|
 Harris could be convicted of either murder in the first degree
of five members of the Raymond and Ruth Gee family, or murder in the
second degree for the death of Dillen Constant, in addition to
several other lesser charges related to the crimes.
Harris' attorneys claimed self-defense for their client, thus
opening the door to the second-degree charges. In that charge, the
implication is that the crime was committed using greater force than
was necessary. Harris said he entered the home of the Gee family to
find 14-year-old Dillen in the midst of a murder spree. He then
entered into one-on-one combat with the young man as a means of
staying alive himself.
During the trial, when Harris took the stand, he recounted multiple
times he knocked Dillen down with the use of a tire iron he found
near Rick Gee's body, but that the boy kept getting back up until
Harris finally succeeded in killing him.
During closing arguments Thursday morning, the prosecution
did their best to blow holes in the story, showing evidence and
discussing testimony that supports their theory that Chris Harris
brutally and mortally wounded all the members of the family, save
for 3-year-old Tabitha Gee.
When the prosecution finished, jurors were given a short break
before returning to hear the defense side of the story. Defense
Attorney Dan Fultz indicated that his presentation would last
approximately 90 minutes.
Fultz began his presentation with some personal assertions to the
jury. He told them this was the longest trial he has ever served on.
He acknowledged the jury's dedication to the case, noting that in
the last month, no one had left and all the alternates were still in
place.
He looked at the courtroom filled with people, many of whom were
members of either the Harris family or Gee family, and he told the
jurors these were family members who just wanted to see some closure
in this case.
He told the jury: "I'm not going to ask you to like Chris Harris.
There are a lot of reasons not to like Chris Harris."
Fultz told the jury that Chris' assertion that the grandfather
might have been the murderer, and the fact that Christopher sought
out a woman to be with the morning after the murders, were
unfathomable and "shocking to my conscience."
Referring to what he said were lies from his client in the
beginning, Fultz added: "Chris' actions brought him to where he is today; he has
no one to blame but himself."
Fultz then delivered the first jab at the prosecution's case, saying
they had told the jury that they didn't have to prove
a motive for the murders. Fultz said that was legal-speak for "We
can't prove a motive."
Poking again at the prosecution, he said their best witness (Chris'
brother Jason) was a known perjurer, and that story did not make
sense. But, "that is the horse we are going to ride to convict a guy
of five murders."
Fultz also commented on the state's No. 2 witness, Ty Cline.
Cline claimed in his testimony that Christopher Harris told him
about the murders and how they were committed. Fultz attacked Cline
as a convicted child-killer. (Cline was found guilty in the death of
his girlfriend's young son in a Logan County court in 2011.)
Fultz told the jury that the prosecution had gaping holes in their
case and that no one had taken the stand to tie it all together. He
said their case was built on the tire iron, and whether or not Chris
Harris carried it into the house with him. He said the jury was
being told basically that if they believed Harris took the tire iron
into the house, then they must convict Chris Harris of all the
murders.
Fultz then took it back to Jason Harris and said he was the only
one who said Chris carried the iron with him. Fultz implied Jason made
the facts fit to help him in his plea deal.
Fultz said Jason Harris did this because he had access to the same discovery
evidence as Christopher and his attorneys. Knowing the discovery,
Jason had time to make it all fit into a story he created.
Moving on to Dillen Constant, Fults said the defense did not enjoy
attacking the boy and his character, but it was one of the
"inconveniences" of the case.
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On Wednesday afternoon, the prosecution provided teachers and a
wrestling coach from Lincoln schools who testified as rebuttal
witnesses. They told the jury that Dillen Constant was energetic and
likable. He was doing well in school right before he died and was
doing very well in wrestling. One teacher said he was the kind of
boy who did the moonwalk on his way to the pencil sharpener. His
coach said he never rebelled against his coaches, and he did very well
in wrestling.
On Thursday, Fultz said it was natural for teachers to want to
protect kids.
He also pointed out that it was fact the boy was not getting the
help he needed to deal with his mental and emotional disorders. The
family couldn't afford services for the boy, and he didn't have the
proper medications
Again, Fultz tried to dispel the prosecution's case, saying Atterberry had delivered a closing of speculation. The crime scene
investigator had not talked about what order the events occurred in. Atterberry had created that scenario based on speculation, not
evidence.
Fultz commented on the idea that there were no barefoot prints in the
house. He said they weren't there, but it was known that Dillen
moved about the house that night So, why weren't they there?
Chris Harris was wearing shoes. The prosecution claims he stood over
Austin Dillen in the north bathroom and beat him to death. But,
Fultz said there were no shoe prints there. Harris is alleged to
have gone out the window in pursuit of Dillen after that, yet Fultz
said Chris' prints found on the window were not bloody, as they
should have been according the prosecution's theory.
He told the jury the prosecution is hanging on to Jason Harris' story
because that is the only one they have except Chris' story.
After approximately an hour of talking with the jury, Fultz
presented them with his smoking gun on the matter: the DNA samples
from the body of Rick Gee. He told the jury: "There is your
reasonable doubt." DNA from Dillen Constant was found under Rick
Gee's fingernails. Fultz said that was huge, and there was no one
else who had another person's DNA under their nails.
Returning to the case against Dillen Constant, Fultz said Dillen did
not go out the window looking for help. He wasn't shouting for help;
he was whispering, trying to locate Jason. He said Dillen didn't go
back into the house to try to help his family; he went back because
he knew Chris was still inside and he had to get him.
Fultz also implied that Dillen was the one who might have stepped on
Austin Gee. He noted there was a barefoot mark on Austin's face and
that he had been "stomped" hard enough to crush his skull.
Fultz also poked at the paid testimony of Ty Cline, saying that Cline
was moved from a maximum-security prison to a medium-security
facility in exchange for what he said. As a convicted child-killer,
Fultz said, this move was much earlier than it would have happened
by regular Department of Corrections standards.
To drive home some of his points, Fultz opened a packet of
artificial sweetener and dumped it on the table. He told the jurors
that the night of the murders, Jason and Chris had shared cocaine
that was less than half that amount.
He then went on to use a Johnny Cash song as an analogy. In the
song, Cash steals car parts from the factory where he works and
builds a vehicle over a period of years. Fultz said the prosecution's case was
like that car: "Nothing fits, it does run, but it is a piece of crap."
As Fultz began wrapping up his statements, he told the jury that the
victims of this crime were speaking to them from the grave and
telling them Chris Harris did not commit these crimes.
He told the jury, Harris is probably the most hated man in Peoria
County, but he still deserves a fair trial. He said Harris had made
mistakes, but he was not a murderer, and the jury needed to base
their decisions on the facts of the case, not their dislike of
Christopher Harris.
After Fultz finished his presentation, the jury was told they could
have a 30-minute break. When they returned to the courtroom, they would
hear the prosecution's rebuttal, which would be given by Logan County
State's Attorney Jonathan Wright.
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