i know she was. reporter: kevin tubbs, a plain spoken rough hewn farm worker back then was hauling hay. why was he so important? because after six years during
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returned their verdicts swiftly. third time, deliberations dragged. finally, two weeks in, the jurors made it clear they simply could not reach a verdict. breaking news out of the schoharie county courthouse, the third cal harris murder trial has been ruled a mistrial by the judge. reporter: a mistrial. it was the outcome nobody wanted. we got closer to justice, but we re not there yet. we will continue to fight and continue to pursue the truth about what happened to michele. reporter: but her family believes they knew the truth, that cal murdered michele. they left the courthouse without comment. not right now. reporter: tioga county prosecutor kirk martin did address reporters. my obligation as a district attorney is to seek justice. reporter: he promised a fourth trial. there have been two guilty verdicts in this case and i eagerly await the earliest possible trial date that fits with the court s schedule.
it s part of the reason the case was unfair the first time, the second time. 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
attorney even tried to speak to the two eldest children. didn t accomplish much beyond frightening them, apparently. i know i just sat there and cried the whole time. 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