Prosecution rests in Lashuan Harris triple-murder trial

By Brent Begin, Bay City News Service

December 1, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) - The prosecution rested its case yesterday morning in the guilt phase of the Lashuan Harris triple-murder trial in San Francisco Superior Court after calling five witnesses and showing hours of an interview with homicide inspectors.

Testimony took less than three days as Assistant District Attorney Linda Allen laid out a scenario in which Harris took her three children from Oakland to the San Francisco waterfront, treated them to a nice day, took them to the end of Pier 7 and, one by one, undressed them and threw them into the water.

Harris quietly watched the proceedings, but at times she sat with her eyes closed and her chin buried in her chest.

Allen called to the stand a father who said he watched Harris throw the first child into the water before he called the police for help.

The jury also heard from officers who investigated the scene and a U.S. Coast Guard auxiliary member who found the body of 2-year-old Taronta Greely on the rocks near a yacht club.

But the crux of the prosecution's argument was the videotaped interview between Harris and homicide inspectors Daniel Everson and Dennis Maffei, taken the night of Oct. 19, hours after the children disappeared.

The videotape shows a woman at times distraught and at times confused over the events of the night.

Allen contends that Harris was lucid enough to spell her name, to recall being arrested and to realize she had committed murder. Near the end of the interview, Harris asked Everson, "Are you all going to kill me?''

When Everson asked her why he would do such a thing, she replied, "I guess it's murder.''

Harris' attorney, Teresa Caffese, has maintained that Harris has a history of mental illness and doesn't have the capacity to commit first-degree murder.

Upon cross-examination, Everson confirmed that Harris never used the word "kill'' throughout the interview. Caffese also pointed out that Harris repeatedly expressed her love for the children.

Caffese called her first witness this morning, Mary Ann Ramirez, who used to be the social services director at the East Oakland shelter where Harris and her children lived.

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