Friend of murdered husband's mistress sues over lesbian allegations in new book

A book about a former Friendswood, Texas, dentist convicted of murder for running over her cheating husband is inaccurate and sensational, according to a defamation lawsuit filed Tuesday against the author and publisher. Clara Harris was sentenced to 20 years in prison in the 2002 murder of David Harris, whom she ran over after finding him with his mistress at a hotel. The case attracted tremendous media attention and swept up numerous people, including the mistress, Gail Bridges, and her best friend and purported lesbian lover, Julie Knight. Knight alleges that Out of Control, written by Steven H. Long and published by St. Martin's Press, is "filled with lies, slander, and accusations against" Knight that include the repetition of allegations that she and Bridges are lovers, according to the lawsuit. Knight seeks unspecified damages and attorney's fees. Clara Harris was sentenced to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine in 2003 for killing her husband, David Harris, who worked as an orthodontist. Harris, who had been looking for her husband on the night of his death, found him with his mistress in the hotel's lobby as they exited an elevator. Security guards escorted both women from the hotel--the same place the Harrises were married a decade earlier--following a physical confrontation. After Clara Harris got into her car, she drove toward the back of the parking lot where the vehicle of her husband's mistress was parked. Harris had earlier broken a windshield wiper on the vehicle and scratched it, testimony showed. David Harris was standing near the open driver's side door of his mistress's vehicle when he was struck. His body landed about 65 feet from where he was first hit. (AP)