HOUSTON -- Clara Harris did not understand the media strategy her lawyer plotted during her criminal trial, according to her current lawyer in civil court, KPRC Local 2 reported Thursday.

"She was told to do the ABC show to improve her image. She didn't know it wouldn't be shown until after the trial. Had she known, she'd never have done it," said Dean Blumrosen, who is representing Harris in the civil lawsuit against attorney George Parnham.

Parnham allowed a network news crew to document all that was going into the preparation of the Harris case three months before her trial began in February 2003.

She was ultimately convicted of murder for running over her unfaithful husband, David, after she caught him with his mistress at a Nassau Bay Hotel. Harris' teenage daughter was in the Mercedes-Benz when her stepmother hit David Harris, a successful orthodontist.

Blumrosen said Parnham grossly overcharged her for expenses when she paid more than $235,000 to him.

"When George and Clara first discussed fees, I remember her saying she would come up with as much money as she could," said Parnham's wife Mary, who is also Parnham's paralegal.

Mary Parnham described a very close personal relationship she had with the former Friendswood dentist until Clara was convicted and stopped paying the bills.

Harris is expected to take the stand in the weeklong civil trial.

Several of her friends took advantage of Harris' brief reprieve from prison and talked to her during breaks in the trial.